Enhancement to Transformation:
A Global Warming Example
High School
Substitution – Tech acts as a direct tool substitute, with no functional change (Enhancement)
After reading in their textbook, listening to their teacher and researching in the school and town library as well as the Internet, students use Inspiration to organize their ideas and, using a word processor, write a report the impact of global warming.
Augmentation – Tech acts as a direct tool substitute, with functional improvement (Enhancement)
After researching in the school and town library as well as the Internet, students, working in groups of two, use an on-line Web 2.0 visual organizer such as Bub.ul.us, to organize their ideas. They co-create their report in Google Docs and invite their teacher to be an editor on the document. Once final edits are made, students publish their results in a newsletter format using Desk Top Publishing software and distribute it throughout the school.
Modification – Tech allows for significant task redesign (Transformation)
To obtain up-to-date and relevant information on Global Warming, students interview experts using the Learning Network of Vermont and Skype. They also use Survey Monkey to collect information on local attitudes towards the global warming issue. They devise a plan to collect data from various local sources they have identified as contributing to the global warming issue and use a wiki to share their data and plan their next steps in the research process. After analyzing the data, students post their results on the web and advertise in the local newspaper so the community is aware of their work and website.
Redefinition– Tech allows for the creation of new tasks, previously inconceivable (Transformation)
After searching for partners at the Center for Interactive Learning & Collaboration (www.CILC.org), students work on a year-long interdisciplinary project in partnership with student teams in Canada, France, Japan, and Australia in a “mini competition” to create realistic and implementable plans to reduce the carbon footprint of their local communities. Using a wiki to share information and ideas, they work closely with local governmental officials, compromising as necessary, to make the plan realistic. Students partner with researchers at the local universities in each country as well as scientists who work for a major international company that is working on alternative energy resources that would lower a community’s carbon footprint. Project participants create a presence in Second Life where they interact with each other sharing ideas and brainstorming possibilities. They create model virtual communities based on their shared ideas. Additionally, they use video conferencing (Skype, LNV) to meet regularly with their partner scientists and occasionally have the local governmental leaders in each of their communities meet to discuss common problems and potential solutions. Students create a video documentary of their work and post it on various sites such as YouTube. As a part of this collaboration students win commitments from their local governments to implement parts of their plans.