Web 2.0 for schools e-Science: A hands-on approach Hilary Smith University of Sussex, Josh Underwood, Kevin Walker, Geraldine Fitzpatrick,

Web 2.0 for schools e-Science: A hands-on approach

Hilary SmithUniversity of Sussex, [email protected]

Josh Underwood, Kevin Walker, Geraldine Fitzpatrick, Rose Luckin, Steve Benford, Judith Good, Duncan Rowland

Research 2.0 workshop, e-Social Science Conference, Manchester, 18th June 2008

• Introduction to research themes and project• Context of science learning and previous

findings• DIY energy• Some initial findings• Implications for Research 2.0• Questions

Talk outline

e-Science UsabilityHistorical projects• Ambient Wood – Equator ‘play and learning’• Public Understanding of e-Science – Equator• SENSE

Aim: putting e-Science in the hands of educators

investigating ways to support teachers in creating new, usable learning experiences for themselves and others

appreciating the changing nature of science; science in society as dialogue, scientists’ public outreach, building community for collaboration

Core themesData gather, share, collaborate

• Engage students in real world science• Give access to resources not available in

schools• Engage with scientists• Build resource repository• Investigate equipment sharing possibilities• Work on science process in science enquiry• Technologies to support these processes

Issues raised by teachers

• Strengthen links between school and real-world science

• Secondary level science in greater need than primary• 21C curriculum feels unsupported by training• Equipment required to support e-Science is largely

already in place, but under utilised• Don’t assume internet access in the classroom• Minimal learning requirement for any new technology

introduced• Use of mobiles in school for e-science activity likely

to be problematic

Context of learningPeople• Learners are 11-14 years science students - KS3• Teachers• Science technicians• Research scientists in specific science domains

Possible locations• School science lab, science festival• School grounds• School trip museums, science centres, University G&T lab• After school journey home, home, family trip, with friends, parks,

beach

Research questions• What is required to take our exemplar lesson

resources and use in a KS3 science lesson (people, technical and other resources)?

• How can familiar technologies e.g. web 2.0, support science experiment data assimilation, reporting, reflection, sharing, communication?

• What opportunities exist for sharing science kit and engaging with active scientists?

The DIY energy experience

How much energy can your turbine design generate to charge an iPod?

In-class, double science lesson• Contextualising lesson

– Inspiring story blog resource– Experiment task introduced as group competition– Example turbines and power yield from previous students’ work on

blog• Group work

– Think, plan, build design– Designs photographed and uploaded to Flickr

• Competition– Video evidence on You Tube– Calculate power yield per design, determine winner

• Reporting and reflection– Each group’s blog post links photos, video, text reports– Experiment summaries written – Questions for a scientist

Technology and resources usedIn-school lab experience• Wind turbine experiment

craft resources, turbine test circuits, fans • Technology

Laptops (2), mobiles with camera(2), network connections (2), iPods, calculators

• Web 2.0Shozu, Blogger, Google spreadsheets, You Tube, Flickr,

Skype• People

1 teacher, 2 researchers (as tech. assistants), 1 science technician

Blogger for experiment reports

You Tube for evidence

Google Docs for data capture & data sharing

flickr for sharing designs

Total of all power contributions and current battery level

In-school initial findings• Technology

• Setting up mobiles for uploads (Shozu)• Familiarity with multiple sites brought into blog• Availability of each site’s servers• Upload speeds from phones• Getting students directly blog posting in-session on limited

number of laptops • School

• Decisions on students’ own mobiles (school policy) • School network site filtering

• People• Teacher preparation• Scheduling for teacher planning time• Allow students direct access to blog via emails / un-moderated

comments?

Comments on tools used (or not)Tool Positives ChallengesShozu for evidence uploads

Created for fast video or photo upload direct from phone, add tags etc.

Setting up and testing timeNot yet available across all phones Speeds vary across phone providers

Blogging Recognised, easy to postCan be continued laterScientist can view snapshot of work

Needs each group to have own in-class web access

Skype Light weight, easy to install audio / video conference toolText chat when all else failsUsed for remote researcher support

Can be very slow on school networks

Some Uni’s do not allow use

-- Moodle Familiar to some teachersBring multiple activities to 1 page

Very linear lesson structureMaintain own server

Implications for Research 2.0• Web 2.0 familiarity engaged students’ interest in

getting photo and video evidence taken and uploaded – can motivate to review and reflect?

• Collaborations between school science and real science is possible: – questions for scientist answered on blog within 24 hours

ready for re-visits• School ICT infrastructure not yet ready for speeds

required e.g. skype conference• Teachers and technicians do not have set-up time

required for this one-off, elements could be incorporated gradually to all lessons

• Findings are applicable beyond science learning

Future plans

• Explore other tools to support the collaborative experience e.g. scheduling with scientist, agreeing on collaboration topics, scheduling loan of shared kit

• Identify other possible reflection and reporting mechanisms that link in with blog e.g. audio reports

• Determine learning benefit of web 2.0 tools compared with existing methods

• Extract generic technology solutions for teachers to adapt depending on availability of resources, set-up and preparation time etc.

Questions?

Acknowledgementse-Science Usability project is funded by the ESRC, DIY Energy resource was funded by an RCUK Public

Understanding grant, Teachers David Daniels and Nicola Halstead,Summer camp participants and research helpers in

Brighton.

Project: www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/escience-usability

Learners’ Blog: e-science4schools.blogspot.com

[email protected]