INTE

RACTIVE N

OTEBOOKS

I N T

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ST C

EN

TU

RY

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INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOKS….

What are they?• A portfolio where students keep all of their work in one

place• Notes• Labs• Worksheets• Sketches• Graphs

Donorschoose.org

PROVEN E

FFECTI

VE

When

not

eboo

ks fo

cus o

n mak

ing se

nse

of in

vest

igat

ions,

studen

ts m

odify

, refl

ect

on, a

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anize

thei

r know

ledge

to

deepen

thei

r con

ceptu

al u

nderst

andin

g

(Butle

r & N

esbit,

2008).

BUT WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDES?

• Difficult to keep up with•Science notebooks can play a critical role in activity-based science learning, but the tasks of recording, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting data create barriers that impede science learning for many students (Rappolt-Schlichtmann et. al., 2013).

SOLUTI

ON?

ELECTRONIC INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOKS

“As technology integration continues to increase in our society, it is paramount that teachers possess the skills and behaviors of digital age professionals. Moving forward, teachers must become comfortable being co-learners with their students and colleagues around the world” (ISTE, 2013).

In one study, students demonstrated higher motivation, engagement, and independence in inquiry investigation with the use of iPad® electronic notebooks (Miller, Krockover, & Doughty, 2013).

WHY ELECTRONIC INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOK?

PROPOSALP U RC H A S E A C L A S S R O O M S E T O F TA B L E T S

7”-10” touch screen tablets

Full Microsoft office compatible software

Built in camera/microphone

Wifi & USB ports

My recommendation:

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3

$150

WHAT DOES ELECTRONIC SOLVE?Hard to keep track

of notebooks?

Students can only draw or paste in information?

Hard to grade notebooks

• Students upload all work to digital dropbox, accessible by teacher.

• Students can type, photograph, record sound and video, as well as draw.

• Teachers have access to content at all times.

OTHER BENEFITS

Students will be able to create both formative and summative products that will be on par with work that will be expected in college and in careers.

Students will be able to choose from a wider menu on how they want to present the information. They are no longer restricted to pen and paper, yet they can still use them.

Students and teachers will be able to save electronic portfolios indefinitely, allowing for data collection and retrieval far later than paper notebooks.

Students will be learning valuable skills associated with both higher education and careers.

THE ISTE STANDARDS OUTLINE FIVE AREAS TEACHERS SHOULD STRIVE TO MEET WITH TECHNOLOGY:

1.Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and CreativityTablets allow students to use multiple means of access and expression to their learning and creativity.

Tablets allow students to select from a variety of ways to personalize their experience, leading to greater motivation and satisfaction.

2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments•With tablets, teachers can easily differentiate content, process, and product for students in the same class.

3. Model Digital Age Work and Learning• Tablets give students a way to work with digital tools to solve real life queries, and use the same tools to communicate their findings.

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

• Tablets give students a chance to practice using proper Fair Use copyright procedures, as well as publishing and forum netiquette.

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

Tablets will give us the resources and motivationto continue learning about new resources as well as content to keep our skills fresh and current, allowing us to model the role of a lifetime learner.

WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO?

The Department of Education (2013) recommends that we “ensure teachers are equipped with the skills to integrate digital technologies and new approaches successfully into their teaching, and set a clear expectation that no teacher should ignore the importance of technology in learning.”

To that end, I believe it is important to start off with a pilot study of integrating tablet interactive notebooks into one class, so that I can assess the implications and outcomes, and determine what sort of training and tools we as educators will need to make this a successful tool in our classrooms.

LOOKING FORWARD….

After that initial pilot, I look forward to integrating these tablets into all my classes for digital interactive notebooks. At the end of the first full year, I will meet with the science team and discuss the program, and we will move forward on deciding how to fully integrate this for all science students at our school.

All the data as well as the artifacts themselves will be available to teachers and administrators on our school servers.

IN CONCLUSION

Digital Interactive Notebooks for science classrooms should bring all the benefits of a personalized paper and pen version, along with the data capture and analysis abilities of computers.

This will allow for a deeper and more meaningful exploration of the sciences, as well as practical digital world skills in developing and communicating findings.

REFERENCES

Butler, M. & Nesbit, C. (2008). Using science notebooks to improve writing skills and conceptual understanding. Science Activities, Vol 44(4), 137-145.

Department of Education: Schools. (2013). Digital technology in schools. http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/a00201823/digital-technology-in-schools

Department of Education. (2013). Beyond Engagement The use of ICT to enhance and transform learning at Key Stage 2 in literacy, mathematics and science DCSF-00972-2008

ISTE (2013). Standards for teachers. http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-for-teachers

Miller, B. T., Krockover, G. H., & Doughty, T. (2013). Using iPads to teach inquiry science to students with a moderate to severe intellectual disability: A pilot study. Journal Of Research In Science Teaching, 50(8), 887-911.

Rappolt-Schlichtmann, G, Daley, S., Lim, S, Lapinski, S, Robinson, K., & Johnson, M.(2013). Universal Design for Learning and elementary school science: Exploring the efficacy, use, and perceptions of a web-based science notebook. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 105(4), Nov 2013, 1210-1225.

REFERENCES