Web Problem-Solving (WPS) Inquiry
As GIS evolved, presenters become more effective at implementing the problem-solving framework in their projects and in using the framework to share their projects with others. The steps include explaining the problem, the reasons for the problem, the potential outcomes of a variety of solutions to the problems, and the process of choosing the best solution to the problem (Stubbs, Devine, & Hagevik, 2002; Stubbs, DuBay, Anderson, Devine, & Hagevik, 1999; Swartz, 1996). A good example of this was the 2004 Hurricane Zeus problem scenario. The scenario begins that the National Weather Service has issued a hurricane warning in North Carolina:
Hurricane Zeus, a very late season storm is off the coast
of the Bahamas and is expected to come ashore as a Category
3 hurricane. The hurricane has wobbled in a loop in the
Atlantic Ocean and is expected to make landfall in about 72
hours. The current size of the storm is 200 miles across with
sustained winds around the eye of 110 miles per hour. It may
pack rains of 4 to 10 inches as the storm moves through the area.
We don’t know whether its direct path will hit Wilmington, the
Outer Banks or Charlotte. What could be the possible problems
in your area if Hurricane Zeus comes your way? Think of how
NC OneMap and GIS can help your community prepare for the
storm and to solve problems that might arise as a result of its aftermath.
Teachers and students then shared their solutions via teleconferencing and the Web. They created maps, skits, interviews, and stories, which can be viewed through the archived video on the GIS Live website.
Assessment of GIS Live
Each year after the GIS Live event, a series of at least two meetings were held in which the committee, the GIS professional community, and teachers were asked to critique the event and offer suggestions for the next year. GIS Live is designed to introduce three concepts: 1) the integration of reading and literacy into the teaching of science; 2) the use of technology, particularly GIS, in teaching and learning; and 3) the use of web problem-solving inquiry. Electronic surveys were sent to past participants to evaluate each year’s event. In addition, message board interactions and e-mail messages were evaluated. A select number of teachers and students who participated were interviewed. A report of outcomes, suggestions, and changes was presented each year to the NC Geographic Information Coordinating Council in the spring.
GIS Live allows educators and the public access to the most qualified GIS professionals, scientists, and researchers on the themes of the event. In addition, environmental education professionals from organizations such as the zoo, museums, and environmental centers are able to share information about their programs and organizations. For example, American Forests (2007) shared their program, the School Environmental Education Program, that provides professional development, software, curriculum, support, partnerships, and continued technical assistance. Teachers and students demonstrated their problem-solving projects that resulted from the program. Through telecommunications and the message board for those interacting via the Web, teachers, students, and the public were able to interact and ask questions of the presenters.
The multi-access format of GIS Live makes it difficult to document everyone who has attended over the past four years. Data indicate that at least 20 school systems and 9 college and universities as well as other non-profit educational agencies or consortia such as Massachusetts Marine Educators, Environmental and Spatial Technologies (EAST) Education Initiative, the Southeast Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence (SECOSEE), and the Ohio Aerospace Institute have attended. Many of these agencies have helped to publicize the event each year to educators, schools, and the public. In addition, the public is invited to be a part of the event at the teleconferencing sites.
The most positive comments from teachers and students came from those that participated in the Team Challenge and Autumn Breeze: The Hurricane Zeus problem-solving scenario. It appears that the greater the interactivity, the more the students and teachers enjoyed the project. Some selected comments from teachers and students follow.
The kids enjoyed it so much – the whole school watched
and it seems like a different school. My classes seem to have
a new confidence and other kids are looking forward to being
a part of something like GIS Live. The atmosphere is changing
– it is a bit hard to describe but nearly all of the kids, even
those who just watched are much more interested in learning.
No longer do they come in and just want to socialize. I know it
sounds hokey but they have been telling other people about
how much they are learning and how fun it is. I hope this lasts.
