Using Internet for Science teaching
B.Ed. Teaching Notes
Prepared by
SABARISH-P
M.Sc., M.Ed.,NET
Lecturer in Physical Science, Arafa Institute for Teacher Education
Attur, Thrissur.
Objectives
1) To understand the
effectiveness of using internet for science teaching and learning.
2) To familiarize with
some websites devoted for science teaching and learning.
3) To understand about
ERIC as an online digital library of education research and information.
4) To understand about
INFLIBNET.
5) To understand about
N-List Programme.
Introduction
The
science teacher/teacher educator can constantly seek new ways to capture the
attention of students and create active learning environments, where minds are engaged
and interests nurtured. Building a learning architecture to suit the needs of a
particular target audience, will rest to a great extent, on the teacher, the
infrastructure available, time constraints and the school environment. A varied
combination of the following list of references will help a creative science
teacher cater to the needs of her students besides making her class a pleasure
to attend.
Productive interactions
Here
are some suggestion for productive interactions for teachers regarding cience
teaching and learning.
1)
E-mail: Using
e-mail, a teacher can interact individually with students or their parents send
informational message or provide assistance.
2)
Personal
websites: Through a personal website a teacher can interact
individually with students or their parents send informational message or
provide assistance. Similarly he can share his resource/information.
3)
Blogs: Through
a personal blog (google/blogger) a teacher can interact individually with
students. Similarly he can share his resource/information. It is economical and
simple in nature.
4)
Video
conferencing: Similarly, using Internet facilities like
online video conferencing, a teacher can interact individually with students. Interaction
with schools and groups in different corners of the world is possible by this.
5)
Formation
of network/groups: Science related discussion groups on the web/mobile/email enable students and
teachers from anywhere in the world to interact and share ideas with each
others. We can use Social networks for this purpose.
New Sources of Information
As far
as a Science teacher of Kerala is concerned the most important and resiurable
web site is the official website of it@school. Teachers can download various
academic e- text books, teachers hand books, digital resources and teaching
material from the official web site of it@school. IT@School is
a project of Department of General Education, Government of Kerala, set up in
2001, to foster the IT education in schools and which on a longer term would
facilitate ICT enabled education in the state.
More
over through Internet, students, parents and teachers with limited resources
can have access to an extensive array of information sources. Let us analyze
the different forms of e-Learning.
1)
Virtual
libraries and laboratories : Students and teachers can
visit virtual libraries at websites like the following:
·
Kids Connect @ the Library (http:/www.loc.gov/)
·
The Library of Congres s(http:/www.loc.gov)
·
Library Resources on the Internet (http:/www.loc.gov)
·
Science virtual labs
2)
Reference
Sources : There are also other sources
exclusive for reference listed in the following :
·
Science FactFinder (http://www.accurate-eye.com.au/earth.html)
3)
Digitized
books : There are electronic books available online, for example,
·
The On-Line Books Page: Science
4)
Search
engines and directories: To help the students in their search for materials, there are search
engines such as:
5)
Seeking
assistance: It is possible on the Internet to get clarifications for
certain concepts and ideas. Some such sites
are:
6)
Home
tutors: Students can learn, just sitting at home from sites such
as:
7)
Career
Information: Access to career information and firsthand
accounts from people who have succeeded can help students in planning their career. The most popular
sites of this kind are:
·
Directory of science education websites
8)
Staying
informed : Here are the
websites that relate science to the news, daily events, issues, television and
the like:
9)
Magazines: For
Students who prefer online magazines,
the following list may be useful:
10)
Issues
and events of the day: Students need to be aware of the day-to-day
events happening around the world. There are sites that exclusively give latest
information. Some of them are:
·
EPA Global Warming Site:
·
Interactive Weather
·
Today’s Earthquake Activity
11)
Online
learning centers: These interactive sites provide access to unique
resources to capture the attention of
students.
·
The
Learning Studia@ The Exploratorium
12) Activities : Many
websites offer simple activities that can enrich the knowledge of the students as for example,
13)
Online
Courses: There are some websites offering online courses to be
used as a supplement to classroom learning. An example is,
·
http://www.cnde.iastate.edu/staff/jtroeger/astronomy.html which conduct a course an astronomy on
the net.
14) Getting involved in
projects: Internet provides opportunities for the
learning community to participate in a wide variety of projects that involve collecting and analyzing data.
