COMPUTERS IN SCIENCE TEACHING

By

G.SRINIVASA RAO
Co-Author Z.P.S.S. GOWTHAMPUR, KOTHAGUDEM - KHAMMAM DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH

Introduction :
Everybody started dreaming. Anywhere and anytime became the mantra. Boundaries collapsed and the world became one huge classroom. Things did not end there and technology continued to evolve bringing in newer possibilities for commerce and governance-e- commerce and e-governance. Computers can be a tool for education. What do we understand by a tool? It is something that will allow us to accomplish a task efficiently. For example, a screwdriver will allow us to loosen or tighten screws. A large one will be useless to work on tiny screws just as a small screwdriver is relatively inefficient while working on a big screw.

TWO TIPS MUST BE BORNE IN MIND WHEN IT COMES TO TEACHERS USING COMPUTERS AS TOOLS: Computer usage must value add to the classroom transaction. If teachers develop their own content, the time and effort put in must be directly proportional to the utility of the developed content. Teachers have many choices to work with. They can use customized software and exclusive educational packages, most of which have to be bought. They can use proprietary or open software to make their own teaching resources. They can use services and resources on the web, both free and paid and repurpose the available content to meet their specific needs. Whatever the path they choose, teaches have to make their own educational decisions. Education resources can be broadly classified into two categories. Teacher support materials and self-learning materials, Computer software can serve both purposes.

I ) USES OF COMPUTERS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION :

Digital Images : In lower Classes, one of the requirements of a science teacher is to provide visual material to supplement the textbook or blackboard work. Though the ideal strategy would be to organize field trips, this may not be possible always. Besides, children need to look and re-look at samples to draw their inferences. Photographs and videos would be welcome in such cases. Many theme-based picture CDs are available. Picture encyclopedias are also available.

Multi Media:
Still pictures have their own utility, but many a times, especially if the visual medium is expected to depict movement or a process, it would be better to have moving pictures (video) or animations. Creating video clips or animations require time and skills, both of which are not available to all teachers. This has created a market for commercial multimedia. Many educational multimedia are available nowadays. Some of the well known once are Discovery, DK, Britannica, Recently, CDs, tailor made to the Indian contexts are also being marketed, for instance CDs made by NIIT, or the Azim Premji Foundation. Such CDs, which are generally rich in audio-visual content, can be good teacher support material.

II ) OFFICE PACKAGES AND THEIR EDUCATIONAL USE : Most computers come bundled with some Office package or the other. The most popular package is Microsoft office which requires a Windows Operating System and is both proprietary and priced. The open source (free) counterpart is Open Office, which can perform equally well either on a Windows or Linux platform. These office suites contain a word processor, a spreadsheet application, a database application, presentation software, e-mail clients and other applications that are basically needed in an office environment.

III) PROGRAMMING AND SIMULATIONS: One of the requirements of science education is to handle "what if" situations, Traditional, laboratories or thought experiments have been used to handle such situations. Computers now provide an alternative and many simulation software are now available. It is also possible to design and make one's own simulations by using programming.

IV) LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS :

With computers and communication technologies improving drastically in recent years and the educational focus turning more towards student-centered learning, a sustained effort at designing computer based learning programmes has resulted in learning management systems. From its name, it is quite possible to guess that these systems are designed to facilitate the entire learning and hence must contain learning modules, modules for discussions and help seeking, modules for simulating tutorials or workshops, modules for self-evaluation as well as evaluation for certification.

V) THE QUEST FOR AN ENHANCED EXPERIENCE:

The range of software available have also undergone a sea change. From the era of wordprocessors as the first serious application of a desktop personal computer, we today have software that can undertake the most complex of page-making, mathematical modeling, graphics and animation, photography, weather tracking, online banking and what have you. Think of the application and we are bound to find some software for it.

Computers are expensive gadgets:

Do not be misled by the advertisements of an under Rs.20,000/- computer. That is only the cost of the basic hardware. Add an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) to it and a printer, we will add at least Rs.5,000/- more. We need an internet connection add Rs.500/-. Add a multimedia projector we will end up adding atleast a lakh rupees. You need visit www.ubuntu.com to download and try Ubuntu, an operating system consisting entirely of free and open source software. You can use it along with your existing operating system, that is on a Windows machine. You could also visit www.shipit.ubuntu.com to request for a free CD.

