Speak Up Blog

Part 4 of 4: Inspiring the Next Generation of Innovators

Students’ increased access to mobile computing devices might now mean that the instruments in their backpacks and pockets—not to mention their high-speed internet at home (which 90 percent of them have, according to parents)—are far more useful to them for learning and communicating than the tools at school. Sixty-five percent of students in grades 9-12 said their school could make it easier for them to work electronically by allowing them to use their own laptop, cell phone, or other mobile device. Sixty-six percent of school leaders and 51 percent of teachers said the most significant value of incorporating such devices into instruction would be to increase student engagement in school and learning.

But according to students, filtering seems to trump student engagement. While school administrators aim to protect young people with firewalls and filters, and to prevent distractions, students report that the tools are blocking Web sites they need for learning. In 2007, this was high school students’ number one obstacle to using technology at their schools (53 percent). For middle school students, two obstacles tied for the greatest barrier (39 percent each): “there are rules against using technology at school” and “teachers limit technology use”. It’s likely that when students face obstacles to using technology at school, they also face obstacles to inquiry-based learning opportunities which can include online research, visualizations, and games.
Some school leaders and teachers are taking advantage of students’ interest and access to network connected mobile devices, however, and with highly positive results:

In January 2009, David Rapp wrote for Scholastic, “Lift the Cell Phone Ban. Stop thinking classroom disruption. Start thinking powerful (and free) teaching tool.” He describes how a pilot project at the Craik School in Saskatchewan, Canada turned into an integral part of the curriculum once teachers and parents showed students positive uses. This was a shift from fear-based bans that suppose students will first cheat using text messages and interrupt classrooms with rap-music ring tones. Rapp also conveys that mobile phones are effective for classroom management. Software from companies like GoKnow “turns the students’ smartphones into computers, allowing students to use word processors, spreadsheets, and art programs, among others, on their cell phones.”

Science Centric reported that software developed at the University of Michigan is also being used to turn smart phones into personal computers for students. Matt Cook, a fifth-grade teacher from Keller, Texas is using the phones in his classroom. “He explained how the devices will change his lesson on physical and chemical weathering. He will take the students outside with sidewalk chalk and let them decorate the concrete. Normally, they would then go outside every day to watch the chalk fade over time. Now, students will take a photo of the sidewalk every day and use the Sketchy animation program to create a video of the fading process.”

In the UK, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young and Nadja Heym of the Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Nottingham asked for volunteer teachers to test using mobile phones in their classrooms. They targeted teachers working in schools with policies that clearly do not allow mobile devices. When the rules changed in the volunteer settings, students used phones for classroom organization (transferring files, file sharing, synchronizing calendars) and also used them to for assessment preparation, such as creating eportfolios. Some learned languages from foreign language podcasts. Others created short narrative movies. Hartnell-Young and Heym found, “In every case, teachers [from other classrooms] became interested and involved, and the project teachers decided to continue using mobile phones.” Almost all students, at first surprised by how they could use cell phones for learning, reported greater enjoyment in projects and felt more motivated.

Comment below, or join our Facebook discussion: Do teachers have the power to unleash the learning potential in mobile devices, or will smartphones only serve to disrupt learning in schools?

This week we find Julie in Madison, AL and DC (once again). Thanks to Kathy Rains from Madison City Public Schools (AL), Julie will be sharing the results of Speak Up 2008 with their district administrators during her visit. Madison City recently hosted a T+L Site visit in March to share how they are infusing technology into the curriculum. We are thrilled with our continued partnership with Madison City and their on-going participation in and use of the Speak Up data to guide their technology decisions. If you’d like to learn more about about what’s happening in Madison City, contact Kathy Rains Director of Technology.

On Thursday, April 23, Julie will be presenting Speak Up results at the FETC free, interactive, online conference: Students Speak Up About 21st Century Learning and Education Games — Click here to learn more about the online conference.

It’s Friday — Julie will once again be in DC where she will present the Speak Up findings at the Intel Visionary Conference. Stay tuned.. next week we’ll post the presentations on our website.

Part 3 of 4: Inspiring the Next Generation of Innovators

The Speak Up 2007 Survey found that teachers’ most-used strategies for guiding science learning vary by grade level. Hands-on activities were the most frequently employed strategy among teachers of elementary (grades K-5) and middle school (grades 6-8) students. Elementary school teachers also frequently used inquiry-based investigations and kit-based materials. Lecturing was not among the top five strategies primarily used by elementary school teachers.

In contrast, middle school teachers’ second and third most-used strategies were lecturing and “making it relevant”. They also frequently employed inquiry-based investigations and demonstration lessons. High school teachers most frequently lectured, and then employed hands-on activities and “making science relevant”.

This begs the question: Does STEM learning get “less fun” for students as they age?

The most essential feature of an “ultimate science classroom” among students in grades K-2 and in grades 9-12 was “teachers excited about science.” “Excited teachers” was also the factor K-12 parents indicated would have the greatest impact on improving their children’s science education. “Working with other students on projects” was the second most important feature for middle and high school students (53 percent).

“Lecturing” and “excitement” aren’t necessarily at odds, but if we take their first and second preferences together then students might be suggesting they want to participate more in their ongoing STEM learning.

Students of Dan Meyer, a high school math teacher from Santa Cruz, California, are not experiencing a decline of inquiry—and it appears be a whole lot of fun for teachers and students alike. Meyer authors the highly followed dy/dan blog. There he publishes the group inquiry-based learning sessions he plans and tests in his own classroom. Meyer arranges and structures his lessons from digital material he “curates” from places far more fascinating than textbooks. Click and check out some examples of lessons Meyer has created (sometimes in collaboration with his readers) from TV shows, photos Meyer finds, photos Meyer takes, video Meyer captures, iPhone applications, current events, commercials. Students take on the challenges, learning the math they’ll come to use as science tools, and Meyer participates as a facilitator.

