Sunday, April 25, 2010

What to do with 5 computers in a classroom?

Last week I got 4 computers in my classroom which together with the single one I have had for a year, and not done much with, present a challenge and an opportunity for me and my students. I have tried teaching parts of a topic before by getting the students to "do a project" on say the environment or a process like the water cycle in science using computers as a source of information and as a way of presenting their project.
I am inclined to focus on their presentation rather than having the computers tied up with finding information. I also want to try the students writing about their learning and self assessing their learning in a blog.
The students will work in groups of three to prepare material for their wiki then give one student from each group 10 muniutes to type in their offerings. For group work I use a ring binder for each group in which they have all the resources they need and the work they produce.
The year 9 students are learning about "Living Things" which the New Zealand Curriculum now requires, at level 4, an understanding of NZ's species and how they came to be different. They will research and learn about one species.
I will use the techniques of Inquiry Based Learning. The way this differs from the projects I have done in the past is that students need to ask the questions, as well as find the answers. This could be a useful literacy activity; involving reading and writing skills. I will give each group 3 resource sheets with a text and images which they will read and come up with 3 questions each. The questions should be at the different levels of the SOLO taxonomy. How can I get them to do this?