Smart Classrooms for Knowledge Communities: Learning Across Contexts in Secondary Science

• In Event: Roundtable Session 86
  In Roundtable Session: Technological Applications in Science Learning and Instruction

Abstract

Despite the increasing need for STEM education to adapt to the changing needs of the 21st Century Knowledge Economy, adoption of such practices into classrooms lags far behind student engagement outside of schools. This paper presents a response to this challenge through the development of a new “smart classroom” technology environment that leverages a collective inquiry model where student contributions are captured, aggregated, tagged and re-visualized towards enabling students to work as a “knowledge community” negotiating their understandings of Physics topics. Three design-based iterations, situated within high school Physics classes, are examined towards understanding how technology can serve to capture and aggregate large amounts of student data, representing it in ways that are personally relevant to students and teachers alike.

Authors

• Mike Tissenbaum, University of Toronto

• Michelle Lui, University of Toronto - OISE

• James D. Slotta, University of Toronto