Thursday, May 3, 2018

Fowl Use of Technology

No, that’s not a typo on a title for an article about inappropriate use of technology, but rather a title that literally refers to technology used in a fowl way. About a week and half ago, assistant teacher Ms. Peacock asked me if there was a way we could video stream the incubation and hatching of baby chick eggs in Mr.Torres’ 1st grade classroom. They have been examining and learning all about development and stages of growth. As part of this exploration she set up an incubator with baby chick eggs in the classroom.

Ms. Peacock asked if it was possible to set up a webcam so that students would be able to observe the hatching process live from home. The baby chicks were expected to begin hatching this past Monday so the plan was to contact her parents the Friday before with the connection information to the live video stream so that we could iron out any technical glitches over the weekend and be ready for Monday. However, the first sign of hatching began on Saturday. Luckily, we had the webcam in place so it was being broadcast live as well as being recorded, which will enable us to go back and observe the different stages over time.

It’s a great example of how some fairly straightforward technology, a webcam and video conferencing software, can be used effectively to amplify the learning process and experience and reach far more than the intended individuals. In addition to classroom students and parents, teachers across schools were checking in on the progress all weekend and students from the Extended Day program and other classrooms have been visiting the classroom as well. So far, ten baby chicks have hatched and we’ve repositioned the webcam on those in the heated brooder where they’ll be through early next week.

Students are now in the Creation Station measuring, designing, and fabricating cardboard structures to create what will essentially be a baby chick city for the baby chicks.

If you would like to view the webcam here is the connection information:

There are two ways to connect to view. The first is SUPER easy and we recommend it:
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1. On an iPhone/iPad (or Android) go to the App store and download ZOOM Cloud Meetings (free) and install. Click on the meeting link below.
You will be asked, “Open this page in Zoom? Click Open and you’re in.
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or
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2. On your computer, click on the same link below.
If you have never installed ZOOM, the zoomusLauncher.zip (compressed file) will download. Double-click it and it will unpack the zoomusLauncher.
Double-click the resulting zoomusLauncher to install and join the meeting.
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Louis