ICT in Science Class

As part of implementing the McDonald Laboratory Format I have been focusing on integrating more ICT into the lessons. The main method of getting students to use ICT in the past has either been moving the whole class to a computer lab for the lesson, or maybe using the laptop trolleys in the classroom. The issues associated with these options are:

• The computer becomes the focus of the lesson rather than a tool
• The whole class needs to be moved to use a lab
• There is limited portable abilities, even though the laptops are fairly small they are still hard to use
• They can't use the laptops to take photos and videos of their practicals
• Laptops are slow to load up and often are out of use for various reasons
• Students are limited in their ability to share information with each other through these methods

What I have trialled in my classes is using tablet computers (the ones we have access to currently are iPads, and we only have 3 of them). The tablets allowed me to get students to try things they would not have previously with the laptops. Students were able to photograph and video their experiment and then review it later to take notes or explain observations to their group and myself. Students have also used their phones to take photos and videos then shared those with friends after class. The iPads could also be used to watch selected videos to help increase learning, record information during the practical and research additional information.

To be able to achieve this I have a few plans. I think that with the increase in numbers of students with phones more and more need to learn how to use them to improve learning. Responsible use of ICT is important for our students and the more chances they get to practice this the better.

I have been introduced to a technology I was only vaguely aware of during a staff meeting earlier in the week which is a multi-touch table. These tables are designed to have multiple people work at them and collaboratively create and learn. These would be an amazing addition to our classroom and I wonder if anybody knows of some good versions? Or how to effectively add these to classes? I'm also aware of cost issues and wonder how many I could get away with or how few would be needed to be effective still. Or maybe a combination of the tables and tablets? So many questions!