(November 17, 2004; a teacher from Columbus, GA who participated in Autumn Breeze)
Using GIS has showed me how to take science outside and relate it to the local environment. It has shown me how to integrate technology into the science curriculum in a new and better way. (November 20, 2002; a participating MOSS teacher)
GIS should be a core subject. (November 19, 2003; a SPACE student who participated in the Team Challenge)
We have moss on the trees and a lot of cool things. I realized that everything is linked together. Our animals need homes just like us. Observing in one spot helped me look better. (November 15, 2005; a student participating in the 2005 GPS Team Challenge)
Interestingly, the most positive comments from the web participants were from those who wanted to join next year’s event or were interested in using our model to create their own online conferences. In general, these participants asked how to learn more about GIS as a teaching and learning tool, how to network with colleagues that are using GIS, and ways to learn more about resources and grant opportunities. Some selected comments from those who viewed via the Internet include:
Thank you for the wonderful experience. We have had all
our teachers and some high school students present at one
time or another during the day and for us in Barranquilla,
Colombia; it is a great opportunity to explore these learning
opportunities. Please let us know when you have other
conferences and if we can participate via videoconferencing
with you too. (email communication, November 19, 2003;the
participating school in Columbia)
Will these sessions be archived somewhere? They were
wonderful…Would love to try some similar activities here…
But I need to see/hear them again to catch the “how to’s”!
Thanks again for the tremendous amount of effort and
education that occurred today. (email communication, November 19, 2003; a participant in Georgia)
If anything the online conference gave the students an
opportunity to learn about GIS and to realize engineers
can create some important tools that have a positive impact
on their own lives though GIS. (email communication,
November 19, 2003; an engineering professor).
I really enjoyed watching our students represent John A.
Holmes so very well over the NCIH on GIS Live day,
November 17. They did an outstanding job with the Hurricane
Zeus project and the Millpond Project. I learned so much
during the short time I was able to attend the broadcast. It was
also an honor to know that Chowan County was a “premier”
county in this project. It was also wonderful to see us able to
broadcast to and be able to receive a broadcast from
Columbus, Georgia. (November 17, 2004; an excerpt
the Technology Director from Edenton-Chowan County)
The return rate for post conference surveys was low, approximately 20%, compared to our pre-conference registration. This is not unusual for online surveys (Ilieva, Baron, & Healey, 2002). E-mail correspondence, the message board, meetings, and interviews became essential in the assessment, review, and revision process. In addition, the archived video, lessons, and other products used during the presentations were employed to evaluate and modify the event from year to year.
Creating an Interactive Communication Environment
We discovered that creativity was the key to a successful interactive communication environment. Just using the instant message board and encouraging questions from the web audience proved inadequate in the first year’s event. Instead, we began using “focus questions” which we directed to the audience before each presentation. We returned to these questions at the end of the presentations to begin the conversations. The host moderated the questions and then summarized the responses, feeding them back to the group for comments.This facilitated the discussion between the on-site audience and the web audience. Each teleconferencing site had a moderator, but the questions from the message board were hosted from one of the sites. This was predetermined before the event. To further encourage web audience participation, we gave prizes throughout the day for answers to questions from previous presentations. The fourth year, we conducted an aerial photo hunt of mystery locations throughout the day. This proved to be very successful.
Another key to interaction was providing technical support for teachers, schools, and the general public. A technical support number and test link along with trouble shooting tips were provided continually on the website to assist individuals. The process of how to access the GIS Live webcast was reviewed throughout the event. Families enjoyed watching their relatives present “live” from wherever they happened to be. One student’s father was able to watch him present from Iraq.
The greatest amount of interaction of the four events was during the Autumn Breeze: Hurricane Zeus Scenario when students were able to compare their communities to each other based on a common problem scenario. As the schools and students presented from different teleconferencing sites, they thought about how their communities were similar and different. Other students from diverse geographical locations compared their communities to the ones being presented. For example, one student wanted to know why hurricanes rarely made landfall in Georgia. The answer came from another student in a different state who had looked it up on the Internet!
