>> NARRATOR: Gone are the days when students were content learning through textbooks. The
exponential explosion of technology in our everyday lives has spilled over into classrooms
throughout Canada. Today's digital learners thrive in media-rich, inquiry-based teaching
environments. Student-driven investigation with real life applications is made possible
with tools such as PASCO's SPARK Science Learning System and SPARKvue software.
>> TEACHER 1: SPARK datalogger system really -- with the sensors and software -- is a way
of marrying software and technology so that students can actually collect really authentic
data and a lot of different kinds of data. So they can collect temperature settings,
they can get dissolved oxygen and liquids' pH values, heart rate, pressure.
There's really two huge advantages of using this kind of learning tool in the classroom.
First, it improves student engagement because they're motivated to do something they know
that seems really authentic. And second, it prepares them for the world outside of school
because that's where the world is now in digital data analysis and collection.
There are probes that can really meet the needs of almost all curricular areas and units
from junior into intermediate. There's multiple entry points as a teacher. They have a platform
where there are labs already on the software. So teachers that are maybe a little bit less
secure about doing open-ended inquiry can follow those. And they're really rich labs
and experiences that students can do.
If you're more of a science teacher that wants to take it to the next level, that technology
certainly allows you to develop your own lessons and inquiry to meet the needs of your specific
learners. And the sky's really the limit because you can use so many more activities with this
particular probeware than you normally would with the crude instruments that are generally
found in elementary schools.
How about this Sydney and Jake thing: that it's unstable when it's lower? Interesting.
And how about that it only can produce 10 as its max?
One of my roles actually in the community is I'm the vice chair of the regional science
fair and I've been involved in science fairs a long time. I see a tremendous amount of
students that have a natural curiosity about their environment and science. One of the
things that we're trying to do is actually hook up more students with this technology,
so that the technology doesn't limit where they actually can go. And so we've actually
had some students in the regional area use this technology to really expand their research,
which has been really exciting.
>> STUDENT 1: Yeah, we went past 30 seconds.
>> STUDENT 2: Well, cut it off right there.
>> STUDENT 3: Not doing anything, just doing the same thing.
>> STUDENT 4: OK, start a new one, Owen.
>> STUDENT 3: I did.
>> TEACHER 1: Sometimes we're holding back our leaders so it's nice to get that technology
in their hands.
>> STUDENT 5: I like it because it's hands on. You're not just sitting there writing notes.
>> STUDENT 6: You don't have to draw the graph. You could just take the mean, the maximum,
and the minimum and just write it down for your results.
>> STUDENT 7: And also it's accurate and it's fast to get your measurements so you don't
have to use calculators or anything.
>> TEACHER 1: The nice thing with the SPARK units is that they are very portable so once
they're charged up you could really go out into the environment and collect data outside
traditional classroom settings. So that's nice if you go down to a creek or outside
so you can get temperature or other weather type of data.
It's also flexible enough, too, so that you can use it with whole class situations. But
it's also been appropriate sometimes even if you do have science fair clubs or after
school science clubs to have students explore different kinds of data collection at that time, too.
The SPARKvue software has a few benefits, the first being that it can be used on multiple
platforms. So you can use the SPARKvue software on the SPARK independent units, you can install
it on netbooks or laptops, as well as you could put it on iPhones or iPads. And so having
that flexibility is really nice sometimes.
You can go out into the environment with a SPARK unit, collect the data, bring it back
and actually then show it on a laptop, or netbook, or even on a desktop and display
it onto a SMARTboard.
Then you'll see something look a little bit different and it's easier to see what's going on here.
The other advantage is it collects the data real-time, so gone are the days spending tons
of minutes doing these handmade graphs. They're collecting the data real time. But that gives
them then the time to actually analyze and interpret that data and that's where their
real rich learning takes place, not coloring in bar graphs or drawing of the line, but
"what does that data actually mean".
>> STUDENT 8: It's going to stay at zero for a long time -- until it melts.
>> STUDENT 9: It can't be over one hundred. One hundred is the evaporation point?
>> TEACHER 1: And it's one of those things right now that we know that students are weak in:
the interpretation or analysis of data. So that could be done really effectively using the SPARKvue software.
>> STUDENT 10: If your teacher told you the result you'd be like, "What?", where if you
use the SPARK you could be like, "Oh yeah, I understand now."
>> STUDENT 11: When our teacher says that we're going to be using SPARKs, our class
gets all excited.
>> STUDENT 12: A lot of our friends use SPARKs inside the science fairs and I was a test
subject for a heart beat monitor.
>> TEACHER 2: I have several intensive support students and there's no way you could tell
those students. It completely levels the playing field. It gives kids confidence in their abilities.
They know how to use the probes -- they're easy to use. They design their own experiments
and they follow through. They're able to troubleshoot and problem solve all the way and that's regardless
of the student's ability.
I think the key is that they are easy to use and they're really accurate and they work.
Kids get very frustrated when stuff doesn't work. My grade eights, when they've designed
an experiment around a probe and they go to use it, they know it's going to work. And that
gives them confidence. It makes them feel like they know what they're doing.
They're real scientists.
So in today's experiment where they were testing the conductivity of three different fluids,
they got the same result for three in a row and their question was, "Is it working?" And
I think if they were just recording data, that conversation wouldn't even come up.
Because they understand the probes, because they understand how to use the technology,
they're very able to design experiments on their own. The students are given something
that tweaks their interest. They determine variables, independent and dependent variables,
and then design their own experiments around the probeware. And again, it creates a more
authentic scientific inquiry.
When we see these students in small groups, that's when they feel comfortable to ask you
questions, and to share their answers, and to go beyond.
>> STUDENT 13: 6.8 for the pH, and this one's 5.7. So they're still pretty different but
they're both under 7.
>> TEACHER 2: The fear is that something is going to go wrong and kids are going to wreck
equipment or you're going to have serious classroom management issues. And the reality
is that when students are designing their own experiments they're much more invested
in the outcome. They're using technology that they're excited about using and there are
no classroom management issues.
Kids are 100 percent engaged in what they're doing, problem solving as they're going along,
thinking critically about what they're doing and the results that they get. The discussions
are much more rich at the end.
>> STUDENT 13: But when we're all using the SPARKs, we are a lot more involved into it.
>> STUDENT 14: So if you miss something, you can look back at your graph or your data.
>> STUDENT 15: It wasn't the teachers the telling us that we have to do this or do that.
It gave us a chance to really experiment and it kind of felt like CSI.
>> TEACHER 1: In the 21st century, if we want to be globally competitive in the economy
we definitely need to nurture those skills of working with technology and linking them
to critical thinking. So in the past, students in science, especially in elementary school,
were in programs that were predominantly reading some text, answering some questions, and memorizing facts.
That's not really what scientists do.
And so one of the huge benefits of using this type of technology in the classroom:
it more mimics what real scientists do and it becomes an authentic learning experience.
So that better prepares them for secondary school and science after that.