Week 11 - Integrating Technology into a Lesson Plan

The last few weeks have been more about the philosophy of integrating technology. In general, I find contemplating theory much easier than applying it. Now it’s time to come up with a worthwhile learning experience that will be better because of the use of technology.

In my future classroom I would like to use virtual labs to accomplish one or more of several learning goals: to prepare students for physical labs, to give extended experience after a physical lab, or to allow experiences of technology and manipulation of data that would not be practical in a high school biology lab. As a student who isn’t actually teaching, I always find it hard to come up with ideas that:  integrate with a real set of curriculum; fit within the time allowed given everything else that needs to be covered in a biology course; and that, from a learning perspective, will be worth the time spent doing this activity rather than something else. 

As someone who is often critical of lessons that I see as using technology for its own sake, I hope I can come up with a lesson that uses technology effectively to increase learning and expand student understanding of, and interest in, biology.

For this assignment I went exploring on the Web and so far I’m impressed by the range of virtual labs available. I believe I have found one which would engage students and allow for an end product which can be assessed for amount of effort, thinking and learning. Here is a screen shot for a “guppy sexual selection” lab from http://virtualbiologylab.org/.

Other interesting resources I found were: Online Labs http://onlinelabs.in/biology, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/ , PBS http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/, Biology Labs Online http://www.occc.edu/biologylabs/ and Science Creative Quarterly http://www.scq.ubc.ca 

I would use this lab as part of  a unit on Natural Selection. The experiment would be conducted after an introductory lesson on Natural Selection. By this point in the semester the students have already had units on Ecology, Ecosytems and Populations, so they will have a good foundation of knowledge to apply to their thinking about this experiement. Students will work in  pairs to set parameters and record data.

The basic lab would have the students study the background information and parameters of the experiment and answer the following questions:

Before beginning the experiment:

1. What assumptions have the program creators made about guppy behavior and natural selection?
2. Make predictions about the factors which will lead to the greatest extremes in male tail spots.
3. Using what we have already studied, why might female guppies exhibit this preference?
4. With your partner, decide the best way to record data during the experiment for future study. What information needs to be recorded? How often? What is the best way to record this information so that it can be understood when you look at it afterwards?

During the experiment:

1. Record settings and results.
2. Find settings which give largest number of spots.
3. Find settings which give least number of spots.
4. Explain results based on the background information provided.
5. Document the accuracy or inaccuracy of predictions.

After the experiment:

1. Take a position, and defend it with facts, on how realistic the simulation is or isn’t, and how it might be improved.
2. Are there factors not included which might also affect results? How would adding other factors increase the complexity of the program?
3. Under ideal circumstances would the males continue to change? 
4. Could it have continued indefinitely? 
5. What new factors might set new limits?

I want to explore having students enter their data using Excel, or some other program, that would allow visualizing the results in various ways. To be honest I’m not sure how to do this myself, but this might be a good time to learn.

Week 11 - Integrating Technology into a Lesson Plan

The last few weeks have been more about the philosophy of integrating technology. In general, I find contemplating theory much easier than applying it. Now it’s time to come up with a worthwhile learning experience that will be better because of the use of technology.

In my future classroom I would like to use virtual labs to accomplish one or more of several learning goals: to prepare students for physical labs, to give extended experience after a physical lab, or to allow experiences of technology and manipulation of data that would not be practical in a high school biology lab. As a student who isn’t actually teaching, I always find it hard to come up with ideas that:  integrate with a real set of curriculum; fit within the time allowed given everything else that needs to be covered in a biology course; and that, from a learning perspective, will be worth the time spent doing this activity rather than something else. 

As someone who is often critical of lessons that I see as using technology for its own sake, I hope I can come up with a lesson that uses technology effectively to increase learning and expand student understanding of, and interest in, biology.

For this assignment I went exploring on the Web and so far I’m impressed by the range of virtual labs available. I believe I have found one which would engage students and allow for an end product which can be assessed for amount of effort, thinking and learning. Here is a screen shot for a “guppy sexual selection” lab from http://virtualbiologylab.org/.

