There are so many resources for teachers to use to help students make learning meaningful and fun at the same time. What a difference there is between the educational setting just 20 years ago and today - I wish I had been a student in some of these classrooms where teachers use simulations and virtual field trips!!! I think that the brain research and research on cognitive learning points every finger at using these hands-on, visual, active approaches to acquiring new knowledge. I think it was in the first video where Dr. Orey said that above all, students learn best when they are actively engaged in the learning process.
I have done webquests with students in math and love them! I cannot wait to get my hands dirty exploring the many resources in this weeks set of info. Has anyone found a particularly good math virtual field trip dealing with functions or patterns?
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Jen,
ReplyDeleteI teach English, so I'm no judge, but a math teacher friend recommended the virtual field trips at
http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours/fieldtrips2.cgi?core_area_id=2
and
http://frank.mtsu.edu/~studskl/mathinternet.html
Although I agree that we live in an age of technological wonders, I really hope that virtual field trips never replace excursions into the material world. My students are already a bit jaded with what I still consider "gee whiz" technology, and I doubt virtual field trips will thrill them as much as getting out into the wide world. Still, as a classroom experience, they can be pretty engaging and, of course, they can happen much more spontaneously and often.
I believe virtual field trips can be immersive enough experiences to create episodic memories (Laureate, 2007). At the very least, they take advantage of Paivio's dual coding effect by presenting concepts through images and text. Combined with advance organizers, these can be powerful cognitive learning tools (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.