Some of the sites are
given in the following list:
·
Global Water Sampling Project
·
Seds.org (Planets and the solar system are the focus here)
15)Science fairs and Competitions: Students
have the opportunity to participate in science fares and competitions in the following sites:
16)Project ideas: If
there is a need for guidance and ideas
to prepare science projects, the following sites can be useful:
·
Science
Project Guidelines
·
Experimental Science Projects
17) Enrich Personal Experience
With a strong on active learning in science,
the range of experiences that a student brings to the classroom will have an effect on his
learning. Here is a sampling of resources that can increase an individual’s
awareness of nature and the world beyond his experience.
1.
Virtual
field trips like the following can
be undertaken through the net:
2.
Students can be made to virtually visit zoos, museums and labs such as given in the following list:
3.
It will be really enjoyable for students to go
on tours to places like the following:
4.
Remote
cameras and robots are available in some of the following sites:
·
Telerobot Controller (http://192.204.241.187/cgi-win/telerobt.exe)
Ø ERIC (Education Resources Information
Center)
The
Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) is a digital library of
education-related resources, sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences
of the U.S. Department of
Education. When the ERIC digital library
opened to the public on September, 1,2004, the collection consisted primarily of
electronic bibliographic records describing journal and non-journal literature selected by ERIC from 1966-2003. The
collection has expanded to include full-text articles. In years ahead, the
collection may include other electronic resources such as audio and video
materials.
ERIC’s mission is
1.
To provide a comprehensive, easy-to-use, searchable,
Internet-based bibliographic and full-text database of education research and
information that also meets the requirements of the Education Sciences Reform
Act of 2002.
2.
A Fundamental goal for ERIC’s future is to
increase the availability and quality of research and information for
educators, researchers, and the general public.
3.
The Institute of Education Sciences is committed
to continuously improve the efficiency and utility of ERIC so that it becomes a
premier Web- based library for accessing current band historical education
resources.
4.
Among these resources will be the studies
produced by the what works clearing house in support of the Department of
Education’s initiative to identify the best scientifically based evidence
of “what works” in education.
5.
To realize its mission and goal and to meet
rising user expectations in the digital age ERIC is undergoing significant
change.
6.
Nearly all aspects of ERIC operations are being
revamped, including the online system, resource acquisitions and processing,
the list of journals indexed, and the delivery of full-text materials, ERIC is
leveraging new technologies to streamline processing and speed delivery of
timely information.
7.
Redesigned online services are being released to
the public in phased implementations including the centralized Website,
enhanced search and retrieval functions, and website personalization tools such
as the capacity for users to save searches.
8.
ERIC is adopting metadata standards to help
users refine their database searches, and it adding metadata tags to new
database materials to provide information about resource quality.
9.
ERIC full-text materials, previously sold by the
ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS), are now available free-of-charges.
Two
expert advisory panels provide research, technical, and content expertise to
support this major modernization effort. The ERIC Steering Committee recommends standards and guidelines that
will shape the ERIC acquisitions model and help guide direction on technical
issues surrounding system design, digital archiving, metadata, and search and
retrieval technologies. The advisory panel of Content Experts provides recommendations for selecting journals and
non-journal materials for inclusion in the ERIC database. Their advice is helping
to guide the continued growth of the database and outreach to the ERIC use
community.
Ø INFLIBNET (Information and Library Network)
A Gateway to India’s Academic and Research
Community
(INFLIBNET) centre (IUC) of University Grants
Commission (UGC) involved in creating infrastructure for sharing of library and
information resources and services among academic and research Institutions.
INFLIBNET works collaboratively with Indian University libraries to shape the
future of the academic libraries in the evolving information environment.
Introduction
INFLIBNET
is a major National Programme initiated by the UGC in 1991 with its Head
Quarters at Gujarat University Campus, Ahmedabad. Initially started as a
project under the IUCAA, it became an independent Inter-University Centre in
1996. INFLIBNET is involved in modernizing university libraries in India and
connecting them as well as information centre in the country through a
nation-wide high speed data network using the state-of-art technologies for the
optimum utilization of information. INFLIBNET is set out to be a major player
in promoting scholarly communication among academicians and researches in
India.
Objectives
The
primary objectives of INFLIBNET as envisaged in Memorandum of Association are:
1.
To promote and establish communication
facilities to improve capability in information transfer and access that
provide support to scholarship learning, research and academic pursuit through
cooperation and involvement of agencies concerned.
2.
