Chapter 5 Reading Response

Chapter five focuses on modeling with technologies using concept maps, system dynamics tools, spreadsheets, expert systems, databases, and general models. Before I read the chapter and was just browsing over the pages I found this chapter to be highly confusing. Many of the topics addressed here I thought were too advanced for elementary school classroom implementation.
The chapter opens with discussing learning by making models. Generally I believe models to be 3-D representations of the concept. However, modeling with technology is a completely new concept. Yet, after reading this chapter I now realize modeling can occur in many different forms not only in 3-D representations.

The textbook also has a discussion about modeling knowledge using concept maps. The use of concept maps to display student understanding began in chapter four. Here the textbook expands upon the idea that students need to create the maps themselves and form their own understanding of concepts. The software teachers use also needs to provide the opportunity for students to enter linking words between concepts to visually illustrate how they are related. One idea the book describes is for students to spend a whole year creating one concept map. I like this idea since students will be able to reevaluate their knowledge after each new unit it taught. Comparing student concept maps at the beginning of the year with those that are created at the end of the year is extremely valuable, since it gets students to evaluate their learning and create new connections among ideas.

Modeling with databases is also discussed in this chapter. Database modeling is illustrated through the use of any library catalog. When explaining how students model with databases the textbook explains matrices. Matrices are tools that help students compare and contrast information. The goal of modeling through the use of databases is for students to collect, compare, and contrast information and experiences and gather them in a unified collection that can then be searched among for different purposes. In this chapter databases are expanded to include people’s experiences.

Another main topic discussed in this chapter was modeling using system dynamics tools. This means modeling concepts and understanding how their components are related to a larger system. Thus diagrams created using system dynamics tools focus on the relationships of how one thing affects another; everything is interconnected in the diagrams and relies one another. After reading this section of the book I was very confused. I decided to further examine this topic by investigating other system dynamics sites.
http://www.powersim.no/ is a website to assist students with modeling with system dynamics tools. This site provides software for simulation tools that can be downloaded. I think this site could be used for high school, college level students and real life career people. This site is too advanced and confusing to be used within the elementary school classroom.

Another good site to use for upper high school, college, or professional life the book mentions is Stella. http://www.iseesystems.com/softwares/Education/StellaSoftware.aspx This site is designed to help students visualize and communicate their understanding of how ideas connect and how complex ideas are related. Stella is designed so students can model their understanding of concepts by translating them into new creative models. Although this site looks too confusing and challenging for younger children, upon further examination of the site I found that middle school students could use this site if guided appropriately. The pictures and figures in the book look way too confusing for elementary students to comprehend. However, on the actual site there are much simpler examples of what children can create.

The next section, modeling with spreadsheets, was also a very new concept for me. Although I have used Excel and spreadsheets before I never thought of using these as a method to teach modeling techniques. However, after finding some cool websites I found I really like this idea. In the future I hope I will have the capabilities to use this software in my classrooms to reinforce modeling.
One great website I found to use in the classroom to help students graphically model, using spreadsheets, simulations and design is aspexsoftware.com. http://www.aspexsoftware.com/spex_presentation.htm This is children’s educational software. I think this would be a great resource to use in the classroom to help students visualize the abstract concept of modeling with a spreadsheet. I absolutely love this website. The material presented here is designed for 5 to 14 year olds but I think it can also be used in introduction computer classes with people older than that. This site is also extremely easy to use and is very simple to understand. It provides students with the opportunity to design 3-D representations of things, learn about and practice graphical modeling, and practice using spreadsheet modeling. Displaying results on graphs is also a skill students gain practice with using this software. Another bonus to this site is that the software is free and can be downloaded to use on either a PC or a Mac. The one disadvantage I found of this site is that the budget applications are based on the Euro since the program is British. However, this could also be used as a math lesson since students have to convert their Euro budget to its equivalency in American dollars.

http://www.solver.com/ is another site that provides add-ons for Excel. Excel is a spreadsheet program, thus solver.com helps one model using spreadsheets. This site is helpful in that it explains how to create a worksheet using Microsoft Excel. Although the language on this site is often above that of elementary school children it does provide student help in that students can register their textbooks with the site and gain access to extra spreadsheet modeling resources.

One resource the book mentions to use in your classroom is http://www.mindtools.com/. This site offers multiple tools for students to use to organize their thoughts. One thing I like about this site is that the diagrams are organized based on categories. If students need examples for how to model their communication they can look under the communication skills tab. Likewise, there are diagrams and examples for how to map their problem solving, decision-making, time management, information skills and leadership skills.

Another site http://www.goknow.com/Products/ demonstrates how to use cell phones in classrooms. Suggestions for using handhelds in the classroom are also provided. This site also offers suggestions for how to get started with using technology in the classroom. I think this site will be used in my classroom by utilizing the grant writing templates to help raise funds to buy enough handhelds for my students.

Although at first glance this chapter was very confusing, upon further examination and investigation I found this chapter to be quite informative and helpful. This chapter helped me change my concept of what modeling is and how it should be represented. I also found some really useful sites to use in my future classroom to promote modeling with technology. However, I found many of the ideas discussed in this chapter to be too advanced for elementary school children. I think system dynamics tools would be more useful in high school since they require students to analyze complex interrelationships of concepts. Yet, I did find some great sites that I will definitely be using in my future classroom.