What is inquiry? According to Wikipedia...
Inquiry-based learning[1] describes approaches to learning that are based in the idea that when people are presented with a scenario or problem and assisted by a facilitator, they will identify and research issues and questions to develop their knowledge or solutions. Inquiry-based learning includes Problem-based learning, and can be used in small scale investigations and projects, as well as research.[2]
Inquiry is a philosophical stance embedded across all renewed Saskatchewan curricula. Inquiry learning "provides students with opportunities to build knowledge, abilities, and inquiring habits of mind that lead to deeper understanding of their world and human experience." It builds on "students' inherent sense of curiosity of wonder". See the ILS moodle site for more information.
Inquiry is about fostering an inquisitive attitude to learning. It's about the worldwide effort to raise children into citizens who think clearly and deeply, who have gained knowledge and acquired judgement, and who take action with humanity in mind. For teachers this means:
- Teaching as though kids' own questions really matter
- Favouring topics of authenticity, relevance and significance
- Focusing all our teaching around thinking, stressing knowledge over information
- Encouring a curious, questioning and critical stance
- Constantly offering students more choices - and more responsibility
- Helping young people to work collaboratively in pairs, teams and groups
- Fostering the active use of knowledge
- Operating classrooms as model democracies
Inquiry Circle Process
- Immerse: This stage invites curiosity, builds background knowledge, finds topics of interest, and creates wonder. To create interest, this stage will begin with two online surveys that utilize the centeos.
- Investigate: In this stage, students begin developing questions, search for information, and discover answers. Students will be given a variety of articles from Kids Infobits (Gale/InfoTrac) to help inform their questions.
- Coalesce: In this stage, students will be grouped by topic interest. They will intensity their research, synthesize information, and continue to build knowledge.
- Go Public: In this stage, students will share their learning, demonstrate understanding, and/or take action. Going public may look different for each group.
For more information regarding the inquiry process, check out the following two ILS resources.Comprehension & Collaboration: Inquiry Circles in Action by Stephanie Harvey and Harvey Daniels (Note: Every school has a copy of this book in the professional section of the library.)
To learn more about the inquiry, check out the sites below:
- Inquiry-based Learning: Concept to Classroom
- An Introduction to Inquiry Based Learning (Youth Learn)
- What is Inquiry? (Galileo Educational Network)
- Inquiry: Wonder, Investigate, Share (LiveBinder presentation)
INTRODUCTION TO INQUIRY LEARNING
Here is an introduction to inquiry learning by Neil Stephenson, which can be found at his website, Introduction to Inquiry Based Learning
The power of an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning is its potential to increase intellectual engagement and foster deep understanding through the development of a hands-on, minds-on and ‘research-based disposition’ towards teaching and learning. Inquiry honours the complex, interconnected nature of knowledge construction, striving to provide opportunities for both teachers and students to collaboratively build, test and reflect on their learning.
Inquiry-based teaching should not be viewed as a technique or instructional practice or method used to teach a subject. Rather, inquiry starts with teachers as engaged learners and researchers with the foundational belief that the topics they teach are rich, living and generous places for wonder and exploration.
Inquiry is not merely ‘having students do projects’ but rather strives to nurture deep, discipline-based way of thinking and doing with students.
As as entry point, inquiry involves learners:
✦tackling real-world questions, issues and controversies
✦developing questioning, research and communication skills
✦solving problems or creating solutions
✦collaborating within and beyond the classroom
✦developing deep understanding of content knowledge
✦participating in the public creation and improvement of ideas and knowledge
Inquiry is a umbrella term that covers a number of other approaches to teaching and learning. Teaching practices that utilize a disposition of inquiry learning include:
✦problem-based learning: learning that starts with an ill-structured problem or case-study
✦project-based learning: students create a project or presentation as a demonstration of their understanding
✦design-based learning: learning through the working design of a solution to a complex problem .
