While we and others talk a lot about how various types of technology can be “integrated”, it is sometimes difficult to give educators the real feel for what this is actually like. Here is what such an experience would look like from Cindy’s perspective (this is what she did yesterday).
Middle school students in Grand Forks do a field study of macroinvertebrates. They are bused to a state park nearby and collect specimens from a stream. The specimens are identified, counted, and photographed. The instructors may explain the purpose of the lesson a little differently, but to me it is basically an ecology lesson focused on how characteristics of the environment (running water, water quality) determine the type and quantity of organisms living in that place.
What do the photographs add? The collection is “permanent” and specimens can be returned to the wild. There is an external record that can be examined after returning to the classrooms.
Cindy uses iPhoto and her .Mac account to organize and display some of the “artifacts