Other interesting resources I found were: Online Labs http://onlinelabs.in/biology

Other interesting resources I found were: Online Labs http://onlinelabs.in/biology, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/ , PBS http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/, Biology Labs Online http://www.occc.edu/biologylabs/ and Science Creative Quarterly http://www.scq.ubc.ca 

I would use this lab as part of  a unit on Natural Selection. The experiment would be conducted after an introductory lesson on Natural Selection. By this point in the semester the students have already had units on Ecology, Ecosytems and Populations, so they will have a good foundation of knowledge to apply to their thinking about this experiement. Students will work in  pairs to set parameters and record data.

The basic lab would have the students study the background information and parameters of the experiment and answer the following questions:

Before beginning the experiment:

1. What assumptions have the program creators made about guppy behavior and natural selection?
2. Make predictions about the factors which will lead to the greatest extremes in male tail spots.
3. Using what we have already studied, why might female guppies exhibit this preference?
4. With your partner, decide the best way to record data during the experiment for future study. What information needs to be recorded? How often? What is the best way to record this information so that it can be understood when you look at it afterwards?

During the experiment:

1. Record settings and results.
2. Find settings which give largest number of spots.
3. Find settings which give least number of spots.
4. Explain results based on the background information provided.
5. Document the accuracy or inaccuracy of predictions.

After the experiment:

1. Take a position, and defend it with facts, on how realistic the simulation is or isn’t, and how it might be improved.
2. Are there factors not included which might also affect results? How would adding other factors increase the complexity of the program?
3. Under ideal circumstances would the males continue to change? 
4. Could it have continued indefinitely? 
5. What new factors might set new limits?

I want to explore having students enter their data using Excel, or some other program, that would allow visualizing the results in various ways. To be honest I’m not sure how to do this myself, but this might be a good time to learn.

Week 10 - Sexting

From an education point of view, the good news is that thanks to technology it is far easier to create and distribute content for a wide audience. Unfortunately, people seem driven to exploit technological advancements for both good and bad purposes. Adolescents have always done some things that appeared to the adults around them to be naive, or stupid, or emotion driven.  Add to this the fact that adolescents are instinctively trying to separate themselves from the adults in their lives in preparation for independent living and they tend to band together to make this separation less scary (for them, not us adults). They are just more likely to look to their peers for models of behavior and to reject the adults around them. 

As an adolescent I survived some actions that, in retrospect, were pretty stupid. The good news is that, like me, the majority of adolescents will survive their own foolish decisions. However, the range of actions, and the public exposure,  these actions can attract today is far far beyond what I had available in my day. Once anything enters cyberspace it can potentially be accessed by anyone forever. 

Back in my low-tech adolescence it was much more difficult for someone to torment me without my knowing who they were, and the spread of pictures or words were restricted to quant technologies such as word-of-mouth or copying. How can we as teachers help student learn to protect themselves in cyberspace?

I was amazed by the stories about “sexting”. It’s hard to imagine what is going on in the brain of someone who sends pictures to boyfriends or girlfriends without considering the consequences if these pictures are passed on to others. Would I have been that stupid? Actually, when I was young and in love (and filled with raging adolescent hormones), and thought the love would never end, I have to admit I probably would have been stupid enough.

Recent brain imaging studies have shown that adolescent brains are still developing to a greater extent than  previously thought, and are unlike adult brains in certain key areas. Most importantly, the pre-frontal cortex— the parts of our brain involved in decision making and fulfillment postponement— are not yet fully developed. Adolescents are just less likely to understand the consequences of their actions beyond the immediate pleasure that it gives them. So, at least we all have an excuse for some bone-headed choices in adolescence. I think we, as teachers, need to help students understand this— at least conceptually.


I don't want to imply that adolescents can't think before they act, or that they aren't responsible for their decisions, just that they need more direction and support and understanding. That's were we, as teachers, can come in.


Frankly though, sexting seems like just one more thing to try and dissuade students from doing. Like being gay or being bullied, we need to be aware that any adolescent who suffers from peer tormentors may need help in keeping it in perspective. It’s not the end of the world— unless you commit suicide! So, let’s add sexting, to the list of things we want our students to avoid such as taking drugs, driving under the influence, getting pregnant, facial and full body tattoos, and body piercings— most of which seem to me to have potentially longer lasting consequences than sexual pictures on the internet.