Apaint bucket with a nozzle inserted on the bottom of the can is hanging by a string, much like a pendu- lum. The paint drizzles onto a large sheet of butcher
paper below. Then someone gives it a push. Simultaneously
someone pulls the paper along under the bucket at an even
speed, creating a blue painted waveform on the paper. Over
many trials, students begin to observe that the “push” is a
variable that determines the amplitude of the wave, and the
speed at which the paper is pulled is another variable that
determines the wavelength and frequency of the waves.
(For more details about this lesson, see “Mixed Reality,”
Connected Classroom, L&L, February 2013, pages 10–11.)
This activity is an ideal instructional approach that helps
middle school students anchor complex science concepts
related to waveforms, amplitude, wavelength, frequency,
and energy. But ultimately, students are limited in their investigation of these phenomena due to lack of the time and
materials necessary to systematically conduct the many
trials needed to fully explore the variables.
To address this challenge after the original experiment,
we used an iPad app to simulate the pendulum swing. In
this way, students had unlimited opportunities for investigation. In the app, a mouse tracking ball is suspended over
the screen in a manner similar to the way the paint bucket
hung over the paper, and a student can start it swinging.
The app then graphs the waveforms on the iPad screen,
creating an illustration of the pathway of the mouse ball
swing analogous to the paint on the paper.
This type of inquiry-based pedagogy allowed students to
initially experience a real pendulum, then the app helped
them to fully explore the variables of a pendulum swing.
The teacher who designed this learning activity used an
approach that required her to understand the interaction
and interconnection among the technologies used, the
pedagogical approach, and the science content.
The teacher who designed this learning activity
used an approach that required her to understand
the interaction and interconnection among the
technologies used, the pedagogical approach,
and the science content.
Swinging the Pendulum at NTLS
For a pendulum to work, the mass at the end of the string
needs a push. The National Technology Leadership Coalition (NTLC, www.ntlcoalition.org) holds its annual summit to generate this “push”—a push across teacher education professional associations to advance the effective use
of technology in the classroom. The National Technology
Leadership Summit (NTLS, www.ntls.info) is NTLC’s annual meeting of approximately 20 technology organizations, including ISTE, the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, and the Association
for Advancement of Computing in Education.
Editors from leading educational technology journals,
such as ISTE’s Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, were in attendance, as was a representative from the
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
(AACTE). Additionally, content-specific organizations,
school- and district-based educators, and corporate partner Microsoft participated. This wide range of perspectives
sparked rich conversations.
