Inquiry and ICT

I have been reflecting on the various ways in which ICT can be used to enhance the inquiry process.

Of course the most obvious learning for me had been the way that blogs can be used to record the inquiry process. This morning I visited my school for my next placement. I had a discussion with my associate about inquiry and the fears of the 'messiness' of it. She described the struggle she faced in producing a 'journal' that was 'messy', because her natural inclination was to make it linear and neat.

What I have found with using a blog is that it can overcome a lot of these fears and challenges. A blog is a document that can be edited and modified at any stage in the process. I can shift around the layout, I can re-label things, I can add or delete text/photos/multimedia. This allows me the best of both worlds. I can be 'messy' when initially placing things, I can reduce messiness during the process because nothing is fixed, and I can tidy things up at the end (although the blog can still be viewed chronologically to show the non-linear characteristics of my journey).

I came across a NZ website on Inquiry and ICT today:

http://www.inquiringmind.co.nz/inquiry_&_ict.htm



This website gives a very good overview of the different types of ICT that can be integrated into your inquiry projects and the benefits of each. I also liked the way that it integrated anecdotal evidence from classroom teachers to re-enforce each point.

Also, check out the 'Solutions' page. This gives a number of solutions to problems faced by teachers when using ICT in their inquiry projects and provides a number of valuable links to websites etc. that could help you as a teacher (or as a class).

How is inquiry different?

I have always loved this poem. It is by US poet, Billy Collins. Although it is about exploring poetry I think that it could just as easily be used as a way of understanding the beauty of the inquiry approach to research, the ways in which we engage on a more meaningful and deeper level when we allow ourselves time to approach topics from different directions rather than trying to squeeze everything out of it with a single, harsh approach:

Introduction to Poetry


I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

The Inquiry Process - Reflecting

Plans for week 4 - A BUSY week!!!

It's crazy to think that it's already week 4:-O But also great when I think back on all the learning that has taken place. This morning I have felt a bit like Bob the Builder coming across multiple technical roadblocks with uploading some of my research data onto my blog. I have managed to find my way through the problems and come up with creative solutions to them:-)

So what is the plan for this week?

- Continue uploading data from my afternoon at Fendalton School
- Meet with Niki and have a chat about setting up a website - part of me is now wondering whether this is needed. There is a lot of valuable information in my blog and I am wondering whether I need to duplicate by making a website. I am potentially interested in something like a wiki if it can be an easy way of organising the information (in a kind of copy and past from blog way).
- On Thursday I am spending the morning with a Year 7 & 8 class at Villa Maria helping them set up a classroom blog site. I am really excited about the opportunity to put my learnings into a practical outcome like this. I am meeting up with the IT technician beforehand so that we can have a chat about digital security, setting up the site on the network etc.
- Thinking about my presentation. I am still thinking about how best to do this. I think I will try and take some more footage on Thursday of the setting up of the blog site and try and integrate some of these videos into my presentation next week. I would like to make the presentation as interactive as possible. In an ideal world I would love to get the group to create their own blog post - but this would be complicated in terms of getting everyone usernames etc. This is something to keep thinking about this week.

Another model of inquiry

I came across this model of inquiry on Fendalton Open Air School's website and wanted to share it as I found this outline more useful than the blast off to learning one that we have been using in class. I liked the way in which the model was arranged in a way that was that demonstrated the fact that it was non-linear.

Inquiry learning.....is it just a 'fad'?

I have been thinking over the past few weeks about Inquiry-based approaches to learning. In trying to get a hold of what it is, I have also been frequently faced with questions.

- Is it really anything new?
- Isn't this just a new 'fad' and 'buzz-word' that will be replaced by something else in a few years?
- Haven't I done inquiry before (we just didn't call it that)?
- Isn't most of inquiry just 'good teaching'?

I have also been talking to other people in the education world about it (lecturers, teachers, students, parents) and trying to get a sense of how they feel about it.

It seems to me that it's not really a 'new' approach to learning. In fact people like Dewy advocated for this type of approach to learning. So I think there is a danger in seeing it as something 'new' and potentially dismissing the multiple ways in which many classroom teachers are already using it in their classroom. Having said that, it does seem to provide an alternative to the highly structured and linear models of teaching that have remained dominant in many spheres within education.

Is it exciting? Absolutely. In my opinion, successful and inspiring teachers should be ones who do many of the things that Inquiry involves in their daily practices e.g. meaningful questioning, exploring, creating meaningful contexts for learning, allowing students to make linkages to the world around them and creating meaningful outcomes to their research. I have always believed that learning is a process not a means to an ends, and therefore an inquiry approach is very exciting. It is liberating as an almost-teacher to think that I can approach teaching in a non-linear way that is both student-centred and student-directed (while also maintaining guidance and support/scaffolding as a teacher).

I think that part of the problem with the taking up of this approach seems to be the 'label'. As soon as we label something in a new way, people make the assumption that it is something new. The cynic in me also starts to wonder whether it's just a short-term policy buzz-word, soon to be replaced by something bigger and better. I don't want inquiry to be 'sold' to me (and the monetary off-spins of Inquiry can't be denied). I want to embrace the concept as part of my teaching philosophy that will remain with me in the classroom right through my career. I don't really mind what it is called, and what particular model is used (in fact I think that ultimately we create new models to meet the changing needs of our students) - so long as I allow my students opportunities to learn in this way.