Inquiry Learning & ICT

Inquiry Learning & ICT

Jan-Marie Kellow

ROTORUA 20111

When schools put the cart before the horse - buying technology for the sake of technology without asking critical questions about purpose, use and the classroom impact of such tools - they are inviting disappointment.

Jamie McKenzie

www.fno.org/jan02/overequipped.html Research ResultsICTs supported inquiry in many ways:Obtaining, recording, sorting and presenting informationPrompt access to primary information sourcesInformation on current topicsDecision-makingHome-school partnerships (KnowledgeNET)Understanding complex conceptsMedium to communicate findings eg. email & KnowledgeNET Main uses of ICTs for inquiry:Bringing in and recording ideas Sorting and linking ideas Taking linked ideas beyond the subject Source: Pam Hook & Julie Mills4Bringing in and recording ideas Inquiry stages: Setting the Scene, Task Definition, Planning, Find & Gather, Locate & Access etc.

Activities: define, describe, list, name, labelModelling and DemonstratingData ProjectorInteractive WhiteboardQuestions

Video Wimp www.wimp.com/saganwanderers/

Youtube

TeacherTube

YouTube Downloader

Brainstorming

Traditional Information SourcesFaxTelephoneSchool library

National Library Searchable online cataloguesOnline Collections

Discover- visual arts and music resources

Index New Zealand- magazine and newspaper articles

Alexander Turnbull Research Library Timeframes- images

www.tki.org.nz/r/epic/

www.matapihi.org.nz/

Direct Sources Online EncyclopediasEncyclopaedia Britannica via EPIC passworded

Fact Monster

Wikipedia for Schools

Google Earth

Google MapsPanoramio add photos

Learning Objects

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/tour/

Any Questions

Kid-friendly search enginesYahoo Kids This is the remake of the Yahooligans site. Search results are kid safe.Kids Click! Searches about 5,000 kid-friendly websites selected by librariansAsk for Kids This replaces Ask Jeeves for Kids. Searches result in a list of keywords. Choose the keyword that best matches the information neededCybersleuth Works in a similar way to Kids ClickIthaki for Kids This is a meta search engine which searches several kid-friendly search engines at once

Google Search ResultsUnless students are trained to use the advanced features of search engines like Google, they tend to gather huge piles of pages that contribute little to understanding. Some have likened these piles of information to a landfill. Jamie McKenzie (fno.org) Youve got to go in there and have a look at the sites that mainly youre going to be using. I liken it to taking the kids down to Te Papa and saying Okay guys go for it. They might know what theyre looking for, but do you want them to meander their whole day looking for the information, or do you want to point them in the right direction? (Teacher)

"Children who are in this concrete-operational stage seek information that exactly matches their own search terms or the terminology used by the teacher or in the assignment. In other words, they are concrete thinkers and have trouble with anything that is not an exact fit with their understanding of the question."

Hirsch, 1999

www.opoutere.schoolsonline.co.nz/index.php?page=home (Public pages, Welcome, Webquests)

http://www.opoutere.school.nz/dinosaur_pet.htm WikisExamples: http://waikinowaterjourney.wikispaces.com/Water+Transformation

http://wiredwaihi.wikispaces.com/Classroom+Wikis BlogsPt England SchoolSt Pious X R6Creative Voice

Waikino School

G-Chat - Gmail.comSkypeGoogle Docswww.crunchbase.com/product/google-docs31 Interesting Ways to Use Google Docs

Wordle

PlaytimeSorting & Linking IdeasInquiry stage: Sort, sift and analyse Activities: sequence, classify, compare and contrast, cause, parts-whole, analogyMind MappingUsed for:Prior KnowledgeSubsidiary QuestionsNote takingSorting/Sifting/AnalysingReporting findings

Eg. Inspiration, Mindomo, Xmind Graphic OrganisersGraphic Organisers

More Graphic Organisers

Yet More Graphic Organisers

Infusing the teaching of Critical and Creative Thinking into Content Instruction By Robert Swartz & Sandra Parks (The Critical Thinking Co.) $112.50 - available from Learning Network NZ

Taking linked ideas beyond the subjectInquiry stages: Create & Communicate, Synthesis, Evaluate

Activities: generalise, reflect, predict, create, judge, justify, evaluatePowerpointVoicethreadsPhotostory3Video DocumentariesLetters/emailsReportsPlays/Skits etc.News deskBrochuresCommunication/ActionGlogsPodcasts (Garageband/Audacity)Artwork (Paint/Artrage)3D designs (SketchUp)PostersSongsWikisBlogsEtc etc.

Free SoftwareSoftware for Learning

Waihi Wired WikiVoicethreadhttp://ed.voicethread.com/#homehttp://ed.voicethread.com/#q.b409

Teachers Overseas wanting to collaborate:http://voicethread4education.wikispaces.com/Classroom+Partners

Examples

http://ed.voicethread.com/#q+inquiry.b230401.i1198322

Wonderings and observations on trout

PlaytimeGlogster

Education version

Wikis, Blogs & LMSWired Waihi Wiki

MarinelandCloningThe Future

Letterswww.opoutere.schoolsonline.co.nz/Username: KNGuest Password: Teacher1 Self- Assessment

Rubricshttp://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

Inquiring Mind

Waihi Wired Wiki

www.inquiringmind.co.nz/inquiry_&_ict.htm

"....Computers are not rescuing the school from a weak curriculum, any more than putting pianos in every classroom would rescue a flawed music program.

Wonderful learning can occur without computers or even paper. But once the teachers and children are enfranchised as explorers, computers, like pianos, can serve as powerful amplifiers, extending the reach and depth of the learners."

Alan Kayhttp://www.core-ed.org/learningatschool/conference-book-special

www.inquiringmind.co.nz

jkellow@xtra.co.nz