How to infuse multimedia into science classrooms

Co-authored Blog Posting

Morgann Clark and Shaniece Mosley

On October 4th we used the class time to discuss different multimedia tools used in the classroom. We reviewed several teachers unique teaching methods and strategies to achieve high level understanding. To prepare for this class discussion we viewed videos and other online materials.

In class we participated in a teaching strategy that encourages higher order thinking. We were asked to read an article about the availability of birth control to populations of women who were unable to afford birth control. Groups were asked to read the article wtih an inherent bias. Choosing an interesting or even controversial topic will grab the students attention and the activity requires them to explore opinions other than their own. 

Shaniece and I were both particularly interested in a recorded lesson from the teaching channel. In this lesson the chemistry instructor was teaching Boyle's law. In this activity he employed both visual and kinesthetic learning strategies. Chemistry is difficult to teach because it requires students to visualized movement at an atomic level. This teacher did a great job of demonstrating Boyle's law with balls on sticks and had the students act out the movement of the molecules. This enlarged model gave the students a clear picture of something that happens on a very large scale. 

One tool that we would like to use in our classrooms in the future is podcasts. In an online discussion board we brainstromed different ways to use this tool. Morgann would like to use pod casts to help her students understand current events.  Shaniece would like to use podcasts to give meaningful feedback to students. It is quick and easy to provide more feed back with a podcast than it is to write on student work. We could further this feedback strategy by having students offer peer evaluation of other students work. 

Sept. 27...How Great Teacher's Handle Pressure...

This week we attended class through online materials and videos.  While each of the videos were unique, and each of the assignments very different, all of them demonstrated superb techniques for engaging student’s higher learning.  For example, using primary source texts that force students to question the integrity and validity of the material, or using stretching questions that pry deeper thinking out of students who give shallow answers.  Both techniques help to create greater opportunities learning and retention.  

Another video offered us a look inside a classroom where a number of great teaching techniques were being used. The teacher had not only created an engaging and exciting lesson, but had tied the lesson into other content areas the students were exploring in other classes.  This multidisciplinary differentiation offered students more reason to care about the work they were performing, and made the knowledge more relevant to them.

Another teacher used exciting kinesthetic and visual materials to engage students in scientific lessons regarding the unseen world of chemicals and atoms. Students were able to truly picture and imagine what was going on in the formulas that they had already learned. These techniques help students to reach their highest potential, and while we might not use every technique at once, beginning to incorporate these techniques can help us to become the best possible teachers that we can be.

Chancellor King

Finally, we watched an interview with Chancellor King as he answered questions about the Common Core standards.  All of us are increasingly hearing more about the Common Core standards as New York City schools work toward implementing them into their curriculums and cultures.  These interviews were very helpful in that they allowed us to hear directly from the Chancellor as he articulated his vision for the Common Core in our classrooms, and provided explicit examples of what he hopes NYC teachers will achieve.

October 2nd Class

In the Literacy in the Content Area class on October 2, 2012, we discussed and modeled various lessons that use digital literacies.  The lessons used both started off with an activation of prior knowledge and a pre-write.  Students then watched a video on the topic to learn more about the issue.  It was discussed that it would be helpful to include a prompt before putting on the video so that students can focus their attention on the information presented in the video.  One lesson used a guided reading strategy that divided a text into smaller sections where students read individually and then discussed the key points as a class.  This strategy can help students improve their reading comprehension.  These types of lessons are applicable to content-area classrooms since it keeps all students engaged and holds them accountable since they have to share information with others. 

Biancarosa (2012) explains that in the content area, students need to be able to read for information and to understand more complex texts.  When teaching literacy in the content area, students need to understand how reading for information differs across disciplines. Students also need to learn how to understand bias in texts and how to interpret texts.  This is applicable to written as well as media texts.  For example, students could look at the fake website about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus to practice analyzing what they read and to look for credibility in a source.  Since students are surrounded by technology, it is necessary to incorporate digital literacies in the classrooms to teach students how to understand the texts that they encounter daily. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/X5ySocUyI7I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Caption: Fake: The tree octopus that researchers fabricated to test the evaluation skills of students

Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1352929/Endangered-tree-octopus-proves-students-believe-read-Internet.html

Video on Using Digital Literacies in the Classroom: