Over this semester, I have been exposed to a vast number of ICT mediums that I never knew existed! For my Biology assignment 2, we had to design a series of lessons on fossils, evolution and divergent/convergent evolution using ICT. For my part of the assignment, I looked at the various ways we could use ICT when introducing the topic of fossils. When I began researching this area and the ways in which I could use ICT to teach it, I found two ‘games’ on www.abc.net.au! Both of these games are interactive activities that could be used as a class based or individual activity. The first of these games is a fun ‘predict, observe, explain’ (POE) activity, in which you drag the body of the horse to various locations in the picture and observe whether the environment is right for a fossil to form. I would get the students to try predicting what will happen and explaining why – this is a great way to begin class discussion and engage students with the content material.
This second POE activity from the same website allows students to predict whether a fossil will be made under certain conditions.
I originally wanted to create a worksheet for students to complete – however this assignment was supposed to only use ICT so I had to look into computer based ways for students to record their findings. This is when I came across spicy nodes! http://www.spicynodes.org/ Spicy nodes are a fantastic way for students to make concept maps and create URL links so that you (as a teacher) can use them as a form of assessment. I had a play around with the program to see how it works and came up this this:
Spicy nodes give students the ability to create concept maps that include youtube videos and photos. Students can change the colour of the text, change the font and edit the layout. It gives students the ability to visualise and construct their learning whilst remaining fun and interactive.
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