There was an interesting article in USA Today raising questions about the use of e-readers, in particular, the iPad in higher education. Many of us who use these tools (right now my wife and I are on trip in the US Southwest & have with us an I-Book, an I-Pad, an I-Pad nano, and 2 I-phones) are often too quick to think that these tools as integral to classroom learning. some student’s report that they still prefer to use a textbook for studying, and that many put away cellphones, computers and Kindles.

e-readers, such as the i-Pad are powerful, yet unproven tools in the context of science learning

The emergence of the e-reader has taken off for those of us that read novels, but the use of e-readers as basic texts is still in the experimental stage. Yes, you can flip pages and highlight and save passages of text, but does this help students learn. But in spite of this, universities are embracing digital readers.

In one example, UC Irvine’s School of Medicine’s incoming class received a white lab coat, Zander a fully loaded I-Pad for all first year coursework.

I know that I would like the next edition of our book The Art of Teaching Science to be available in e-reader format. But will this be an enhancement for students in their science teacher education courses?  There has been the tendency in education to think that a “new technology” is a panacea, and will lead to “increased” learning.  But the research doesn’t support this view.  Here is a passage from the USA Today article:

A host of research over the past decade has shown that even the option to click hyperlinks to related material can create confusion and weaken understanding. One study found reading comprehension declined as the number of clickable links increased. A 2005 review by researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, of 38 studies found “very little support” for the idea that all those links to additional information enrich the reader’s experience. A 2007 study published in Media Psychology raised similar concerns about add-ons such as sound and animation.

What are the implications for K-12 science teaching?  More and more school districts are opting for digital textbooks in place of hardbound copies of texts.  Is this necessarily a good idea?  Will science learning be enhanced in the context of e-readers, and i-Pads?

In yesterday’s post, I talked about Gregory Cajete’s Native science research and how the Native science paradigm of learning is centered on the relationship among humans, human culture and nature.   Can digital technology be an integrative tool in a Native science or humanistic paradigm?  Experiential learning is at the heart of Native science, as well as the Western view of inquiry-based science.  Digital technology in the service of experiential learning can probably lead to increased learning.  But the important notion is the context of learning, and how science education is bringing students in touch with their lived experience, and closer to an understanding of nature, and an understanding of nature.

Source: The White Earth Tribal and Community College Extension Service