As contrasted with more traditional forms of teaching and learning, inquiry emphasizes the process of learning in order to develop deep understanding in students in addition to the intended acquisition of content knowledge and skills. Inquiry draws upon a constructivist learning theories where understanding is built through the active development of conceptual mental frameworks by the learner. This approach is supported and enhanced by a broad research base which has identified three key implications for effective instructional practices.
Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about the world. This means teaching practices must draw out and work with students preexisting understandings and make student ‘thinking’ visible and central to the learning.2.Competence in an area of study requires factual knowledge organized around conceptual frameworks to facilitate knowledge retrieval and application. Classroom activities should be designed to develop understanding through in-depth study of curriculum topics.3.Meta-cognition (thinking about thinking) helps students take control of their learning. Opportunities for students to define learning goals and monitor their own understanding need to be embedded into classroom tasks.
If we are to make use of these important findings from the learning sciences, inquiry should be viewed as a highly-structured and thoughtfully designed-endeavour. As contrasted with ‘minimal-guided’ inquiry which has been shown to be marginally effective as a teaching technique, (Hattie) classroom tasks that are worthy of students time and attention, relevant, connected to the world and organized around the ‘big ideas’ of a subject can develop understanding and intellectual interest and engagement with students.
For inquiry to be effective requires significant intellectual investment on the part of teachers to design learning tasks that are connected to the disciplines, to their students’ lives, and to the world, while focused toward clear and achievable learning targets. It requires that teachers see themselves as learners and researchers of both the subjects they teach and their professional practice as a whole.
go to Stephenson's webpage to read more! http://www.teachinquiry.com/index/Introduction.html
Visit other Inquiry Resources...
Effective Questions and Inquiry - A really good article on inquiry related questioning and Bloom's Taxonomy
Necessary Disruption
Inquiry Focused Learning Documents
HOW DOES TECHNOLOGY FIT INTO THE INQUIRY MODEL?
Digital technology supports technology because of the array of devices, software and webtools made available for teachers. Technology allows students and teachers access to current multimedia, powerful collaboration tools and a potential to communicate in a variety of ways to a global audience.
What is most critical is that teachers should always begin with the intended learning outcomes before considering what technologies (if any) might support student learning. For example, if a teacher is working with students on determining patterns from large sets of numbers, excel may be the appropriate tool to use so that students can sort and resort data, manipulate sets individually or as wholes, and to test their conjectures regarding perceived patterns in ways that a calculator may not.
With technology, we can explore learning with students. Technology is not a lesson, unit or project. Technology means access to tools and resources for learning. Therefore teachers need to find ways of meaningfully and authentically incorporating technology into learning. This is where inquiry comes in, with access to different resources and tech tools, students can brainstorm questions they have about a topic of learning and identify the best source or tool for finding the answer... and sometimes this means incorporating technology. Therefore as teachers we need to have good skills in digital literacy to transform learning beyond just knowing how to use a program, but help students to have the fluency to understand the best situation to apply their knowledge.
Check out the video (see below) from Ed Tech Guru, Vicki Davis, and how she uses technology. Although the video below is more about Digital Literacy than Inquiry Learning, the approach fits under the Inquiry umbrella. One thing Vicki Davis emphasizes is that there are many things that she doesn't know when she is teaching students to use technology, and that quite often the students show her. She approaches projects which involve technology as a learner, just as her students would be. This shows the power of collaborative learning with students. You don't need to be an expert, just have an open mind to learning alongside the students. If you don't know something, they will be happy to show you! ;)
Vicki Davis' Blog - Cool Cat Teacher Blog
Award winning and a plethora of resources. No Tech Expertise required, just check it out!
Innovative teacher Vicki Davis leverages wikis, blogs, digital storytelling, podcasts, virtual worlds, and other digital tools to connect students in rural Georgia to the world. See other ways teachers are bringing their schools into the twenty-first century:http://www.edutopia.org/digital-gener...
Check out Digi Teen - Digital Citizen Flat classroom Project
Join Digi Teen and get involved in Global Collaborative Projects!
