Interactivity 3

Let’s be honest, no one likes group assignments.  Could you imagine my face when I learned that our next interactivity would not only be online, but an online, group assignment?  I thought the task would go down in flames, but I am presently surprised to see that I was wrong.  While collaboration took time, it was interesting to see the mix between online work and meeting in person.  I can be thankful that science students are used to working together on a regular basis.  This made group collaboration much easier.  After individual research was completed, we convened to share our work and form the list of technology.  The layout of our spreadsheet was reached through an open discussion think tank.  In regards to the list itself, I have to say I’m proud of it.  I think nearly all of our examples of technology are very strong.  Due to the huge content held under the heading of “science” it was easy to find examples of technology that do not overlap with each other to a significant extent.  Utilizing such technologies could be very helpful in the future when we are teaching.  Any technology which can facilitate learning should be strongly considered when preparing the classroom.  This list can be used in both Curr316 and Read411 as springboards for both lesson plans and paper ideas.  By having an available list of tools at hand it should be much easier to make fun, and interesting, lesson plans.  Hopefully, knowledge such as this will make us better teachers in the future.

Interactivity 2

I have to say, this is how I first felt in biology before I started using computers to understand the material.

One of the greatest technological advances for Biology was the computer.  One can view this development from two points of view: the classroom, and the world of scientific discovery.  Both of these areas tie in very closely, but for explanation purposes I'll start with the latter and end with the former.

Research and discovery within the science world has always been dependent on the acquisition and understanding of data.  The more data you can get you hands on, and the faster you can process it, the quicker you can rule out, and zero in on, possible answers.  The common practice prior to the development of the computer was to work in private research groups, sharing developments at conferences sporadically throughout the year.  The sharing of knowledge was so difficult that many times scientists wouldn't even know if someone was searching for the same answers a few towns over.  However, in the past few decades, the computer has been a great asset in both data computation and information sharing.  With the growing capabilities of computers, and the internet, scientists were able to design computer programs which would handle the mathematics of data.  This is a great boon, considering in the past all results had to be found by hand.  Also, the internet has allowed fellow researchers to stay in contact much more easily than in prior history.  Biologists searching for the same answers could collaborate with each other any time they wanted to.  This is a great change from the rare conferences they would attend as history will tell us.  On a whole, the computer can be seen as a tool which greatly influenced many of the biological advances we have been graced with in the past few decades.

A perfect example of how computers aid researchers.

The computer has also strongly influenced biology in the classroom.  The idea of data computation in the classroom falls in line next to that of the research perspective.  However, one topic that should not be overlooked is the availability of both lesson plans, and lab experiments, on the internet.  Teachers who had a computer within their school would be able to write up lesson plans, lab protocols, and directions in a much neater way than by hand.  Take a lab experiment for one example.  If the directions are not clear, someone could get hurt.  The availability of a word processor would help prevent mistakes like this.  Also, once the internet was available, teachers could look online for ideas to help pass on knowledge within the classroom.  The different ways to present topics could help many students understand the material.  Finally, the computer, and the internet, helped students by allowing them to see what is out there.  Students could see the new developments as they were found, they could see the ways people saw the world, and they could find different ways to understand their own world. 

A teacher using a computer in the 1980's as a word processor.

Even today, the computer is a great asset.  With the development of computer programs which can simulate dissections and other experiments a student can computer labs with ease.  The amount of knowledge at our fingertips is immense.  All you need to do is run a simple search engine in today's world and you are flooded by the new experiments and discoveries scientists find on a daily basis.

An example of what we can use computers to simulate in today's world.