Relative Advantage of Using Technology to Enhance Content Area Learning

Technology to Enhance Learning

in 
Science-Weather

Introducing technology into the science curriculum is the most natural way to enhance learning and prepare students for the 21st century. In public schools, the main content areas include math, science, social studies and English/language arts. Equally important in a child's education are the arts, which include art, music, physical education/health. Technology can be incorporated into all of these areas in order to prepare the students with the tools that they'll need to survive in the 21st century.

A great resource for ideas and lesson plans is "The Center for Technology and Teacher Education", as the webpage has neatly organized content area technology information. Also included under each content area is a list of resources for teachers to explore. Their goal is to "Prepare K-12 teachers to integrate technology effectively in their content areas". (1) Integrating technology into the science curriculum will add a whole new dimension of learning for the students.

In an ISTE article titled "3 Ways to Increase Student Engagement in Your Classroom", Lee Brenner states that, "By integrating technology in the classroom, educators can take learning experiences to the next level and significantly improve student performance."(5) ISTE also provides some free resources for teachers.

In science, many times labs are not available, or the tools necessary to perform experiments are either too expensive to buy or too dangerous to use. The key to understanding scientific concepts is experimentation and exploration. With online simulations, videos, and chats with scientists, students can participate in these important scientific experiences, even in the absence of school resources.

When studying weather, students can view online weather forecasts, connect with meteorologists, observe weather tools that most schools are not able to afford, play games and interact with simulations in order to experience many of the weather concepts that are included in their studies. Google Earth has a weather layer that students can use in order to see weather occurring around the world.

On this particular day we were experiencing 

heavy rain and high winds on the east coast.

Using Google Classroom, teachers can share links to all of the online weather resources with the entire class at once. This tool organizes everything in one area for the students and eliminates the problem of "leaving the assignments" at school. The following video, by Adam Lindstrom, demonstrates some of the benefits of a 21st century learning environment. Cloud based software, such as GAFE, allows students to have information at their fingertips at all times. Assignments can be shared in Classroom, worked on in school, and then continued at home. Homework doesn't have to consist only of books and paper and pencil anymore. More students will be engaged in their learning by using videos, games, simulations, and other interactive resources.

This next video discusses shifting from the "Factory Model" classroom to a more student centered environment.  "...different learning needs, different times, different things turn us on." (2) Education needs to catch up to the times, addressing the way that students think, learn, and communicate. By incorporating technology into the content areas, schools will be able to grab the interest of more students. Reading about weather concepts in a text book will reach a few students, but using online interactive tools will help to build interest and create true understanding.

RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms(3)

Another interesting idea mentioned in the above video is the fact that public education is based on age and not on ability. Students are grouped by grade/age instead of by cognitive level or ability. By using technology to make learning more student centered, allowing students to learn what they are ready for, when they are ready, will allow them to be more successful. In science, many concepts are difficult to understand, but technology gives students more opportunities to do hands-on activities. A student who struggles with understanding the written word may excel when using a game, and can play it as many times as they need, in order to develop their own understanding.  Motivated students would have the opportunity to use as many videos, games, and simulations as they want, advancing to different levels when they are ready, not when the class is done with a chapter. Technology allows for a more student-centered curriculum, in which students are able to move on when they have mastered a concept. This model is beneficial to students at all levels because the students are able to move as slowly or quickly as is needed to comprehend the subject matter, also allowing the opportunity for enrichment, for the advanced students.

Providing a variety of learning opportunities for students within the weather unit will allow them to discover which environment they learn best in. Technology resources will facilitate learning and help to increase student interest in the subject area, as long as the resources that are chosen will:

• Engage students
• Allow for choice
• Allow them to encounter real experiences
• Provide interaction in a simulated environment
• Help to practice skills in an interesting way by engaging them within their own comfort zone

(chalk.com)

Students are becoming less and less engaged in the classroom because educational methodology is not keeping up with the learning needs of students. Student distraction is being treated medically, when some of the problem may just be that today's teaching methods are just not meeting the needs of the students. The lack of advancement and change in teaching methods in schools is due to many factors, to include lack of technology funding, lack of teacher training, too much time spent on testing and analyzing of data, the lack of community support, and the fear of change. Teachers are pulled in so many directions these days, with so many unreasonable expectations, that the thought of one more thing on their plates, learning about all the new technology tools, is overwhelming.

Are there advantages to using technology to enhance learning in science? Undoubtedly! There are unlimited resources available to teachers that will enhance the weather curriculum at all ages. Students can be transported into worlds and learning situations that they would never be able to experience if only exposed to books. In order to prepare today's students for the 21st Century life that they are about to embark upon, making technology an integral part of their lives by incorporating it into their education, is essential.

Work Cited:

1. (2006). Center for Technology and Teacher Education: Content Areas. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http://www.teacherlink.org/content/.
2. (2015). Why the Factory Model of Schools Persists, and How We ... Retrieved March 29, 2016, from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2015/10/30/why-the-factory-model-of-schools-persists.html.
3. (2010). RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms - YouTube. Retrieved March 29, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U.
4. (2016). Chalk Talk — Medium. Retrieved March 29, 2016, from https://talk.chalk.com/.
5. (2015). ISTE | The best tools in ed tech. Retrieved March 30, 2016, from https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=495&category=Innovator-solutions&article=.

6. ISTE | 3 ways to increase student engagement in your ... Retrieved March 30, 2016, from https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=590&category=Innovator-solutions&article=.
7. (2006). Education World: Get Outta Class With Virtual Field Trips. Retrieved March 31, 2016, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech071.shtml.
8. (2015). Student-Centered Learning: It Starts With the Teacher ... Retrieved March 31, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/student-centered-learning-starts-with-teacher-john-mccarthy.