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I have been going through and catching up on some of the archives and I caught a thread on notebooks. Someone had posted (I think) about having a technology blended notebook, but I didn't find any other posts about that in the other notebook threads. The reason I am inquiring about this is that my school will be 1:1 with Macs this fall. I have used various versions of the science journal with my students, and I'm looking to try an electronic version this fall. However, I think that I still will have paper products so instead of comp. books this year, I am having students get binders. I want the electronic version and the paper version to be cohesive with each other.
In terms of my plans for the e-version, I plan on using the Google platform. I think I will have each student create a collection that is shared with me and we will both have editing privileges. I am trying to get our tech director to consider adding Blogger privileges so that I can have students respond to their daily question through that. For drawing and observations, I am going to try to have students use Google Drawing, as well as try to have students be able to take more pictures that can be uploaded to their accounts.
Have any of you developed such a model or have other ideas to consider? I'm really interested in other ideas!!
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Hi Anne,
How fantastic that your school will be 1:1 with Macs next year! I really think that it's a great idea to teach our students to record and share ideas, results, assignments, etc. via an electronic medium. I have not had the opportunity to use electronic notebooks, but I did find several examples of how other teachers are using electronic notebooks in their classes. This link has an excellent example of using Electronic, Interactive Math and Science Notebooks. There are several benefits to using technology in our classrooms. For instance, technology can make classrooms inclusive for students with physical or cognitive disabilities. Additionally, electronic documents and communication are now the standard in industry, so teaching our students to use technology in school helps prepare them for the future. I think the most important thing to consider when using technology in classrooms is the ability for your students to access the technology. For instance, even if your school/district is providing the students with the computers, they may not all have internet access at home. This may make it difficult for some of your students to access online materials, submit assignments via dropbox, or access google documents from home. As long as you are able to structure assignments in a way that ensures all students have adequate opportunity to access the technology, I think this is a fantastic idea.
Maureen
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Hi Maureen, the Wikispaces Interactive Notebook looks marvelous from first glance. There even appears to be a rubric teachers can use if they feel the need to assess their students' work. I can't wait to look at it with more scrutiny. Thanks for sharing! Do you use this site?
Carolyn
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Hi Carolyn,
My district is not 1:1 with computers or tablets, but looking toward the future, I hope to one day be teaching in a technology rich classroom! As we continue to see more and more technology in our everyday lives I'm curious to see what future generations will think of the classrooms of today. Will they view pencils and paper and we do the horse and buggy?
Maureen
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I agree, Maureen. Horse and buggy analogy is a good one!
Anne, you might consider a classroom blog, too. Here is a good article about that:
Science 2.0: Create a Classroom Blog
Carolyn
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Screen or vodcasts are a great resource for flipped classrooms or to provide students with added instruction on had to grasp concepts. You can become your own Khan academy with easy to use screen capture programs. Here is a collection of resources.
Screen Capture Programs Collection
(11 items)
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Maureen, thank you for sharing the Electronic, Interactive Math and Science Notebooks site. I agree with Carolyn, it looks intriguing and I am looking forward to spending some time checking out the site.
I have played with a number of variations of technology blended notebooks for the past couple of years and have yet to find a way to satisfy all needs. I am reluctant to give up my graphing composition notebooks yet for several reasons. One is the lack of access for students to technology when away from the school site, and when we are doing labs in class, I really want the students to be recording their data as we go. I am not confident the netbooks would survive the investigative environment with my 7th and 8th graders. Even though I have them well trained, quite frankly oftentimes there just isn’t enough room on the lab table for the investigation and a computer as well.
I will be interested to see what others come up with in terms of how they incorporate the blended notebook. Thank you Anne for starting the topic.
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Carolyn,
I like the idea of a classroom blog, particularly at the end of an investigation. It allows the students to compare notes in a bit more formalized manner, and encourages the written discourse that disciplined scientists use. Also, it is a great format for supporting literacy - I have also used for science book clubs. It got a lot of participation.
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