Children’s collaborative learning of evaporation scaffolded by iPads

• This paper reports on a project aiming to extend the current understanding of how emerging technologies, i.e. iPads, can be used in pre-schools to support collaborative learning of real-life science phenomena. The importance of this is associated with the “west world” problem of current educational systems to respond to the needs of modern youth. Educational systems are currently in need of reform (Fullan, 2007, Thulin, 2011; Tytler, 2007). Research on the potential of web-based technologies to support collaborative inquiry-based science learning in schools, with a special interest in inquiry-based science learning is here continued by investigating the role of time-lapse and stop-motion animations in developing children’s understanding of science phenomena. We report on a study of groups of children working with evaporation. A video-based qualitative analysis of the communication in the pre-school groups has given rise to a number of categories used to distinguish and identify variations of children’s expressed experiences in discussions during group work in different contexts. An enhanced and focused reasoning about the natural science phenomenon in group discussions where the iPad is involved and used for stimulated recall is reported. Furthermore, it is shown that children communicate extensively about practical issues and problem solving, in stop-motion producing contexts, but less about the science phenomenon. However, when the children participate in real-time experimentation, the communication focuses more around the phenomenon itself and less about practical issues. Hence, again establishing the importance of real-time experimentation for children’s science learning. The analysis of the empirical data from the first phase of the project is on going and will be completed during the first months of 2015.  The final results will be presented at the conference.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Didaktik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Didactics (hsv//eng)

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