Role of Science Teacher :

As a science teacher, we obviously want computers, only if they can do what we normally can not do with our blackboards or laboratory equipment or plain paper and pencil. Fortunately for us there exists a variety of software which can involve students in exploring the world around them, or simulate situations allowing students to solve problems. Consider a simple example of a sine wave generated by an equation. Change parameters and one can observe the changes in the wave. A simple software of this kind can help students explore the meaning of the mathematical form used and the implications of each of the parameters involved. Winplot is an excellent example of such a graphing tool and can be downloaded free from the internet. There are number of similar software, catering to a range of physics, Chemistry and mathematical concepts.

LIST OF SOME INTERESTING WEBSITES : 1) Open Directory of Science Resources http;/dmoz.org/Science/Educational Resources/ 2) Directory of Science Education Websites http:/avel.edu.au/sci-tech/dosew.html 3) Physics and Astronomy Software http:/www.physlink.com/Education/software.cfm Each of the above sites have links to a large number of sites and software. There is one class of software developed using Java (a software programming language). They are called Java Applets and run off a server. Typically, they run from websites hosting them and you need to be connected to the internet to be using them. Of course some Java Applets are also downloadable, in which case, you may require to install additional software on your machine. You may search for applets in the same way you do for other software. An interesting collection of applets in physics can be found at http:/Storm/ph.utexas.edu/-yue/ Appendix : Some useful websites and software (mostly under the General Public Licence):

Directory of Science Education Websites : 4) http:/avel.edu.an/sci-tech/dosew.html. 5) Open Directory Project : The Open Directory Project is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. Science resources can be found at http:/dmoz.org/Science/Educational/ Resources/ 6) Physics Applets Physics Applets, are small flexible Java applets designed for science education http:/Webphysics.davidson.edu/Applets/Applets.html 7) Schoolforge Schoolforge is a collection of people and projects dedicated to bringing quality, affordable and dependable software and teaching materials to the people who need them around the world. http:/www.schoolforge.net/index.php

8) Celestia is an OpenGL-based 3D space simulation for Unix and Win32 that lets you travel through the solar system to the stars and even beyond the galaxy. Visit over 100,000 stars, 100 solar system bodies and all known extra solar planets. http:/www.shatters.net/celestia/ 9) GCompris is a complete educational suite for children from 2 to 10 years old. It includes more than 60 activities. It offers activities dedicated to little kids like learning the mouse and keyboard. It teaches letters, numbers, words, basic algebra training, reading time on an analog clock, vector drawing and much more. http:gcompris.net/

10) GRASS (The Geographic Resources Analysis System) is a software raster-and-vector-based GIS (Geographic Information System), image processing system, graphics production system and spatial modeling system. It contains many modules for raster data manipulation, vector data manipulation, rendering images on the monitor or paper, multispectral image geocoding and processing, point data management and general data management. http://grass.itc.it/index.php 11) Scilab is a numerical computation system similar to Matlab or Simulunk. Scilab includes hundreds of mathematical functions and programs from various languages (such as C or Fortran) can be added interactively. It has sophisticated data structures (including lists, polynomials, rational functions and linear systems) an interpreter and a highlevel programming language. Scilab has been designed to be an open system where the user can define new data types and operations on these data types by using overloading. A number of toolboxes are available with the system. http://www.scilab.org/

12)JChem Paint is a program for drawing 2D Chemical structures like those found in most chemistry textbooks. http://almost.cubic.unikoeln.de/cdk/jcp 13)Yacas is a general purpose, easy to use Computer Algebra System (a CAS is a program that can be used to do symbolic manipulation of mathematical expressions). http://yacas.sourceforge.net/ 14)Gravit is a gravity simulator. The main goal of Gravit is to be as accurate as possible, it also creates beautiful looking gravity patterns. It records the history of each particle so that it can animate and display a path of its travels. At any stage you can rotate your view in 3D and zoom in and out. http://gravit.slowchop.com/

SCIENCE & COMPUTER :

What we are trying to promote is a use of computers in situations that make the best use of their capabilities. Computers can promote selfpaced learning, exploration, simulation (what if.... scenarios), data collection, organization and manipulation, graphics and animation and of course programming. And if a machine which can do all these is used to show colourful slides or pictures. Don't you think it is an opportunity lost?