Toy #1: A Blog

Technology Being Explored:  Blog

Lesson Idea for My Concepts of Engineering Class (9^th Grade)

I will plan for the students to do the following as a year-long, on-going project:

-create a blog to track information about the STEM careers they learn about and find interesting, specifically education qualifications, salary and duties of the positions, and how the career aligns their their personality

-catalog videos of and articles about new technologies,

-forecast the new technology’s affect on society, then devise discussion questions to stimulate debate surrounding the emerging technologies.

Application of the TPACK Model 

Technology--Affordances of Blogs

The blog format naturally lends itself to ongoing accumulation of knowledge, ongoing discussions of various topics, display of pictures/multimedia that support the information, chronicling progress and practical use of graphics design to create a polished product.

Content—Considering the affordances, the blog format would match well with the following learning standards for the COE class:

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Standards Addressed:

1. (E) compare and contrast engineering, science, and technology careers; and

(F) conduct and present research on emerging and innovative technology.

4(D) predict possible changes caused by the advances of technology.

Desired level of thinking from Revised Blooms Taxonomy:

1E and F:  Understanding Level

4D:  Creating Level

Pedagogy—Since the goal is for students to independently research careers and emerging technologies that interest them, justify their choices and be able to share that information with their classmates, my approach is mostly based on the Constructivism Model.  Jerome Bruner, a researcher at the forefront of the development of constructivism, states in this video that he respects “a teacher who can ask interesting questions and has the patience to watch somebody attempt to discover and answer to them.”  That will be my approach for this project. 

 

Blogs allow students to construct their own knowledge.

Final Thoughts

-The blog format and constructivism seem to go hand-in-hand.  The open nature of the application allows students unprecedented customization and individualization of their learning.

-The blog format would work really well with science fair projects and other ongoing design projects.  Students could pose questions, research related to those questions, data from research, data from their own experiments, etc.

-As Dr. Julie McLeod mentioned in her assessment of the TPACK model, it is easy for the design and development of the mode of delivery to become the focal point instead of the content they develop.  I foresee students getting so caught up in the aesthetics of their blog that they skimp on what goes into it.  I think this can be avoided by allotting a limited time for students to play with the application and focus only on aesthetics before diving into their content development.

Question to Ponder:  

How else can blogs be used in the education setting?  

Please leave your comments below.