Teachers in Action Using “Wikispace” for teaching Sound in Science Created by Tracy Templeman and Marsha Pittman Grade 4 Teachers June 2013

Students working through activity via Wikispace, independently. Note three manipulatives; text, logbook and Wikispace.

Will using a “Wikispace” page encourage questioning and understanding? As Grade 4 teachers, we decided to explore the use of a Wikispace page to enhance our Science Unit on Sound. We felt our Sound unit needed a little “boost” of interest that would enhance the experience for the students, thus improving comprehension. Our aim was to develop a deeper sense of inquiry-based learning, through questioning. It was our goal that students would develop questions that they themselves would wish to answer. The Wikispace page was developed as their safe place of research, to find the answers to these questions.

“Bird’s Eye View” of Unit o Introduction: We read aloud Title of text as well as passed each student a log book. (Teacher created pages, mostly blank for webs, charts and general jot-noting) Task…to create a poster displaying their student knowledge of sound. o Day 2: Read Table of Contents from text. Modelled using Side bar in logbooks for writing things they “wondered” and suggested students discuss and note questions they may have been thinking. o Day 3: Students were shown Wikispace Page, how to log in and move through appropriately. Given day’s particular task and then time in our computer lab to work through page independently. Encouraged to note in log book. o Throughout unit, we continued in the above manor with a variety of discussion and response activities. o Final Task was a poster displaying knowledge after using Wikispace.

Student’s questions…

Teacher’s Point of View Positives Student’s were excited about Science Interest in technology high High achievers were constantly engaged Videos were very interesting Students were inclined to revisit earlier activities and videos independently Students could review material from home Negatives  Time on task, some students displayed little work  Students found it difficult to motivate themselves to move ahead, unsure of expectation  The repetitive aspect of videos became uninteresting after a few days

A Student sample of something they questioned….I wonder…?

Hands on Activity; Make animal ears!

Student’s wrote explanations for their Animal Ear structures!

Teacher Anecdotal notes…  How do we ensure students are attentive to the learning behind the fun, music and visuals?  Same students who have difficulty with outcomes, still inattentive and forgetting and not knowing what to write in their logs.  Students were always excited about viewing videos.  High achievers continued their higher learning, logging thoughtful and important questions and observations.  A great deal of “I’m done, what do I do now?” Very little initiative to follow through independently.  There was an increased amount of student discussions during and after Science class.  Students looked forward to Science class, each day. Asking questions about sound.  Students carried bits and pieces from Wikispace experiences into their writing projects and recess conversations.

A student sample of poster from Day 1 of project and on the final day.

Challenges during Implementation Technology became a constant problem throughout the unit.  Book the lab  Space inside the lab/number of working computers  Troubleshooting individual problems with computers; ie sound working, computers working for 24 students  Downloading speed of various videos, activities  Only 4 students per class with complete headsets Analysing students learning, daily. Formal and informal assessments became difficult as we were focused on the student questioning and working environment. The creation of Wikispace student page with viable, pertinent activities.

In conclusion… Our “Teachers in Action” project was very successful, in many aspects. Learning to use student workings as an assessment tool for our own teacher planning was informative and challenging. As teachers, our planning perspectives are forever changed, we believe for the better. In using a Wikispace page for the effective questioning and learning of Sound is a little more difficult to explain. While we have researched, analysed and noted a variety of positives and negatives, we have decided that the Wikispace project would best be suited for a supplementary piece of learning Sound in Science. As well as using an older, more independent age group of learners. A large part of our project required students’ self motivation and exploratory of information, via the Wikispace page. Students, through our research, required more teacher direction to ensure quality understanding of curriculum. The use of technology was undeniably received in a positive and exciting manner. Students’ questions were present and a majority of students were verbally expressing questions and wonders of Sound and Science too!

Future Usage…  With more use and understanding of a Wikispace page, could students use it independently to write responses online?  Would a Wikispace page be beneficial in a higher grade, when students are more independent with their learning?  Home connections could be more developed, encouraging home participation.  Could we have student submissions for the Wikispace page?