1:1 Computing - Data Analysis and Climate Change

I love this comic.  In the past few weeks I have heard at least 3 impromptu lectures, normally at top volume, on the general theme of "WOW IT'S COLD OUT!  SEE?  CLIMATE CHANGE TOTALLY ISN'T REAL!  STUPID SCIENTISTS!  HAHAHAHAHAHA!"  This comic does a great job of explaining why that sort of statement doesn't make much sense.

People, by their nature, are not normally very good at looking at long range problems.  If it isn't something happening right now then it probably isn't going to get much attention.  Because of this, humans are always going to struggle with concepts like Climate Change and Evolution because neither of them are happening right now.  Well, technically they are but the results aren't immediately visible.

Students, being people, also have this problem.  Students, being teenagers, also have additional problems like acne, the girl that sits in front of them in Algebra, soccer practice, prom dates, what to do on the weekend, who they hate this week and, of course, their parents.  With all of these additional problems it makes it incredibly unlikely that they will pay attention if you are telling them things unless those things will immediately impact them.  All teachers have experience with this to some extent.  "There is a test on Friday," isn't nearly as likely to drive the students to study as "There is a test tomorrow." Additionally, "There is a test in 6 minutes," is where you will see the most studying, mostly by students who ignored the first two statements.

It is for this reason that I have taken to not telling them about climate change.  Oh, it isn't as if the

subject isn't in my curriculum - it totally is and it takes up about 2 weeks of our time - but I don't normally lecture on it until the end of the unit.  It has been much more effective to have them look at the data for themselves and come to their own conclusions.

The activity I use takes one of two forms.  Before each student had a chromebook I would give the students printouts of actual data sets from NOAA, The Hadley Centre, the World Bank, and others and ask the students to make several different graphs of the data.  For example, one of the graphs would be from the Hadley Centre data on temperature anomalies of the past century while another graph was from the World Bank data on oil consumption since the 1960's.  The students make graphs, compare the data, and determine if there is a relationship between the two data sets.  This is repeated for the Hadley Centre data and the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels from NOAA and for all of the other data sets.  I would then ask them to write up their conclusions on how the variables are related to each other.

Now that each student has a chromebook I share the data sets with them using Google Drive and ask them to make the graphs using Google Sheets.  They then transfer these graphs to Google Docs and then do their variable analysis there.  So much simpler!  Also,since I totally love using these computers in my classroom, I have modified this activity for my Advanced students so that after they have made the graphs from the available data sets they must then go find alternative sources to determine if multiple data sets match up.  This requires quite a bit more time and a lot more work from the students (and me!) but it is worth it.

Whichever method you use, it gives the students practice making and analyzing graphs which is a big part of the Next Generation Science Standards, and it helps them become familiar with real world data sets.  Also, hopefully the next time someone starts in on a grocery store checkout line lecture about cold weather and climate change, the students will have enough experience with the vast amount of data supporting the facts of climate change to know enough not to listen.     

1:1 Computing - It's Kind of a Big Deal

Technology is amazing.  My son, who shall remain nameless until I forget that he is supposed to remain nameless, is fascinated by Egypt.  He is currently reading a series of books called the Kane Chronicles (I think) which centers around a few kids (Calvin and Sadie?) who are descended from pharaohs (I think) who battle the old Egyptian gods (maybe?) in order to save the world.  The abundance of Egyptian references in the books has made him curious about that part of history and now he is always asking me questions I can't answer.

"Siri," he says after grabbing my iPhone.  "Show me a picture of Anubis because my dad has no idea what he is talking about."  I may or may not have deserved that little dig, but due to the fact that in the previous 5 minutes I had told him Anubis was part shark and part octopus, and that there was a movie based on the legend of when Anubis ate a helicopter while it was flying over the ocean, I probably did.  I like to keep my kids on their toes.     

Anyway, Siri completed the search and came back with pictures and information about Anubis which immediately called into question my version of things.  So now my kid doesn’t trust me anymore.  Not that he should, what with all the stuff I make up, but it still hurts.  

The point I am trying to make is that this child of mine, who until 2 years ago still occasionally put his underpants on backwards, is now able to lecture me about Egyptian gods.  And I am totally OK with that.  It makes life more interesting, certainly, but it also means that he is becoming well prepared for this time in which information is always at our fingertips.  He knows he doesn’t have to believe everything he hears because he can always check for himself.  

Technology makes this sort of thing - the quick, real-time research to find something out - significantly easier than it used to be.  This is the sort of world in which our kids and our students are growing up.  The age of memorizing the periodic table or the steps in the Calvin Cycle is over because, as the old iPhone ads used to say, there is an app for that.  When you pull out the tiny rectangle from your pocket that is typically always connected to the internet, you have no excuse for not knowing the atomic mass of Xenon or when Lincoln was president.   

This is a frightening time for some teachers because it means the old way of doing things is on its

way out, even before we really have a new way of doing things.  Teachers are no longer the ones who dispense knowledge to help fill the little sponges that sit in their desks.  Technology, like cell phones and laptops in the classroom, present a significant adaptive challenge because they change the rules of the game.  Those sponges don’t need us to fill them with facts anymore because they have access to the collective knowledge of the entire human race.

What makes things a bit more interesting is that many schools are embracing this new paradigm and are issuing laptops to each and every student.  No longer are the students stuck using a 3G network to correct their teachers, they can now do it using the school’s WiFi network.   My school has been running a Chromebook pilot program (full implementation in 2014-2015 school year) and I have been lucky enough to be a part of it.  In the past year I have used the Chromebooks in my classes and there have been a few times when they have been a bit of a nuisance.  The vast majority of the time, however, I have found them to be a valuable tool in teaching my students.  

What is a teacher to do when the kids can access all of the facts without us?  Is technology in the classroom something to be worried about or embraced?  In this series of posts I’ll give my opinions on these and other questions, as well as offer (hopefully) helpful suggestions as to how you can use the little machines in your classroom.

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to share them.