My Planned Technology Activity

I feel like I have already blogged about the activity that I planned to implement this school year because I implemented it quite some time ago. What I had planned to do was a research activity that allowed students to construct their own knowledge on a subject through the research process. In doing so, students would be utilizing technology resources in constructivist methods because they are taking technology use beyond basic product formation to knowledge creation through the resources they utilize.

The research process was actually completed in December with my sophomores when they each had the task of researching an invention and creating an outline line that details what that invention is, the history of the invention, advancements in that invention, and how that invention has been influential. Some students chose to research very basic inventions like the car or the gun, which was equally interesting for many of those students because they happen to enjoy cars and hunting. Other students took it to more complicated research topics, like the invention of laser optics or the invention of the Internet. Needless to say, these students had far greater difficulty researching these more advanced and obscure topics--however, because they were truly interested in that topic they were intrinsically motivated to work through their research dilemmas.

Throughout this year I have noted how my seniors have responded to the topic of valid and reliable resources. When completing the research process, my sophomores were also very responsive to this topic. Because they are from the technology generation, they were able to identify with the different types of websites and explain why some are more valid and reliable than others.

The most difficult part for all of my students in the research process was the nitty-gritty citation and references. It seems that no matter how many times I explained to them how to do it, they still couldn't get it right. I do feel that my seniors, now in their second round of career exploration research, as I have previously written about, are finally getting the hang of citations. It clearly has to do with the need for multiple opportunities to be exposed to the process--only then do they start to remember and understand the purpose.

Lastly, the other area where many students struggled was with searching methods. Often times students would try searching information using a particular search phrase, but if no results appeared that they found beneficial they were not sure of how to problem solve that situation. With my seniors, I problem solved this during second semester by having an day where we, as a class, brainstormed multiple ways to search for a particular topic.

Overall, though, I do feel the research process has been helpful. I think it enabled my students to view technology as a resource to use whenever they are seeking information, and developed better skills on how to effectively utilize those technology resources (including the Internet, databases, etc.)