Capstone Group Presents Two Sessions at the 2017 WVSTA
The first session, Digital Tools That Engage Students in Science Experiences, is a hands-on workshop that introduces teachers to free digital tools that support student weather and ecology data collection and research. The goal for this workshop is to give teachers exposure to simulations and mobile apps that engage students in meaningful science experiences through adaptive technology tools.
The free tools featured promote scientific practice consistent with the WV science standards, critical inquiry skills, data collection, and analysis about weather and ecology systems. The GLOBE Observer app, for example, invites observations about the Earth within a student’s immediate environment. Scientists use student observations to validate, interpret, and understand satellite data collected by NASA from space.
The ecoMUVE tools support ecology teaching by giving students a guided introduction to ecology science through a virtual world context. The ecoMUVE software can be used within the formal school context, in after school programs, or in student self-directed out of school learning assignments. The ecoMUVE system was developed by a team of educators and scientists at Harvard University to guide students to progress from online practice to real-world ecology research.
The MIT-developed TaleBlazer mobile app provides a way for teachers to selectively use and/or adapt existing games to teach location-based ecology facts or create location-focused ecology stories. Teachers can also guide students to create location-focused ecology games with the TaleBlazer app. In the workshop at WVSTA, teachers will be able to access a sample TaleBLAZER app designed for the Oglebay Park setting. This app called Water Walk, demonstrates how teachers or students can use the TaleBLAZER app to address key observations and actions outlined in the GLOBE hydrosphere Water Walk activity. Using an app like TaleBLAZER can help today’s students see how they can use their personal technologies to enhance their ecology fieldwork and research.
Teachers are encouraged to downloade each of these free tools prior to the Digital Tools That Engage Students in Science Experiences workshop, which will be presented on Friday, November 3, 9:15-10:15 a.m., Conference 6, at the 2017 WVSTA Conference at Oglebay Resort, Wheeling, WV. These free tools can be downloaded from:
GLOBE Observer: https://www.globe.gov/globe-data/data-entry/globe-observer
TaleBLAZER: http://taleblazer.org
The second session that the Capstone Group presents at the 2017 WVSTA Conference is called, Using Hands-on, Integrated Science Resources to Teach Science and Encourage Student Research. Click here to read about this poster presentation.