To establish INFLIBNET : Information and Library
Network a computer communication network for linking libraries and information
centres in universities, deemed to be universities, colleges, UGC Information
centres, institutions of national importance and R & D institutions,
avoiding duplication of efforts.
Functions
In
order to fulfill the broad objectives, INFLIBNET
will do the following:
1.
Promote and implement computerization of
operations and services in the libraries and information centers of the
country, following a uniform standard.
2.
Evolve standards And uniform guidelines in
techniques, methods, procedures, computer hardware and software, services and
promote their adoption in actual practice by all libraries, in order to
facilitate pooling, sharing and exchange of information towards optimal use of
resources and facilities.
3.
Evolve a national network interconnecting
various libraries and information centres in the country and to improve
capability in information handling and service.
4.
Provide reliable access to document collection
of libraries by creating on-line union catalogue of serials,
these/dissertations, books, monographs and non-book materials (manuscripts,
audio-visuals, computer data, and multimedia) in various libraries in India.
5.
Provide access bibliographic information sources
with citations and abstracts through indigenously created databases of the
Sectoral Information Centres of NISSAT, UGC Information Centres, City Networks
and such others and by establishing gateways for on-line accessing of national and
international information networks and centres respectively.
6.
Develop
new methods and techniques for archival of valuable information available as
manuscripts and information documents in different Indian Languages, in the
form of digital image using high density storage media.
7.
Optimize
information resource utilization through shared cataloguing, inter-library loan
service, catalogue production, collection development and thus avoiding
duplication in acquisition to the extent possible.
8.
Enable the users dispersed all over the country,
irrespective of location and distance, to have access tp information regarding
serials, these/dissertations, books,
monographs and non-book materials by locating the sources wherefrom
available and to obtain it through the facilities of INFLIBNET and union
catalogue of documents.
9.
Create database of projects, institutions,
specialists for providing on-line information service.
10. Encourage
co-operation among libraries, documentation centres and information centres in
the country, so that the resources can be pooled for the benefit of helping the
weaker resource centres by stronger ones.
11. Train
and develop human resources in the field of computerized library operations and
networking to establish, manage and sustain INFLIBNET.
12. Facilitate
academic communication amongst scientists, engineers, social scientists,
academics, faculties, researchers and students through electronic mail, file
transfer, computer/audio/video conferencing.
13. Undertake
system design and studies in the field of communications, computer networking,
information handling and data management.
14. Establish
appropriate control and monitoring system for the communication network and
organize maintenance.
15. Collaborate
with institutions, libraries, information centers and other organizations in
India and abroad in the field relevant to the objectives of the Centre.
16. Create
and promote R&D and other facilities and technical positions for realizing
the objectives of the Centre.
Ø N-LIST Programme (National Library and Information Services
Infrastructure for Scholarly Content)
It is an Initiative of Ministry of Human Resource
Development (MHRD) Under the National Mission on Education through ICT. The
Project entitled "National Library and Information Services Infrastructure
for Scholarly Content (N-LIST)", being jointly executed by the UGC-INFONET
Digital Library, INFLIBNET Centre and the, IIT Delhi provides for
i) cross-subscription to e-resources for
universities and UGC-INFONET resources for technical institutions;
ii) Access
to selected e-resources to colleges.
The
N-LIST project provides access to e-resources to students, researchers and
faculty from colleges and other beneficiary institutions through server(s)
installed at the INFLIBNET Centre. The authorized users from colleges can now
access e-resources and download articles required by them directly from the
publisher's website once they are duly authenticated as authorized users
through servers deployed at the INFLIBNET Centre.
N-LIST: Four Components
The project has four distinct components
i) To subscribe and provide access to
selected UGC-INFONET e-resources to technical institutions (IITs, IISc, IISERs
and NITs) and monitor its usage;
ii) To subscribe and provide access to
selected e-resources to selected universities and monitor its usage;
iii) To subscribe and provide access to
selected e-resources to 6,000 Govt./ Govt.-aided colleges and monitor its
usage;
iv) To act as a Monitoring Agency for
colleges and evaluate, promote, impart training and monitor all activities
involved in the process of providing effective and efficient access to
e-resources to colleges.
Reference
1)
Mohan, R (2007). Innovative science teaching for
physical science Teachers.
Newdelhi
: Prentice Hall
2)
Official websites of it@school, ERIC, INFLIBNET
and N-LIST Programme.
3)
Mathew, T.K.,
Mollykutty, T.M.(2013) Science Education. Thiruvananthapuram : Rainbow Books.