Digiteen: A Flat Classroom® Project
The Digiteen™ Projectis a global hands-on project for middle and early high school students, (typically Grade 6-9, 11-15 year old) which was founded by Julie Lindsay (now in Australia) and Vicki Davis (Camilla, GA USA) in 2008. This project studies digital citizenship with students researching current topics, writing a collaborative report on a wiki, and performing and documenting offline action educational projects to promote effective digital citizenship at their local schools. The purpose of the project is to educate on and promote effective Digital Citizenship and responsible online choices as well as immersing students into an educational community for learning and collaborating.
http://digiteen.ning.com/
Videos
See videos below, one is an interview with Vicki Davis the other is her presentation on the Flat Classroom at the CUE Conference... These videos explore how teachers and students can connect and collaborate with other learners around the world.
Check out Andrew Churches document on Bloom's Digital Learning... connects closely to Inquiry learning. http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/bloom%27s+Digital+taxonomy+v3.01.pdf
Bloom's Revised Taxonomy - Click on the picture to access resources for Inquiry and Digital Learning connections.
The foundation for inquiry is looking at how we can access thinking at higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. There are digital tools which can help us do this.
The foundation for inquiry is looking at how we can access thinking at higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. There are digital tools which can help us do this.
Mystery Skype
Another way to connect digitally with inquiry learning...
I heard about Mystery Skype a little while ago from a younger, much more hip, "Techno Teacher" friend of mine... so I've been thinking about how it could be used in the classroom, effectively and easily without too much set up. Of course one of my criterion is that the form of technology must go beyond a "Bell or Whistle" ... The use of technology must be about the knowledge learned or the skill developed, not just using the technology for the sake of the technology...
So what is the "Skype Hype"??
Classrooms Skype call each other and try to guess where the other classroom is located in the world. It allows students to not only learn about another place, but develop a stronger understanding of their own home or community... as they are "experts" of their home community.
On the day of the call, students use their resources in trying to figure where the other class is calling from via Skype. To get a more detailed description and how to do mystery skype please visit the following blog for more information: http://www.pernilleripp.com/2011/10/so-you-want-to-do-mystery-skype.html
I learned quite a bit from the blog listed above, to get a sense of how a mystery Skype may go, take a look at Mrs. Ripp's First Mystery Skype... (the author of the site listed above)
https://education.skype.com/projects/2832-mystery-skype
* Before you even begin, note that you need to have a web cam and a Skype account. But more importantly, you need to see if you have all the necessary permission forms completed by parents for students to engage in a Mystery Skype. Of course a pre-taught lesson on Protecting Yourself in the Digital World would be a must....
According to the creators of the 6th Chat http://6thchat.wikispaces.com/Mystery+Skype , the following is a definition of a Mystery Skype...
Another way to connect digitally with inquiry learning...
I heard about Mystery Skype a little while ago from a younger, much more hip, "Techno Teacher" friend of mine... so I've been thinking about how it could be used in the classroom, effectively and easily without too much set up. Of course one of my criterion is that the form of technology must go beyond a "Bell or Whistle" ... The use of technology must be about the knowledge learned or the skill developed, not just using the technology for the sake of the technology...
So what is the "Skype Hype"??
Classrooms Skype call each other and try to guess where the other classroom is located in the world. It allows students to not only learn about another place, but develop a stronger understanding of their own home or community... as they are "experts" of their home community.
On the day of the call, students use their resources in trying to figure where the other class is calling from via Skype. To get a more detailed description and how to do mystery skype please visit the following blog for more information: http://www.pernilleripp.com/2011/10/so-you-want-to-do-mystery-skype.html
I learned quite a bit from the blog listed above, to get a sense of how a mystery Skype may go, take a look at Mrs. Ripp's First Mystery Skype... (the author of the site listed above)
https://education.skype.com/projects/2832-mystery-skype
* Before you even begin, note that you need to have a web cam and a Skype account. But more importantly, you need to see if you have all the necessary permission forms completed by parents for students to engage in a Mystery Skype. Of course a pre-taught lesson on Protecting Yourself in the Digital World would be a must....
