30 Learning & Leading with Technology | May 2014
| LEARNING CONNECTIONS
Students talked among themselves
about how they would work together,
whether they would switch roles at each
station, and how they could collaborate
to complete the assignment first. By
the end of the activity, students were
tired but still energized about sharing
their work and talking about how these
environmental issues affected their surroundings and therefore themselves.
Students easily found examples of
environmental problems at their stations and recorded their responses
in pictures, text, and audio using
StoryKit. When asked how they liked
using the iPad and apps to learn the
content, students responded favorably.
“[The iPad] was easy to use,” said
one student. “I could record and look
up information quickly.”
“I liked how we were able to use
photos, type text, and record sounds
to share what we saw and know,” said
another. “We were even able to draw
what we couldn’t take pictures of.
That made it fun and creative.”
As students shared their science
notebooks in class, it was obvious that
they made meaningful connections
with the content and developed a
deeper understanding of local envi-
ronmental issues.
—Daniel M. Alston studied biology and
secondary science education at the University
of South Carolina. He taught high school biology in Columbia, South Carolina, for five years
and is currently a doctoral student at Clemson
University.
—Cynthia C. M. Deaton is an assistant professor of science education at Clemson University. She teaches science education and qualitative research courses. Her research interests are
science teacher education, mobile learning, and
reflective practice.
Here are ways that this activity meets the
ISTE Standards for Students and Teachers:
ISTE Standards for Students
Standard 1: Creativity and Innovation. Students
generate new ideas using their existing knowledge
as well as newly learned information to create
original products (a story) that demonstrate what the
group is thinking.
Standard 2: Communication and Collaboration.
Students work together to complete the scavenger
hunt to publish their story about the different environmental issues that surround them. Groups are
also working with other groups to learn about other
environmental issues.
ISTE Standards for Teachers
Standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning
and Creativity. Students explore real-world environmental issues that exist in their communities.
Standard 2: Design and Develop Digital Age
Learning Experiences and Assessment. This is a
technological twist on how scavenger hunts have
been done in the past. It enables more authentic
student learning and lets students be creative in
how they present what they learned.
Problem: We are looking for online resources to use with our
youngest readers and researchers. Is there a database that’s just
right for our PK– 3 students?
Here’s a solution: We have been using Capstone’s PebbleGO
with our students at Van Meter Community School this year, and I
can’t believe the difference it has made with emergent readers.
PebbleGO is a collection of four databases covering animals, earth
and space, biographies, and social studies. I love PebbleGO for its
simple navigation, engaging voice that reads the text, extended learning
with video and audio for each article, and lesson plans that connect to
curriculum standards.
Each article has five tabs of information, six educational games, and
numerous audio and video clips. Articles also have reading scaffolds,
word-by-word highlighting, fully narrarated articles, and audio navigation
to make them accessible to all students.
Many of our teachers love the Share What You Know printable
templates that accompany the articles. These allow children to draw
and write what they have learned about a specific topic. There is even
a place at the bottom of the sheets for a citation, which is a great digital
citizenship lesson for young learners.
PebbleGO is definitely the place to bring our young readers because
it makes learning fun and exciting for kids.
Tip
PebbleGo Helps the Youngest Readers with Literacy and Research
Shannon McClintock Miller is the district teacher librarian at Van
Meter Community School in Iowa. She can be found on Twitter at
@shannonmmiller and at her blog, Van Meter Library Voice
( vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com).
