Over the last week the media has been awash in news stories surrounding Apple’s unveiling of their new iBooks 2 application for the iPad. This free App provides a user-friendly platform allowing anyone with an Apple computer to create their own digital textbook specifically tailored to the educational needs of both their students and their… Continue reading Student Responses to a Digital Textbook
by Dave Scott What follows is post number two of a four part series on the curricular potential of digital textbooks. These posts are the result of an action research study I have been involved in as part of a research initiative at Calgary Science School to encourage innovation and reflective practice within an inquiry-based… Continue reading Digital Textbook Inquiry Tasks for the Renaissance
by Kevin Sonico Mr. Cheng and I are conducting a research project in our classrooms on how using the model method or strategy in math improve students’ problem-solving skills. Effectiveness of the method will be measured in the increased ability of students to solve word problems and enhanced confidence to communicate their thinking and… Continue reading Using the Model Method in Math Problem-solving
by Kevin Sonico After studying about different organelles that are present in cells and looking at examples of organisms under the microscope, students in Grade 8 explored the life cycle and life strategies of a unicellular and multicellular organisms. Through their research, students compared and contrasted these two different types of organisms. Students brainstormed on… Continue reading The "Better" Life Strategy
-by Dave Scott, Grade 8 Humanities This term the Grade 8 Humanities team has been experimenting with creative ways for students to demonstrate their comprehension of key concepts and ideas surrounding the Italian Renaissance. Informed by Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design, we are interested in shifting the focus of learning from students memorizing isolated… Continue reading Demonstrating Understanding through Pixton
Over the last few weeks grade eight Humanities students have been working hard to author their very own graphic novels based on a list of selected short stories including Alice Munro’s Day of the Butterfly and Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter. Inspired by Larry Lessig’s Ted Talk arguing for the revival of our creative… Continue reading Creating Graphic Novels 2.0
by Dave Scott, Grade 8 Humanities Recently I have been working on developing a series of integrated digital inquiry resources to support and enhance my grade 8 social studies and language arts programs. Here is my first attempt at a resource like this: [googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”viewer” query=”a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=false&embedded=true&srcid=0ByhAxBkEtrosNTY2NGI3ZTItOTZlNi00N2VmLTk0ZGQtNmU4NjNlZmJhYWNk&hl=en” width=”100%” height=”450″ /] My vision for this resources… Continue reading The Curricular Potential of Integrated Digital Inquiry Resources
At the Connect Charter School we focus on inquiry-based learning, technology-intergration, Collaboration, Education Research, Authentic Learning Experiences and outdoor/environmental education . We believe these pillars come together to provide students with opportunities for authentic, meaningful and relevant learning. At the core of our program is inquiry – an approach to learning and teaching (including teacher… Continue reading Introduction to Inquiry Based Learning
“New media provides powerful new ways of representing and manipulating information.” This quote, taken from the paper “Confronting the Challenge of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century” by Henry Jenkins, suggests that digital tools and media afford teachers and students a variety of engaging and relevant ways to learn, create and express. With… Continue reading Remixing Worldviews
We believe that one of the key elements of inquiry based learning is designing student work with an authentic and purposeful audience in mind. It’s a key piece of the inquiry rubric that we use to guide our understanding of effective inquiry-based learning. We are continually trying to find places where student work can live… Continue reading Showcasing Student Work with QR Codes
