Part III: Incorporating a Technology CPI

The forgoing has been a prelude to the goal of actually incorporating technology into my future classes. To start exploring how I might do this, my task is to choose one of the Standards, then the corresponding strand, grade level, Content Statement and CPI. Then describe what students are expected to know and do. In my content area, describe a learning activity I could use with my students to accomplish what students are expected to know and do.

I have chosen CPI #8.1.12.F.1 Frankly it is one that lends itself most easily to having students use technology to do the kind of analysis of data that has traditionally been included in science labs, and hence may be easier to start with.

*Digital tools for grades 4, 8, and 12: For example, computers, digital cameras, probing devices, software, cell phones, GPS, online communities, VOIP, and virtual conferences.

Now we’re (finally!) to the heart of the issue. How do I identify something that can be incorporated into core content and that the use of  digital tools (as defined in the Tech CCCS*), will both add to the students learning and allow them to learn, or practice, 21^st century skills? The digital tools definition covers a pretty broad range of devices. Computer suggests to me either the use of computer programs to analyze data or the use of the internet to gather data. The use of digital cameras to document experiments is a useful skill for at least some to know. Probing devices sounds pretty scientific. It could include use of the old fashioned microscope, or a digital equivalent. I actually have a digital microscope that displays through my computer and can record stills or videos for later analysis or use in presentations. Its images aren’t very high quality, but the ability to share them on a screen and save them for future viewing is a pretty big advance over a traditional microscope. Probing devices could include things ranging from digital readout thermometers to gas spectroscopy instruments to gene sequencers. I may be at the mercy of what is available in whatever school I’ll be teaching at for these. Software seems kind of a softball pitch. Most assignments today require a knowledge of a word processing program, and most students have been exposed to PowerPoint or Keynote— it shouldn’t be too hard to fulfill at least the appearance of including software in assignments. It’s interesting that cell phones are included, as most schools have rules against their use in school. Is keeping in touch outside of school by calling or texting considered a 21^st century skill? If so, I’m not sure it’s one that we, as content teachers, need to concern ourselves with. However, I’ll bet there are some clever uses that I don’t know about, such as using the GPS function on some cell phones. GPS is given it’s own category, and certainly if I was able to do any field experiments there would be ways that GPS could be incorporated. Online communities is interesting. Besides how we are using this in our course, in group projects for other classes we have utilized Yahoo and Google Groups and Google docs to share information. I can definitely see requiring students to establish an online presence like this for some group projects. I don’t know how I’d incorporate VOIP and virtual conferences into any projects. I guess virtual conferences could be expanded to podcasts of classes or something like that. Perhaps when I see them used I’ll have a better idea how I might incorporate them.

The first thing that comes to mind is analyzing genetic data. For example, as part of a unit on genetics, I could give students a starting list of traits (which they could expand on) and have students analyze their own gene expressions and determine from online research whether the traits are dominant, recessive, or a combination of many genes; and use this data to determine the likelihood that their children will share these characteristics. I think that making this data personal and predictive of something that most of the students can imagine happening to them would make it more concrete and comprehensible to them.