Very interesting! I noticed classroom talk, both all-class and that when using the software the kids and their laptops were clusted closely and I assumed were encouraged to talk to each other. I wondered about the writing: is this a challenge for some 5th graders? And I noticed what appear to be notebooks in the discussion circle: how are notebook entries the same and different from entries in the online thread?

How much of a pedagogical shift is this for teachers? How much support do they typically need?

I look forward to this discussion! thanks for the video.

Sally

Hi Sally and DeLene, 

Thanks for your comments and questions. 

Re. your questions about writing online and in notebooks: Yes, in our collaborating classrooms supported by Idea Thread Mapper (interoperating with Knowledge Forum), students write a lot! They use productive writing skills on a routine basis to take notes from sources, write down reflections, and contribute to the dialogues online to understand complex scientific problems. This level of writing is challenging/demanding. We used several different ways to scaffold:

(a) In the online space, students write their notes using a set of scaffolds/sentence starters, such as My Theory... I need to understand... A better theory... (these are customizable scaffolds provided by Knowledge Forum); 

(b) We co-designed a set of scaffolds with the teachers to support student note taking using two columns: What... (info from source) So what ... (personal thinking and questioning);

(c) After the initial phase of online discourse, teachers often work with their students to do a metacognitive meeting to review the most helpful online posts and co-develop a set of guidelines, such as using informative titles, writing ideas with details, and do not simply repeating the source/ideas already said by others...

You can see examples/analyses in the following papers:

Zhang, J., & Sun, Y. (2011). Reading for idea advancement in a grade 4
knowledge building community. Instructional Science, 39 (4), 429-452.

Sun, Y., Zhang, J., & Scardamalia, M. (2010). Knowledge building and vocabulary growth over two years, Grades 3 and 4. Instructional Science, 38 (2), 247-271.

This video was very impressive and interesting. The use of technology, mapping, and hands on learning was embraced by both the students and teachers. Are there any specific tools for students to guide them through the use of TM automated analysis and idea threads? How early would you recommend integrating this type of teaching with elementary students?

Thanks Acacia for your comments. We've been working/thinking hard to come up friendly designs for young kids, and we should do more.

ITM (https://idea-thread.net/) uses a visual interface for students to co-organize their collaboration and conversation. Idea thread analytics are embedded in the online discourse environment to help students reflect on their progress, connections, and directions. We have used ITM in as young as 3rd graders, who were able to use it for rich inquiry after the teacher demoed it (with a few key features written on a board as reminders). 

More tech details were shown in our STEM for All 2018 video: https://stemforall2018.videohall.com/presentations/1256

Your video and project really are powerful!  The ITM gives students ways to co-organize their collaboration and conversation. That is fantastic! I appreciate the way Idea thread analytics are embedded in the online discourse environment. It really does help students reflect on their progress, connections, and directions.

What do you see are your biggest challenges with students use of your materials?  Have you come across any challenges which became key points of learning for you and your project?  

Thanks,

DeLene 

Hi DeLene:

That's an excellent question! Since it is an inquiry-based study, students conduct their hands-on research experiments which relate to their inquiry interests, one of the challenges that students are facing is how to pass the newly gained information from the experiment to the rest of their classmates. So ITM and face-to-face metacognitive meeting play crucial roles for each group members to share their new progress and further co-identify their research gap. Teachers always encourage them to post their latest insights on ITM and share their results in face-to-face meetings, which will trigger more connections with others and deepen their understandings. For more details, please check this 2018 paper.

Thank you!

Guangji

Thank you, Guangji.  That is a wonderful quote from a previous student. We hope students will feel that impact within their learning. (and to see that learning is FUN too!)  Thank you for your wonderful response to my question.  

DeLene Hoffner