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The Premise
Constructivism states that learning is an active and contextualized
process of constructing knowledge based on ones own experiences,
rather than acquiring it from someone else.
Knowledge is constructed based on personal experiences and
hypotheses of the environment. Learners continuously test these
hypotheses through social negotiation and each learner arrives
at a different interpretation and construction of knowledge
process.
Self-constructed and validated knowledge leads to better and
life-long learning. In the classroom, the constructivist view of
learning can be brought about by a number of different teaching
practices. In pedagogical sense, it would mean encouraging
students to use active techniques (experiments; data analysis
and interpretation; real-world problem solving, etc.) to create
their own world-view based on their own experiences and then
to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their
understanding is changing.
The teachers’ role in such situation becomes that of a facilitator,
providing learners the appropriate experiences and guiding
them through these experiences and helping them then build on
them.
ESD is about helping learners become global citizens with
critical thinking skills; sensitivities and respect for the natural
environment; and pragmatism towards the socioeconomic
environment.
This article presents an experiment in exploring the effectiveness
of ICT and GIS enabled teaching-learning techniques in providing
learning environment in school classrooms which is congenial for
self-realized and self-constructed learning, and which eventually
supports realizing the mission of education for sustainable
development in formal education.
CEE ka Biscope
An experiment on ICT-GIS and ESD
In January 2009, Centre for Environment Education (CEE)3
initiated to venture in the field of direct application of ICT tools
in supporting the school curriculum. The programme called CEE
ka Biscope is an educational module meant for students in the age
group of 10-16 years. Practice-based learning for interpreting the
local environment and surroundings is integral to the philosophy
of this module. The module involves interaction of students
with maps, satellite imageries and several computer enabled
data interpretation applications, appropriately combined with
several other teaching techniques including field trips, classroom
sessions, games and activities.
Since the activities are based on school syllabus and text-books,
CEE ka Biscope further facilitates the use of internet enabled
computer labs at the schools towards meeting up learning goals in
several subjects. With focus on learning for life, the activities of
the module help integration of Environmental Studies, Science,
Mathematics as well as Social Sciences.
The Pilot Project
From knowledge to attitudes
The pilot project is being carried out in a city-based
school in Ahmedabad, Gujarat India with about 90 children
(45 at a time) in each of the two grades—grade VII and
grade VIII.
The hypothesis of the pilot work is that use of ICT in school
education will not only lead to inculcation of latest technologies
in teaching-learning schools, but will ensure learner centered,
real-life based, experiential learning. It is hoped, that such
learning environment, eventually over a period of time, will
impact the psycho-affective domain of the learner facilitating a
positive attitudinal and behavioural change in them.
The whole idea of using ICT (including the GIS) revolves around
the efforts to present real-life based information on the
students’ immediate local environment through a medium that
this generation children is very familiar with, but mainly for nonacademic
interaction and processes.
Project Methodology
Experimenting two ways of integrating ICT in the school’s
plan
With the two grades (VII and VIII), two different approaches
of integrating use of ICT and GIS in the school curriculum, are
being followed. With one of the standards the project has tried
to follow the teaching-learning calendar, as planned by the
subject teachers (science and social science) at the beginning of
the school academic year. This approach has required immense
cooperation from various subject teachers as the project team
did not restrict itself to any specific teaching-learning theme.
Numerous ways of using ICT and GIS expertise with the preplanned
calendar have already been invented.
The pilot project, through this approach has led to creation of
innovative applications of ICT in supporting teaching-learning
of several subjects, including Mathematics, Science, History, Geography and Environmental studies. It was exciting to learn
from and note the learners’ responses to such an experience.
| Shefali Atrey, CEE |
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| Students exploring mapping software in school computer lab as a part of
an interactive activity on agriculture |
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| Ravi Panchal, CEE |
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| A session on ocean water movement, global warming and climate
change with help of interactive maps in progress |
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Overall, the learners found innovative use of ICT and GIS very
refreshing for them as they experienced a very novel way in
which a subject was being introduced to them and they found the
learning process very real-life based. With the higher standard,
the project team experimented by using ICT and GIS applications
for an identified theme-based module. Of course the them
selected was taken from the syllabus of the school.
This module of 14 sessions (of 80 minutes each) spread over a
period of 7 months focused on the theme of ‘Agriculture’ (a part
of both Sciences as well as Geography of Grade VIII) was planned
in discussion with the learners as well as their teachers. The
feedback from learners shows that they re-discovered the science
and art of agriculture in a manner which was very different from
what was provided in their text-books and discussed in their
regular classrooms. During this module, along with the theorybased
sessions there were practical sessions, conducted in
computer labs where students made use of global mapping tools,
animations and various ways to interpret and analyze a given set
of data. A field trip was conducted for students which made them
interact with a community of farmers—from rich farmers to land
labourers. Here ICT and GIS were used as interpretation tools
that helped students in establishing relation between social,
economic and environmental aspects of Agriculture, the major
economic activity of their country.
Emerging Trends from the Pilot
The pilot project is still on and formulative feedback from
learners and their teachers has been encouraging for the project
team as well as the school; the trends emerging out of the
feedback received so far, are also supportive of the pilot project
hypothesis.
During the last 4 months of this pilot project, most students
seemed to have enhanced their analytical, interpretation as
well as visualization skills. Such skills and direct interaction and
interpretation of local environment-based data have provided
the learners a justified reasoning to take action towards
conserving and appreciating their surroundings. Besides this, the
project has also encouraged peer-based learning processes in the
classrooms.
The use of ICT has enabled to turn the local- environment related
information into knowledge for the learners, which in turn
is hoped to bring an attitudinal change in them towards their
immediate environment. CEE ka Biscope has been a learning
experience for the project team to explore and experiment
with the use of modern ICT advancements in creating a learning
environment which supports the learners in facilitating their own
learning process through exploration, discovery and real-life
based data analysis and interpretation.
This article first appeared ‘Education and Sustainability’ Journal,
Number 2, February 2010.
For more information contact:
Shivani Jain
Centre for Environment Education,
Thaltej Tekra, Ahmedabad–380054
Ph: 079-26858002 to 9 Fax: 079–26858010
E-mail: gis@ceeindia.org
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