Choose Your Own Path
Purpose of this project
A focus of the new curriculum of British Columbia is to encourage students to explore and inquire on their own. This website aims to guide teachers to explore some digital applications which support directed inquiry or which can help students document free inquiry. Students will develop their digital literacy when they use these applications and can also address the core competencies of the curriculum.
What is Inquiry?
When planning inquiry projects, teachers may want to follow the suggestions from Galileo's site in the ‘What is inquiry?’ article: the problem is authentic, has applications well beyond the school, requires the use of digital technologies (and literacies which are outlined) and encourages active exploration and connecting with experts. The technology is to be used in a purposeful manner that demonstrates an appreciation of new ways of thinking and doing. The technology is essential in accomplishing the task. Ideally, the inquiry/study requires students to determine which technologies are most appropriate to the task. The study requires sophisticated use of multimedia/hypermedia software, video, conferencing, simulation, databases, programming etc. The task should require students to conduct research, share information, make decisions, solve problems, create meaning and communicate with various audiences inside and outside the classroom. Students and parents should have on-going, online access to the study as it develops
Choosing a Topic
Teachers may also find Jardine's article on choosing a topic for inquiry helpful. While the article asks the reader to explore what it means to choose a topic for inquiry, it focuses on a commonplace to explore student abilities, grade and developmental level. This process definitely allowed us to engage in exploring online tools that support and encourage creativity, and embrace a range of ability and complexity. “How can we imagine the topics listed in the curriculum guide as rich, generous, living topics, living topographies that are full of enough room for the full range of difference and diversity that we might bring to them, including, it must be added, the full adult attention of the teacher as well?” Such online tools that have been discussed in this project, provide countless opportunities for student inquiry, provide lived experiences, lead to real questions and opportunities for further exploration.
Structuring Your Inquiry
The 5Es is a good model to use to structure your inquiry. This instructional model was originally discussed by Roger Bybee in an article documenting the use of five phases for instruction: engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation. Catlin Tucker's post includes videos explaining the model and includes a template to download to get started.
Privacy and Ethics
Teachers may want to consider having students provide fake information to some of the applications so students are not tracked through the application. Please read the privacy policy to decide whether it meets the level required by your province/state/district.
Check the "Comparing and Reflecting" page to consider the ethical implications of using any of these applications. As teachers are restricted by the tools their district chooses as platforms, we have looked at resources that are open source as well as proprietary software platforms. Please consult your school/district before using any of these applications with your students.
This video is part of a series on how Ottawa Catholic Schools integrated tech, moving from a socratic method of teaching to a more collaborative model. You can view the full case study here.
This resource fulfills a requirement of EDCI 572 at the University of Victoria, a component of the Master of Education in Educational Technology.