Playtesting Assignment 4: Content Object for Middle School Science

This week I playtested technologies specifically designed to support learning Middle School science content. In doing so, I identified the following and discuss the affordances and drawbacks I see in each one:

Gizmos from Explore Learning offers hundreds of interactive labs, simulations, design challenges and more for math and science topics from elementary through high school. One of my favorite virtual labs to do with my students is the Digestive System Gizmo. As the students explore each organ in the digestive tract, they can adjust variables to try to get stool with the right consistency. (Complete with sound effects when the consistency is off!!) While I applaud Ms. Frizzle's "Get messy!" pedagogy, I believe this lab works much better as a virtual simulation than an in-person investigation. 

Example 1: (Redefinition Level) Students use the Digestive System Gizmos simulation to conduct a virtual lab activity. Students are given a chance to explore and experiment by placing digestive system organs in different orders, eliminating some and varying the foods that are eaten, then observing the effect on the stool. 

• T = Gizmos simulation goes beyond realism by allowing organ manipulation, leading to better understanding than even an in-person lab would
• P =  collaboration with lab teams and learning by applying the scientific method (hypothesize, test, analyze, etc.)
• C = digestive system structure and function without simply memorizing organs and their order

Another resource I played with were several of the many hundreds of free programming tutorials offered through the Hour of Code website. My motivation was that I want to introduce my students to more programming and computer logic, since we currently don't have any dedicated computer science classes or curriculum. I was hoping that I could use these hour-ish-long tutorials to incorporate coding into some of my Earth Science lessons. Unfortunately, the ones I came across weren't easily tailorable to include my content. 

Example 2: (Redefinition Level) Students follow the "Ozaria: Your Journey Begins" tutorial to learn on the Hour of Code website to learn new programming skills. Student select their hero and overcome challenges using programming logic and python syntax to defeat the darkness that is taking over their world in a gamified quest to level up their coding skills.

• T = gamified coding tutorial the students will find immersive and fun

• P = single player (no collaboration) and linear tutorial (trial and error, but otherwise not much room to explore alternate approaches to problem solving or learning)

• C = strictly coding (game set in fantasy world has little application to my content area of Earth sciences -- would prefer a coding challenge with more real-world applications)

While I would consider both of these examples to be "Redefinition Level" on the SAMR model because the technology itself allow for the creation of new tasks, previously inconceivable, I would not rate both of the examples as high according to the PACT model. Specifically, while the technology itself is revolutionary and engaging for both, the pedagogical applications and subject content matter are not. Pedagogically, the open-ended design of the Gizmos lab simulation allows for more inquiry-based and collaborative exploration, while the linear tutorial style of the Ozaria game requires problem solving but allows little creativity and no collaboration. Regarding content, the Gizmos lab (as well as many other labs and simulations on the Gizmos site) apply directly to my subject content in middle school science. While the Hour of Code tutorials I playtested taught coding well, few of them had real-world applications in the fields of science that I teach. Coding is a powerful and essential tool. However, I believe I could find or create more applicable and customizable resources that utilize coding to investigate or solve scientific inquiries related to my subject content, rather than rely on these pre-fabricated tutorials that are simply focused on teaching coding. As a result, I would be much more likely to incorporate Gizmos into my curriculum that Hour of Code labs.