According to the creators of the 6th Chat http://6thchat.wikispaces.com/Mystery+Skype , the following is a definition of a Mystery Skype...
How to Conduct a Mystery Skype
- Mystery Skyping is one of many ways to use Skype to connect with other classrooms.
- Two classes connect without the students knowing the location of the other class.
- Students are assigned different roles to help detect where the other class is from.
- Inquirers - Ask closed, geography based questions to the other class
- Question Keepers - Type already asked questions and answers into a word processing document
- Google Mappers - Use Google maps/other maps to zero in on location based upon the clues
- Runner - Problem solver for other students/Take relevant information from group to group
- Logical Reasoners - Use information to remove possible countries/states. They help narrow down the choices
- Clue Keepers - Use paper maps to keep track of the information
- Photographer - Take pictures of the event
- Using these jobs, students collaborate to solve the location of the other class.
- For an example, visit Mystery Skype - Who Could it Be? http://mravery.edublogs.org/2011/06/14/mystery/
Hmmm... Sounds good, very collaborative, every student has a purposeful role in solving the clues... I like the inquiry based nature of the whole concept.
Obviously great connections to Social Studies, with using a variety of digital and paper maps to evaluate potential locations, cultures, languages, timezones and hemispheres. English Language Arts is also obviously explored with oral fluency, presenting, note taking, critical thinking, just to state a few areas. Math is explored with data collection, graphing and exploring clues like the forms measurement used in each country for information given. Finally, the ways technology is used is obviously limitless with video conferencing.
One thing to consider, classrooms would need to "practice" before going on-line... Prepare students for the project, explore background information on your own community, reflect on video conferencing needs, language used (no slang), how to be "ambassadors"...
Finally, to ensure everything is ready, maybe practice with another classroom in the school or with another local classroom in the city, before going Global... Classrooms who are partnered for the practice, could provide feedback. However, if you are not able, you
you could just "wing it"!
If you are interested...
So again, in order to get involved in Mystery Skype, you need to do the following...
1. Sign up with Skype http://education.skype.com/auth/skype
or go to: https://education.skype.com/collections/mystery-skypes
or... http://aroundtheworldwith80schools.wikispaces.com/
2. Prepare a Permission form explaining to parents what Mystery Skype is and provide examples of how it is used to engage and help bring learning the curricula to life for students. You MUST have permission to have students take part. Keep in mind, there is nothing scary about the project, just remember the importance of educating students on their roles and responsibilities while doing the project. It is fast paced, so there is little time to waste!
3. Learn more on how to do a Mystery Skype... See the following blog, "Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension" to learn how. The following information has been ripped off from the talented Pernille Ripp, who is obviously an EdTech Guru... So why create the wheel? I just borrowed and adapted hers to fit an older Canadian classroom... Thus you will notice a more Canadian or general geographical knowledge focus...
For great Infographics and very specific steps on Skyping, as well as assessment with Skype see Langwitches blog:
http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/11/20/assessment-of-learning-via-skype/
HOW TO DO A MYSTERY SKYPE...
*All information below was taken from Langwitches blog and adapted somewhat to fit a more global audience.
Before the call:
Other Jobs you can check out with Around the World With 80 Schools...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/langwitches/4158451605/
http://aroundtheworldwith80schools.net/skyping/skype-jobs-for-your-students/
During the Call:
During the call you just have to step back and trust the kids. The students will probably surprise you with their enthusiasm and their knowledge. This project gives students the opportunity to actively apply their knowledge and what they learned. When they are asked questions, they can collaborate, but they need to be able to respond accurately to questions about their own province and country. Ensure the students are prepared in advance, KNOW YOUR OWN PROVINCE AND COUNTRY! But give them a chance to take ownership for the project. As a teacher, be sure you are able to quickly check facts and assist where needed, but give them the opportunity to problem solve through the live experience!
