Parents speak up...

On Friday we asked the students to present their projects to us and to some of the parents. After the children presented the projects, we asked the parents how they fell about the project and about what the children are doing. First they were quiet, but they slowly started to open up. Of course they were happy with what the children are doing, but they were still worry about children paying too much attention to the computer and other technologies.

Parents are starting to notice that children use the computers to do other things besides learning about technology. Since children are taking the computers home, the parents have started to notice that the children are using the computers to work on project that have to do with the school. They still worry about the children paying a lot of attention to the computers, or getting the computer skills, but not learning what other children in Costa Rica are learning.

Only few parents have really understood that the children integrate content from all the subjects as they work on projects. There was actually one mom who was defending this point when other parents said that the children were not doing Science, Math, Spanish, etc.

I think parents really need to see much more happening before they understand this new way of learning. I think they have been open enough to let us work with their children on this pilot experience, but they really value their children education and they worry that the project is going to affect them in the long term. I am glad that we were able to discuss these issues today!

Little Scientists...

We uploaded the information children collected during the night at their houses. Only half of them recorded information, the other had problems… broken sensors, sensor connected in the wrong position, dead batteries. The ones that collected data were able to graph and explain what happened. They also discussed the difference between the two data sets. They can tell already how the sensors worked from the exercises we did yesterday. I told them about a temperature investigation I did at my house… I told them about how the house’s temperature stays stable in winter, even though the temperature outside changes. We actually discussed how different the temperature behaves there (big changes over a short period of time) and how the houses are built to keep temperatures.

Children form groups and worked on projects. The idea was to investigate different things. We met with the children to make sure they had good questions and designed a good experiment. It was great to see them create and investigate. They actually spent the whole day on this activity. We made a lot of emphasis on the design (what, where and how long do you measure in order to answer the question they had).

Some of them wanted to find out if the temperature in the classroom was different from the kindergarten room because of the room size and the number of people. Another group wanted to find out about the noise in the different environments over the day: classroom, dinning room and patio.

Another group wanted to measure the size of the school building. They were actually disappointed about their experiment at first because they did not have any data to graph. We had a long discussion about different ways they could look at their project and information. They ended up comparing the size of all the building at the school and comparing the percentage they each represent.

I am finishing another visit tomorrow. I will go back t Boston tomorrow. I will be working with the teacher and the children over distance. They have email and videoconferencing capabilities… we are looking forward to meet on cyberspace.

Sensing data…

The children brought their investigations on Costa Rica´s climate and topography… we discuss the different conditions that affect the weather and how we can measure them. We started a project using the Gogoboards to measure temperature and light and to explore things that affect weather conditions.

We program the Gogoboards to record data using different sensors, and we upload the data on a Microworlds project. During the first activity we used a light sensor. The children recorded data for five minutes (a data point every 30 seconds), and we used a simple linear graph to annotate the recordings. They repeated the experience with different sensors and talk about the readings. We discuss the readings and how the different sensors work and how they can be used for different things.

The children wanted to investigate the temperature in their houses, so they programmed their Gogoboards to record light and temperature reading over night. They decided to run the same experiment to compare their experiments. We will talk about the data they collected tomorrow.

The issue of different data representations came up today, so we are talking about those tomorrow... more to come!

Internet…

I don’t have a lot of time to write today. We installed the webcam today. The kids were excited to know they can communicate with me when I go back to Boston next week.

We chat with some of my friends in Colombia. They had so many questions about the details and possibilities, but they were really happy with the new technology.

We opened email account for each of the kids, so they can communicate with me and with other friends.

We also started a new project on climate and topography. Children started by looking at the community, identifying some of the characteristics, and making some drawings. They also made Microworlds projects. We will be doing experiments with sensors (temp, light, etc.), and doing some data analysis and representations. I will report on our progress tomorrow!

Listening to the teacher…

We arrive late to the school today. I came with one Efrain, one of the Logo experts from the Omar Dengo Foundation. We came at the end of the school day, so we only have time to talk to the children for half hour. Efrain came to support our work and also to look at what the children have done. I am very interested to hear his opinion regarding the work we are done, the difference between this experience and others in the country.

We talked to the children and teacher. I was actually please to hear Edgar, the teacher, reflect on the process and how his work has changed since we started the project. I was very happy to hear some of his comments. He said, "I was used to plan my lessons at least one day in advance, some times a week. I am more flexible now… we decide a guiding topic, and plan an initial activity, which usually involves having the kids research and tell us something about the topic; after that, the activity evolves based on what they are bringing and what they are interested in doing."

He also said, "we are working together as a team to combine technology and the teaching methodology." He described how the two of us were working together with different expertise and experiences to create the work at the school. I left the school today with a big smile, I am so proud!

Technology centered...

I have been thinking about several issues with the technology this week.

The first day I came to the school I asked the children to show me and tell me what they had done and learned during the time I was away. The children opened beautiful projects about community issues and solutions, about solar system, etc. When I asked them to tell me about the projects, they started telling me about procedures, commands, and buttons. I kept asking about the design and process, but most of them focus on the technical aspects of the projects. We actually talked to the children about it… I told them that I was really impressed with the projects they have created, but I also interested in hearing about what they learned by building the project. I talked to half of the children and all of them keep doing the same thing.

The other event had to do with the fact that one of the laptop computers broke. We brought the computer to San Jose to be repaired, so one of the children doesn’t have a computer right now… she hasn’t had one for more than a week. This girl happens to have a computer home. Her mom called during the week and offered to take their desktop computer to the school for her to work. She has been working on my computer, so we told her mom it wasn’t necessary.

