5363--Edutopia video blog

I choose to review the video entitled, “Tech in Real Life: Students See Devices as Tools, Not Toys.” The video can be found on http://www.edutopia.org/ in the video library. Edutopia was founded by George Lucas and is composed of a web site, magazine, and video. Edutopia seeks to find the best practices for educating today’s youth. The web site is easy to use and navigate. The website is current and is supported by the George Lucas Educational Foundation. In the video I reviewed, students were afforded the opportunity to investigate a real life environmental problem using different forms of technology. By allowing students to use technology, more information can be accessed in an interesting way encouraging ownership in learning. Students were allowed to see immediate results by using computers, probes, and other technology in the field. Students who were allowed to investigate using technology showed a significant increase in understanding. In this particular video, students saw first hand mans impact on their environment in their community as they studied water quality. I was really impressed with the quality of the video. By bringing the students into the environment and having them do relevant research, educators are creating the scientists of tomorrow today. This video shows students conducting real research solving real problems. This type of inquiry allows students to solve problems and think critically while developing a passion for learning and working as a team. I would definitely recommend this video to teachers as an example of how to implement inquiry-based teaching. I plan to show this video to the mentees that I am working with this year to emphasize how important relevance is to student learning in the science classroom.