When you greet the other class, decide which class would go first with their first question and then there were two options or "Rules of the Game":
Resources
For further preparation of the project, show the students the video on Linda Yollis' blog
It can provide very specific and concrete examples of what to expect. http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.ca/2011/06/mystery-skype-call-with-langwitches.html
Be sure to check out the Around the World With 80 Schools links. There is an insanely good infograph by the Langwitches blog lady. She pretty much takes you through the Mystery Skype step-by-step. I love the easy to read infograph which has awesome information and resources which you can adapt to suit the level of your classroom or outcomes. http://aroundtheworldwith80schools.net/
To see the Around the World With 80 Schools wiki with a lot of the same information, check out the following link... http://aroundtheworldwith80schools.wikispaces.com/
Also check out Mr. Avery's blog, as it has a great discussion of jobs he had students do during the call. http://mravery.edublogs.org/2011/06/14/mystery/
Jerry Blumengarten also has a nice collection of links on one of his many pages that can be helpful. http://www.cybraryman.com/skype.html
Obviously great connections to Social Studies, with using a variety of digital and paper maps to evaluate potential locations, cultures, languages, timezones and hemispheres. English Language Arts is also obviously explored with oral fluency, presenting, note taking, critical thinking, just to state a few areas. Math is explored with data collection, graphing and exploring clues like the forms measurement used in each country for information given. Finally, the ways technology is used is obviously limitless with video conferencing.
One thing to consider, classrooms would need to "practice" before going on-line... Prepare students for the project, explore background information on your own community, reflect on video conferencing needs, language used (no slang), how to be "ambassadors"...
Finally, to ensure everything is ready, maybe practice with another classroom in the school or with another local classroom in the city, before going Global... Classrooms who are partnered for the practice, could provide feedback. However, if you are not able, you
you could just "wing it"!
If you are interested...
- If you would like to Mystery Skype, leave your name, Twitter name, website and email address. Others will be able to contact you to be able to set up a Mystery Skype session. Sign up on the Google Doc. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtEwtiTWbV5jdG1IaGNWeHl1NXhZUXh5V1htOElDNkE&hl=en_US#gid=0 or join a wiki like, http://aroundtheworldwith80schools.wikispaces.com/
- If you have a Twitter account, you could tweet a call for volunteer teachers to Mystery Skype with you. Use hashtags #mysteryskype, #edchat, #elearning, #edtech to find the right group to see your Twitter message.
- Or become a member of Classroom 2.0 and ask if there are any classes who want to "play" with you!
So again, in order to get involved in Mystery Skype, you need to do the following...
1. Sign up with Skype http://education.skype.com/auth/skype
or go to: https://education.skype.com/collections/mystery-skypes
or... http://aroundtheworldwith80schools.wikispaces.com/
2. Prepare a Permission form explaining to parents what Mystery Skype is and provide examples of how it is used to engage and help bring learning the curricula to life for students. You MUST have permission to have students take part. Keep in mind, there is nothing scary about the project, just remember the importance of educating students on their roles and responsibilities while doing the project. It is fast paced, so there is little time to waste!
3. Learn more on how to do a Mystery Skype... See the following blog, "Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension" to learn how. The following information has been ripped off from the talented Pernille Ripp, who is obviously an EdTech Guru... So why create the wheel? I just borrowed and adapted hers to fit an older Canadian classroom... Thus you will notice a more Canadian or general geographical knowledge focus...
For great Infographics and very specific steps on Skyping, as well as assessment with Skype see Langwitches blog:
http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/11/20/assessment-of-learning-via-skype/
HOW TO DO A MYSTERY SKYPE...
*All information below was taken from Langwitches blog and adapted somewhat to fit a more global audience.
Before the call:
- Sign up - there are many places to sign up and some are even grade level based. I signed up a couple of places but also tweeted it out; the response was immediate as a lot of people are doing this. If you would like to sign up:
- Decide on a date and time - don't forget to consider timezones.
- Prepare the kids
- We wanted to know facts about our own province or country so that we would be ready for any question. We therefore researched the following questions: climate, region, neighboring provinces, time zone, capital, famous landmarks, geographical location. With older students go further with the exploration, look at political leaders, resources, industries, specific geographical location (latitude, longitude, easter or western hemisphere, norther or southern hemisphere). All of these clues will give the students a better grip of what they might be asked.
