Over the past week I have been exploring various creativity tools and was impressed by the variety of products marketed under this umbrella. One site hosted a list of 27 creativity tools, and while it had been published only two years ago in 2018, I was amazed at how fast some of the products have changed or are no longer available. Educational technology is a quickly growing field, and companies providing these services must evolve to stay cutting edge or risk falling by the wayside.
The first tool that I explored was FlipGrid, a video discussion tool that facilitates communication via short video recordings. I was familiar with the name but had never explored it personally. After doing a little research, I realized it is actually on the approved technology list in my district, so of the resources I looked into this week, this is one I would be more likely to implement in the classroom. I appreciate that FlipGrid gives each student a voice, and students that are less vocal in class may feel more comfortable sharing their ideas through this medium. I also think that students may be more thoughtful in the responses they submit through video. It may be tempting to write the first thing that comes to mind when completing a writing prompt, but it seems that the process of recording a video may encourage students to organize their thoughts ahead of time. One of the challenges that I see in implementing FlipGrid is that it is a very different medium for assessment, and at the onset, seems like it would be much more time intensive for grading purposes. I would need to develop new rubrics to better quantify student understanding of content through their video presentations and practice applying that rubric in a way that is equitable to all students. It could potentially be challenging to detect misconceptions in a student who is very well spoken, or misinterpret a shy student as not understanding the content. With practice, I think this could become more efficient, and I do think it allows for me as a teacher to get to know my students better, especially in a remote learning environment.
Another tool that I played with was Project Noah, a global science platform that allows members to share photos of all sorts of flora and fauna and confirm specie identification. This would have been really helpful to be aware of a few months ago when I was trying to identify a little tree frog that took up residence on our porch this summer. I found the frog in our grill one evening (fortunately before I turned it on) and moved it into the grass. Over the next few weeks, I would periodically find it hiding in potted plants, under a railing, or on the air conditioner. I really appreciate nature and according to various online sources, I determined it was likely a “grey tree frog”, which seems to be confirmed by similar pictures on Project Noah.
As a Science Club advisor, I help students prepare for Science Olympiad events, many of which require students to be able to identify a list of species (entomology, ornithology, invasive species, etc). Project Noah is a great resource for them to view various samples of each specie to familiarize themselves with variations. Even better, I will encourage my students to submit their own photos of wildlife with the identification of what they think they have found, and the community could give feedback on their predictions. As students improve in their identification abilities, they could serve as experts to help others identify submissions of ‘unknown’ species.
A third creativity tool that I explored was Labster, a lab simulation package that allows students to explore a variety of science fields. While some simulations focus primarily on displaying the results of various predetermined interactions (i.e. when you mix this chemical with this chemical, this is the result), Labster appears to offer the user more control of the experiment, opening up the door for more genuine inquiry. While I appreciate this approach, my experience with other simulations has shown me that they generally work well within certain bounds, but when brought to extremes, they sometimes ‘break’. An example that I have used in the past is a simulation that allows students to explore the variables that affect the period of a pendulum. It allows students to toggle gravity ‘on and off’, and when this is done with a regular interval, it creates an interesting spinning phenomena in the simulator. This is not representative of the real world where gravity doesn’t just disappear, and it sometimes sets the stage for misconceptions or confusion in students. One of the things that I do like about Labster is that it appears to allow for significant exploration. In one of the physics simulation, students play with a roller coaster to make observations about how different variables affect the maximum speed of the cart at the bottom of the ride. They can then try their hand at designing their own roller coaster to achieve speeds of over 100km/hr. This is pretty engaging for students and allows them to create something not possible in a traditional lab setting. The ability to present situations that are not available in the lab is definitely at strength of simulations as a class, and among these, Labster seems to be one of the more developed options. I still think that an option such as Pivot Interactives, which incorporates footage of actual lab experiments for students to analyze, gives a more authentic experience reflective of the physical world. Labster is also quite pricey, so I am unlikely to be able to integrate it into my classes.
For the reasons mentioned above, FlipGrid is likely to be the next creativity tool that I try to integrate into my classes. I came across several interesting ways that other teachers are already utilizing FlipGrid and I could see a few of these options as being particularly useful in my classroom. One teacher shared that they have students make short news broadcasts for their class, and I see some potential here. I have tried to implement a ‘science article per week’ activity where students find articles they are interested in and one student will report out each week about what they learned. I was not able to achieve a great level of student enthusiasm for this type of activity in the past, and when it was not a required activity, participation largely dwindled. Rather than having students try to verbally share the article in class, I could have them prepare a 30-60 second headline news presentation explaining the new scientific development that they had learned about. As mentioned above, students would likely prepare for this more than they would for an “on the fly” classroom presentation on the article, and I think students could get excited about using a new medium. If the presentations are particularly well done, they could be shared through the daily school bulletin, engaging the larger school community in science conversations.
Another application for FlipGrid could be an update to my “Physics Photo Scavenger Hunt” activity where students take photos of physics phenomena and write a brief summary of their understanding of the related physics. Using FlipGrid, students could record a video of the phenomena itself, as well as a verbal explanation reporting of the relevant physics. Imagine a student documenting their sibling’s belly flop into a pool and using Newton’s Third Law (when you exert a force on the water, the water exerts and equal and opposite force on you) to explain why it stings. A student could record a string of holiday lights that goes out when a single bulb is unplugged, explaining that the bulbs must be wired in series. I could also assign a specific physics relationship that students would have to document in their daily life (a simple example could be Newton’s Second Law – a constant force produces a constant acceleration of the object that the force is applied to, inversely proportional to the object’s mass). This would elevate the use of classroom technology into the redefinition level of integration, as it requires students to create a product illustrating their understanding of a concept, as opposed to simply writing a summary statement of the concept.
FlipGrid capitalizes on the affordance of accessibility – students have video cameras on them at all times through their cell phones, and for many, it is likely more convenient to record themselves verbally explaining a phenomena “out in the field” where they are actually making the observations. Their ability to comment on observations is much more effective when done in real time, whereas requiring them to write about it once they get to school or home where writing implements are available makes them depend on the memory of the experience. As I have discussed in other posts, recording durational processes is an affordance of video that photography does not offer. In physics, when objects are generally moving, it would be more challenging to record the significance of a phenomena through a picture than through video.
This assignment would account for all factors of the TPACK Model. Good pedagogy supports increasing opportunity for student creativity, and this activity is purely a student created product. Students could be asked to investigate any number of physical phenomena, meaning that I could use this to support learning for any physics content standards. My core philosophy in teaching physics is that “physics is everywhere”, and the affordance of mobility (being able to record videos anywhere) means that the students will be making better connections between content explored in class and their everyday lives. My ultimate objective is for students to be able to identify and appreciate how physics can be used to model the physical world they experience, and this projects puts them in the driver seat to do just that.
I have appreciated taking the time to explore some new creativity tools. As a teacher, I am constantly trying to think of creative ways to help students understand challenging concepts, and generally, I think that I am pretty successful in utilizing a variety of tools and techniques to guide my students in exploring physics. That said, looking at some of the creativity tools that are currently available is inspiring me to take another step on my journey from teacher-centered instruction towards the destination of student-centered learning. Even if there is a steep curve for me to learn and integrate a new tool, I think it would ultimately improve the experience of my students in the classroom. How can I inspire my students to learn for the sake of learning, if I am not willing to learn something new, myself?
Fortunately, as a lifelong learner, I love to learn new things.
Every day.
Edited on 10/3/2020 to upload frog photo.
physicseveryday.com 