Due to these events, we decided to have the children work on groups so they can do different things, collaborate and no pay so much attention to the computer. At least that is what we thought we were doing until the mom of one of the children from 1st grade called the teacher on Thursday. She said that she was worried because her child said she didn’t want to return to school because “at this school she was not allowed to do any work.” The mom came to talk to the teacher and to me. We all talked to the child and then we realized that she was feeling she was not doing any work because she was not allowed to use the computer when she was working with some of the older students. We asked this girl to go to her computer, open her folder, and find her projects; then, we asked to open one of the projects. We were actually amazed to see how this seven year old work on her computer. She opened a project and told us about it… it was actually a Microworlds project about community problems. She told us about the technical aspects of the projects and also how she designed it. The mom left knowing that her child was not just allowed to work, she was actually using the computer to do amazing work and to learn about many things.

I can stop thinking about all these issues. I realized how important the technology, especially the computer has become. At the beginning I heard parents talking about being worried about the fact that the children were using the computers and not paying enough attention to school work. I don’t know if this has changed over the two months the children have been working with the computer, because they have realized that the children are actually learning in a different way while using the computer or if they are just paying too much attention to the technology. I wonder if by looking at the children work at home they know how much they are learning.

I can’t wait to read about what the parents wrote on the surveys I gave them on Friday. The first graders have been the only ones who have not taken the computers home (the three first graders are working on three desktop machines they had at the school). I am interested to see if there is a difference between these parents and the rest…

Rights vs. Responsibilities...

We continue with the projects on rights and responsibilities. Children organized themselves in two groups to work on different projects: one group decided to use Microworlds and the other Gogoboards to build their projects. We spent most of the time working on those projects… building and exchanging ideas.

Three of the kids I was working with on the solar system project missed school today. They won't be back until Monday, so we decided to wait for them to continue with that activity.

Where is the moon...

I am very tired today. We are doing so many things that I feel exhausted.

Children are working on the solar system project. I am working with 4 children on the math for the scale... we have decided to locate the planets through out the community, we placed the sun at the school. The children have taken the computers home today to continue the process. We will work on measuring the distance between places in the community, so we can decide where to place the planets.

We are planning to continue with the moon and do some activities in the classroom and with the computer. The moon is definitely not visible here... It has rained EVERY single day, most of the day. We are expecting better weather next week, but you never know.

Children are working also on other projects they were interested in doing. They prepared presentations today about rights and responsabilities... They prepare plays (it is part of their routine here and they like it), an they are thinking about using the technology to communicate their message to others.

I like the combination of different things... It feels nice since it is coming from the children.

Team work…

I have been meeting with the teacher after class for the last two days. I realized today more than ever than we have become a team. We have been able to negotiate and plan together the activities of the week. The teacher has been flexible and open to accommodate my ideas and recommendations, and I am doing the same as we work together.

We talked again about their experiences taking the computers home last night. It was very interesting to see how the children told us about their parents wanting to learn about computers, thinking seriously about getting one, and discussing among themselves and wondering if they were too old to learn. There is a family, which has a computer already, who has decided to buy Microworlds for their children. Based on the stories and what I heard I am putting together a collection of questions I want to ask the parents. I am thinking about sending a questioner and then interviewing few of them.

I spent time today looking at the solar system projects, which children have not finished yet. While I met with some of the children, the other ones spent time with the pre-school kids… they have now a routine every week with the pre-school kids during which they teach them about what they learned with the technology. We have planned to continue with the solar system theme. We are now moving to a 3D representation of the solar system. We will continue tomorrow.

We also started today an activity on the children’s responsibility and rights… I guess we are doing both activities at the same time. We have given them the freedom to work with any material or technology they like. They started working today on those project and they will continue tomorrow… and the following day if they are not done.

Back to the school...

I returned to school after three weeks of being away. The children were so excited to see me, so was I. I spent time with them talking about what they've learned and what they've done with the computers...

They have been taking the computers home for almost a week (not every day, though). There was a meeting with the parents at school last week. The parents talked about how proud the children were being the center of attention and teaching their brothers and sisters about what they've learned. I am planning to interview few families in the next two weeks.

The have done projects on solar system, culture (Columbus day week) and country... They've used mainly Microworlds, but they have combined the work on the computer with other activities such as doing some research, writing some composition, etc. We will have a formal presentation tomorrow, so I can document.

I met with the teacher at the end of the day today... we have decided to do the 3D model of the solar system using the community. We will do some work with Robotics and sensors to measure distance between houses and places at the school.

I think the most interesting thing I noticed today was the ownership over the technology. The children (and their families) have made bags for the laptops, they have created their own screen savers, they have started to exchange information using the network and even runned an experiment to see how far apart the machines can be in order to still see each other.

I will be posting more information this week...

First Blog day...

This is the first time I post information about the project we are doing in Costa Rica with the support of the Omar Dengo Foundation.

This is the group of 14 children I am working with there. They go to a rural school is located in a small community called El Silencio, in the northern part of the country.

We have given every child at the school a laptop computer and other digital technologies, including LEGO-style robotics and Internet-based videoconferencing. We are developing activities that allow all the children, first to sixth grade, to work together. These activities are rich in the three dimensions: engage students; connect with local issues; and connect with powerful ideas in mathematics, science, social sciences, as well as civic and human values.

This project is in Collaboration with Omar Dengo Fundation.