How can science and technology activities be made engaging and relevant in primary education? Beth Gibbs

How can science and technology activities be made engaging and relevant in primary education?

During a university seminar I took part in a volcano experiment where we used bicarbonate soda and vinegar and added them together to simulate a volcano eruption. I believe activities like this are a really good, practical way to involve children and engage them. We discussed how this activity could be developed further to become a class project for example; if we did this activity with children we could ask the children to create their own volcano rather than using a plastic model. Also we could ask the children to predict what they thought would happen by mixing these two properties together and identify whether adding more or less vinegar or bicarbonate soda would change the outcome. Projects like this promote holistic learning as they develop there mathematics, writing, science and art and design. This coincides with Graham Donaldson’s idea of what the Welsh curriculum should promote as it has cross curricula learning opportunities. Activities can be extended to using technology to record data or videoing the experiment which promotes their digital competence.

Within a lecture we had a guest speaker who was a teacher in a primary school, he discussed how virtual reality headsets could be used in the classroom. This was really interesting as he spoke about different apps that can provide real life learning experiences without leaving the classroom. Google Expeditions enables you to visit different countries and places of interest for example; the amazon rainforest or the Great Barrier Reef. This app also enables one of the headsets to be set as teacher where one of the pupils may wish to lead the lesson and guide the class through one of the expeditions. Teachers can use this within history, geography and literacy lessons as an engaging tool kit inspire curiosity and effective learning. The only issue that the guest speaker mentioned was that it is difficult to record children’s learning when using the headsets as if you took a picture to put in there learning files it would just show a pupil with a head set on and not what they are exploring, however descriptive writing activities could be a way for the children to record what they did within the virtual reality world.

There are several apps the have been created specifically for teachers and classes however science and technology activities need to be in a safe and enabling environment in case an experiment should involve an explosion of vinegar near to computers or tablets. When wearing the VR headsets, plenty of room is required to move around without bumping into tables or other classroom furniture.

The digital competency framework there are four main element; citizenship, interacting and collaborating, producing and finally data and computational thinking. Which I believe can all be promoted through the use of VR headsets as different apps allow the learner to gain confidence preparing presentations to gain confidence which supports their health and well-being, sharing ideas with peers, creating different worlds and sourcing knowledge to solve problems.

Comparing technology and science lessons from what I experienced within primary school and what I have observed within my placement settings is vastly different. I had a very ‘talk and chalk’ education where technology was rarely used which I believe is why I struggle now to engage with technology. The VR presentation was especially interesting because I did not realise all the different ways it could be used within the classroom and it has encouraged me to explore it further. Science today seems to involve a lot of experimentation and fun ways to gather data, I experienced a more theoretical approach to science rather than actively finding out information through experience.

Donaldson (2015), suggests that science are closely linked and activities in these are will prepare children for jobs and careers the technology future such as coding for games or programs. Children today are not prepared to go into that kind of industry because it is not being taught widely. However last year I took part in a project in wales which gave me the opportunity to explore what is involved in coding a game and supporting students’ knowledge through engagement with the activities. This showed me that children want to learn these things within the classroom, however teachers are not always equipped with the capabilities to provide that kind of learning. The learning needs to begin with teachers so we are able to effectively teach these areas and prepare them for these future jobs.

According to Beauchamp, Burden, & Abbinett (2015), technology within the classroom is multi-faceted and can bring people together through collaboration, the sharing of ideas, there are apps now where you can share work with parents at home or anonymously answer questions within class if you are too shy to put your hand up. I used to be quite wary of technology as unlike Prensky (2001) suggests I am not a digital native but I look forward to using technology in the future as a tool to promote successful and effective learning.

Reference List:

·         Beauchamp, Burden, & Abbinett (2015),’Teachers learning to Use the ipad in Scotland and Wales: A New Model of Professional Development’, Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy.41(2), p.161-179

·         Donaldson, G. (2015) Successful Futures: Independent Review of Curriculum and Assessment arrangements in Wales. Welsh Government.

·         Prensky, M. (2001) ‘ Digital Immigrants Part 1’, On the Horizon. 9(5), pp.1-6.