Meyer reports that this is time-consuming and challenging work. He can’t just “find” the curriculum he wants in tidy kits. Instead, he has to develop it. He’s made a habit of bringing the world into his classroom, using technology and experience and his own “messy questions”. The result is that his students have fun while they gain experience confronting and solving problems. They’re not expected to “listen and repeat” the knowledge science has produced. Instead, they’re practicing the art of applying conceptual knowledge in a large number of situations.

Students need this kind of solution-finding practice. Globally speaking, we have a lot of problems to tackle in the 21st century. If STEM learning-made-fun will help motivate students to understand the content and techniques to solve these problems, perhaps we ought to put more Meyer-like effort into developing STEM lessons for teachers to use.

Comment below, or join our Facebook discussion: Would teachers be more likely to use hands-on learning if there were wider availability of digital content arranged and structured it to facilitate group, inquiry-based learning? Or is lesson arranging best left to individual teachers?

Part 2 of 4: Inspiring the Next Generation of Innovators

Most students who participated in the Project Tomorrow Speak Up 2007 survey are open to pursuing a job or career in a STEM field. Thirty-two percent of middle school students and 38 percent of high school students reported they are somewhat or very interested in STEM jobs or careers. Twenty-one percent more students in grades 6-12 indicated “maybe” they are interested in a STEM career. College scholarships, conversational interactions with professionals, visits to STEM companies, using tools professionals use, and hand-on learning opportunities have potential to further students’ interest.

Some innovative educators are designing new schools entirely around this idea. The Build SF Institute, for example, has a school-to-career learning program featuring architectural projects and internships that integrate real-life math, science, design, and technology skills for San Francisco high school students. Learn all about it in this short documentary video from Project Tomorrow partner, Edutopia:

Said one student, “The difference is [that in traditional settings] we all sit there and the work we have to do is just in a textbook. You’re not allowed to get up. You’re not free. You’re just stuck there in your uncomfortable desk. Here everybody has more of a positive attitude. Everybody works together pretty much. It just gives you a lot of motivation…just doing something that you enjoy.”

Students expressed that professional exposure is possible in more traditional settings, too. Some expressed they would like to deal more frequently with equipment many schools already have, such as microscopes and Bunsen burners. A good number of them mentioned, specifically, that they’d like to gain experience conducting online research to prepare their reports or to prepare for inquiry-based tasks. They also thought simple roundtables with professionals would make a difference so they can better understand what people in STEM careers do.

Comment below, or join our Facebook discussion: What ideas do you have for exposing students to STEM professionals and their tools?

A four-part series exploring how to motivate STEM learning

In July 2008, Project Tomorrow and PASCO scientific presented our Speak Up 2007 findings in our now widely-read report, Inspiring the Next Generation of Innovators: Students, Parents and Educators Speak Up about Science Education. This week, in a four-part Speak Up Blog Series, we’re going to further explore some of the paper’s most interesting findings as well as some of the ways people are inspiring and motivating young learners by taking action on students’ input.

For today, we’re simply going to summarize the paper’s key findings. It’s been some time since the release, so a fresh look seems appropriate:

Today’s leading technological thinkers assert that our nation’s people must achieve basic STEM literacy (science, technology, engineering, and math) if we expect to solve the greatest challenges of the 21st century. While some of today’s students will be producers of scientific knowledge, it’s likely that the majority will be knowledge consumers. As democratic decision-makers, all consumers will have an important supporting role in the advancement of science, which will include taking-up new technologies, funding research, and critically assessing the validity of new assertions. Solving 21st century problems will be a collective responsibility.

Today’s students, however, see learning science largely as a means to high school graduation. Less than 40 percent see learning science as important for making informed decisions in the future. This perspective might be an outcome of how students are learning science, as curricula is still largely oriented in the memorization of facts. Just one fourth of teachers say they’re using inquiry-based methods with their students; methods that both educators and researchers argue are essential for the development of scientific literacy. But all is not lost. Students report they are open to learning science and pursuing STEM careers—intrigued by opportunities to participate in hands-on, group-oriented, “fun” experiences, as well as by opportunities to meet with professionals and use professional-level tools. Students are most motivated to learn science when they are exposed to what science is rather than the knowledge science has produced.

Comment below, or join our Facebook discussion: Have you thought about educating future “consumers of scientific knowledge” as much as the “producers”? Should all students learn the same content? Or should learning program design vary by student at some point?

Julie and I were in Washington, DC earlier this month to release selected national findings from Speak Up 2008. Each year, Julie treks to Washington, DC to present the Speak Up findings and this year I had the opportunity to go with her. We’re excited to say this event was our best ever — over 160 people attended the Congressional Briefing on March 24th, including a delegation of students and teachers from Australia.

In addition to releasing the national findings, we shared our new video “Students Speak Up to President Obama” and our student panelists shared their views about technology usage in their schools. Over the years, we have found that students are more than willing to share what’s important to them and strategies for keeping them engaged in learning. We encourage you to heed their advice as you consider strategies for providing relevant, engaging and robust learning opportunities for all students. Students are providing great insight into how we should work with them, manage our schools, structure our classrooms, design our curriculum, select technology or provide extended learning opportunities — you can check out some of their recommendations on our website. Happy reading!