- We also brainstormed questions to possibly ask. We like the concept of the questions having to have yes or no answers as it makes the game a little harder and has the students work on their questioning skills. Brainstorm "Narrowing Down" questions with students to ask the other class. Questions we came up with included whether they were in the United States, whether they were east of the Mississippi, Whether they were West of the Rocky Mountains, If they were in a specific region, whether they border other countries, whether they are landlocked etc. These are very American sounding clues, what are some other clues a Canadian student may consider?
- Give jobs. It is more enjoyable when students have specific and well defined roles or jobs.The following is a list of possible jobs. Note, that the list is much longer than what I listed before. Feel free to combine or use some of the other jobs listed at the beginning of this blog post, or brainstorm your own depending on your grade level. See the following link for other Mystery Skype Jobs at Langwitches Blog. http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/04/11/skype-jobs-for-students/
- Greeters - Say hello to the class and some cool facts about the class - without giving away the location.
- Inquirers - these kids ask the questions and are the voice of the classroom. They can also be the ones that answer the questions.
- Answerers - if you have a lot of kids it is nice to have designated question answerers - they should know their state facts pretty well.
- Think tanks - I had students sit ina group and figure out the clues based on the information they knew. Dollarstore $2 whiteboards can come in handy for this.
- Question keepers - these students typed all of the questions and answers for us to review later.
- Google mappers - two students were on Google maps studying the terrain and piecing together clues.
- Atlas mapper - two students used atlases and our pull down map to also piece together clues.
- Clue keepers - worked closely with answerers and inquirers to help guide them in their questioning.
- Runner - A student that runs from group to group relaying information.
- Photographer - takes pictures during the call
- Videographer - Have two students film the call
- Clue Markers - These students work with maps to remove any countries that didn't fit into the clues given. Maybe use laminated maps of the world (or country) and erasable markers??
- Problem solver - this student helped students with any issues they may encounter during the call.
- Closers - End the call in a nice manner after guesses have been given. Thank the "visitors" for taking part in the fun!
Other Jobs you can check out with Around the World With 80 Schools...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/langwitches/4158451605/
http://aroundtheworldwith80schools.net/skyping/skype-jobs-for-your-students/
During the Call:
During the call you just have to step back and trust the kids. The students will probably surprise you with their enthusiasm and their knowledge. This project gives students the opportunity to actively apply their knowledge and what they learned. When they are asked questions, they can collaborate, but they need to be able to respond accurately to questions about their own province and country. Ensure the students are prepared in advance, KNOW YOUR OWN PROVINCE AND COUNTRY! But give them a chance to take ownership for the project. As a teacher, be sure you are able to quickly check facts and assist where needed, but give them the opportunity to problem solve through the live experience!
When you greet the other class, decide which class would go first with their first question and then there were two options or "Rules of the Game":
- Yes answer: They get to ask another question.
- No answer - Other team's turn to ask a question.
Resources
For further preparation of the project, show the students the video on Linda Yollis' blog
It can provide very specific and concrete examples of what to expect. http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.ca/2011/06/mystery-skype-call-with-langwitches.html
Be sure to check out the Around the World With 80 Schools links. There is an insanely good infograph by the Langwitches blog lady. She pretty much takes you through the Mystery Skype step-by-step. I love the easy to read infograph which has awesome information and resources which you can adapt to suit the level of your classroom or outcomes. http://aroundtheworldwith80schools.net/
To see the Around the World With 80 Schools wiki with a lot of the same information, check out the following link... http://aroundtheworldwith80schools.wikispaces.com/
Also check out Mr. Avery's blog, as it has a great discussion of jobs he had students do during the call. http://mravery.edublogs.org/2011/06/14/mystery/
Jerry Blumengarten also has a nice collection of links on one of his many pages that can be helpful. http://www.cybraryman.com/skype.html