Just playing around as part of background work to our Bridges design brief I wondered how long it would take to come up with a 2 dimensional scale model of a Popsicle stick that students could manipulate on the SMART board as part of their building inquiry process. I thought I would just be able to download and modify a ready-made lesson from the SMART Exchange. Surprise!
No Popsicle sticks in the image Gallery!Well that's no problem, I'll just make one. Easier said than done. I really had to think about what I wanted to do and how to do it.
The lesson in this is that when you are designing engaging lessons you may need to scaffold the activity for teachers as well as for students. The process of creation - in this case it took me at least half an hour to come up with an excellent Popsicle stick that we can now infinitely clone - is both frustrating and exhilarating, however teachers just do not have time to be bogged down with inventing every little technical detail. Enough help needs to be given at strategic points to ensure there will be some momentum to the learning process.
In working with any new technological tool learners will go through a period of awkwardness, and Wertime (1979) as referenced in the Scardamalia et all White Paper coaches us to be learner-centered enough to keep students working through this phase and increase their "courage-spans".
Scardamalia, M., Bransford, J., Kozma, B. & Qyekknakzm, E. (2010). White Paper 4: New assessments and evironments for knowledge building. ATCS: Assessment & Teaching of 21st Century Skills. Draft White Papers. Regrieved June 10, from http://www.atc21s.org/GetAssets.axd? FilePath=/Assets/Files/294f3563-71d2-9308-cc60dffe3914.pdf.
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