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eLearning Papers n° 20 (2010) Technology Enhanced Science Education

Submitted by Nazan Derinel on Fri, 07/09/2010 - 22:12
In recent years, ICT advancements have changed the way we think about science education in primary and secondary schools. New mobile user-friendly products are available to help schools incorporate new units and activities in their science curricula. However, as most educators know, equipment alone cannot alter the way teachers, or schools, approach science education in the classroom. In other words, better tools do not necessarily lead to developing better pedagogy. Of course, society wants both for its children: schools should provide challenging environments for learners, teaching them valuable ICT skills, whilst also cultivating a desire for learning and discovery. Recent research and development projects have worked on bringing technological and pedagogical requirements together to make advances in improving science education in Europe.

This special issue of eLearning Papers will provide examples of the way ICT can enhance science education from the perspectives of the learner and the teacher-trainer. Based on the new technologies and the technology-enhanced research-based knowledge now available, which strategies and pedagogical approaches benefit most from the use of ICT? What is the impact of technology-based science education on curricula and assessment? How can teacher training take recent ICT innovations into account? We know that students learn not from ICT, but rather from the interactions between their thinking and activities (with or without ICT). It has been found that teachers and their pedagogical approaches establish significant differences in what pupils learn and achieve in a classroom. The study carried out by BECTA, for instance, demonstrated a strong correlation between ways of using ICT and students’ achievements (Cox & Abbott, 2004). With this in mind, as school access to ICT increases, it is clear that we must analyse appropriate forms of incorporating and using this technology in a fruitful manner.

The articles selected for this issue highlight a number of projects that take into account not only the technical but also the pedagogical innovation that ICT can bring to science education. In doing so, these studies present diverse solutions for incorporating ICT in the classroom by focusing on pedagogical models and effective training methods.

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