Summary and Conclusions
Over time, not only did the number of strands in the conference program decrease and the number of teleconferencing sites increase, but the website and its design became a unifying and supportive framework for the ongoing event. An entry page to the website was added, which on the day of the event has a direct link to the webcast. The GIS Live preview section of the site explains the parts of the program: presentations/partnerships, team challenge, and pre and post activities and lesson plans. The eForum and Team Challenge have been combined with a focus on teacher professional development. A separate menu button was added for archiving past GIS Live events. The archives contain past programs, associated presentation materials, and the archived streaming video. In the beginning we linked the archived streaming video to each presenter on the conference program page. This quickly became impractical. Now the video files are stored in one continuous stream that is hosted by ITS video service, NCIH. The on-demand content is viewable 24 hours a day and can be paused, stopped, and fast-forwarded during playback. An email from an educator in New Zealand wrote, “The 16-hour time difference and winter exams made participation difficult for us but it was wonderful to be able to sample some of the archived sessions.”
The conference program page has evolved from a schedule to an interactive resource. Last year’s photographs, program, and speaker information are linked to this page. A description and activities were added so that those attending the online conference could prepare for each presentation. In addition, after the event, a link was created to the lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, and other resources such as software and directions to the conference program. In the educator’s section of the website, activities were added according to experience-level for teachers. Teachers share their favorite related lesson plans in this section. This evolved design of the website has become an important support system for the ongoing event.
Using a problem-solving and project-based focus for design of all the learning activities associated with GIS Live proved to be an important component that continued for the four years of events. The problem-solving framework was communicated and described to presenters and teachers. In year three, during the pre-conference, a demonstration was done on how to incorporate problem-solving into teaching and learning. The investigations and sharing of information in the Team Challenges used the problem-solving framework. By asking questions those participating in the event were included in the presentations. Questioning and inquiry, rather than the dissemination of information, became a goal.
Another goal, creating partnerships, became the cohesive glue that held GIS Live together. In the first two years, groups of partners presented on different strands around a unifying theme. Partnerships included a GIS professional and/or a scientist, a teacher, and students. The eForum was held as a separate event after school. But in years three and four, larger partnerships were formed that continued through multiple presentations. The eForum became a part of the event during the day. For example, the presentations in year three were about climate change, focused on a hypothetical problem scenario that was based on an actual “practice” event. In year four, the problem of open space in the state was addressed throughout the day, including during the Team Challenge. Another result of partnerships has been that students have become interns in various state and local agencies. Educators requested that those professionals presenting discuss their careers and possible internship opportunities for students. As a result, in years three and four, a GIS career presentation was added in which partners and their student interns shared their experiences. It is evident that without these strong and diverse partnerships, GIS Live would not be possible.
An unexpected outcome has been that by connecting to other international events and national organizations that provide related programs, our events have been publicized and supported. During the live webcasts, these organizations have continually aired the events in their school libraries, office lobbies, at their own face-to-face events, and in their museums. The focus on partnerships has created a pool of individuals and organizations that are truly interested in supporting teachers in these innovative projects. Teachers have volunteered to become a part of these events, excited by the possibility of providing such a diverse and unique experience for their students.
Through conducting GIS Live, it has become evident that certain factors are essential when using telecommunication technologies and webcasting. It is important to continually question, who wants to know and how can we create an intensely interactive environment with the fewest number of barriers? For example, in year three teachers and students were prepared for the event through a pre-teleconference ,and in year four we visited teachers and students in their schools, conducting GPS activities which we videotaped and aired on the day of the event. The goal has become to strive to use technology in an effort to support learning throughout the year instead of being centered on a one day event. GIS Live has become more than a learning event—it is a journey and an experience of growth.
There are many questions that could be further investigated as a result of four years of implementation using interactive technologies in teaching and learning. Are there other technologies such as podcasting or mobile GIS or others that could support continuous learning? How can evaluation be improved and are there other impacts that we are not measuring? How can more support be offered to teachers, schools, and other groups that would like to incorporate geospatial technologies into learning? How can problem-based, literacy-rich, interdisciplinary projects be better conducted?
Those who have participated in GIS Live are convinced that this method of teaching and learning has great potential and tremendous future impact for education. To conclude, the following tips for success are offered:
