Saturday June 10, 2006
Saturday June 10, 2006
Using Handheld Computers to Organize Vocabulary
Description
Concept mapping allows students to relate new information to what they already know, develop a deeper understanding of the knowledge they already have, and see relationships between concepts. In order to do these things, students must link concepts to subconcepts, describe the relationship between them with propositions, and create cross links. The more a particular concept is understood by a student, the more subconcepts, links, and cross links will appear in that student's concept map. So, the more complex a student's concept map is, the deeper his or her understanding is, engaging students in more meaningful learning. Although there are several software applications that allow students to create concept maps on desktop computers, they can also now be created using handheld computers, with a software application called PiCoMap. Using handhelds for concept mapping have several advantages over using desktops, as noted below.
Key findings from readings
In the Royer article, several reasons students preferred handhelds over desktop computers are given. Students felt that handhelds were faster and easier to use. They also thought their maps created on handhelds were neater and more organized. Students were also more motivated to use the handhelds. From a teacher's perspective, the article mentioned that using handhelds made classroom management easier. The class did not have to travel to the computer lab, the teacher didn't have to know exactly when the students would be ready to start mapping days or weeks in advance in order to reserve the lab, and students who worked at different paces had plenty of time to complete their maps. One advantage to using desktop computers to create concept maps was found, which was that the maps completed on them tended to be more complex. One possible reason for this difference may have been that the entire map was visible on the screen of a desktop at once, whereas students had to scroll to see all the parts of their map on the handhelds. Jeff Royer, the teacher who used handhelds in the article, recommended that teachers use the PiCoMap software with handhelds when students' maps were going to be smaller, and desktop computers for larger, more complex maps.
Applications to teaching
We have a class set of Palm Pilots at my school, and I would like to try using them to have my students complete concept maps for sets of vocabulary words from various subjects. We have a heavy concentration of vocabulary in math, social studies, and science. By using the concept maps, students could see "the big picture" by illustrating the relationships between vocabulary concepts. It would be a lot more effective than simply having them write definitions on paper. We do concept maps on paper now, but I think that using the handhelds would greatly increase student motivation, especially for an area like vocabulary, which isn't the most exciting thing for a student to do! Once the concept maps grew big and complex enough, we could transfer to using desktop computers with our Thinking Map software to create maps.
Posted at 02:57PM Jun 10, 2006 by DEAL, DONNA in General | Comments[0]
Locationless Caching with Fourth Grade Social Studies
Description
*The information below about how GPS works is from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum website.
Geocaching is similar to a scavenger hunt, but on a larger scale. Geocachers hide a collection of items, usually in a waterproof container, in a certain locations, then post the longitude/latitude coordinates of the locations on a geocaching website. People can search for caches hidden their area and use GPS (global positioning) handheld units to locate them.
I wasn't very familiar with how GPS worked, so I did a little Internet research to find the following information. GPS satellites send information to GPS handheld units. Each GPS satellite transmits data that indicates its location and the current time. The signals move at the speed of light and may arrive at GPS receivers at slightly different times because some satellites are farther away than others. When the receiver estimates the distance to at least four GPS satellites, it can calculate its position in three dimensions. There are at least 24 GPS satellites operating above the Earth at all times.
Key findings from readings
In the Lary article, a concept called "locationless caching" is mentioned. In this type of caching, someone creates a cache describing a certain type of object they are searching for, and others take pictures and/or write descriptions of this type of object and post them online with their longitude/latitude coordinates. Cachers don't need a GPS unit for this type of caching, so it would be great way to start incorporating geocaching into your classroom and allow students to become familiar with the process. On a related note, the article also mentioned "travel bugs," which are tags that can be attached to objects. A cacher indicates where the bug wants to go and "releases" it into a cache. Each time the bug is moved, the person who moved it records the movements on a geocaching website. Lary noted that travel bugs might be of particular interest to elementary teachers, and the idea does interest me, especially for sending a travel bug around North Carolina (see below).
Applications to Teaching
North Carolina is the focus of the fourth grade social studies curriculum. I would like to use locationless caching to allow my students to take a virtual tour of North Carolina. The students could describe various historical or famous NC locations they want a photo and description of, and people who visit or live near those locations could send them in. Some examples that immediately pop to mind are Jockey's Ridge, Cape Hatteras or another of the NC lighthouses, the state capitol in Raleigh, the Biltmore Estate, Mount Mitchell, etc. I would probably divide the locations into the coastal, piedmont, and mountain regions and assign groups of students to each region. This activity would be like a state-wide field trip! A travel bug could be used in conjunction with this activity by sending it around NC, and we could create a physical map of where it had been. I would really like to try this idea next year. A website I found for starting a locationless cache is www.waymarking.com.
Posted at 01:56PM Jun 10, 2006 by DEAL, DONNA in General | Comments[0]