This pilot project seeks to explore the links between e-Science and e-Learning in the classroom in order to provide teachers and students with increased accessibility to scientific resources, enable them to appreciate the scientific process, and promote an understanding of the role of science in their everyday lives.

e-Environment Learning Facility for Schools


Start date: 1 October 2003

End date: 31 October 2004

Funding programme: Support for e-Research programme

JISC theme(s): e-Research

This pilot project seeks to explore the links between e-Science and e-Learning in the classroom in order to provide teachers and students with increased accessibility to scientific resources, enable them to appreciate the scientific process, and promote an understanding of the role of science in their everyday lives. The project intends to work closely with schools, and pupils, from the outset.  

The focus of the project will be on the use and analysis of pollution monitoring data; allowing students to deploy their own pollution sensors within their local environment, upload this data into the e-environment infrastructure and view and analyse the data within the infrastructure.  

Aims and Objectives  

Through the development of an e-environment learning infrastructure, this projects intends to:

  • develop children's scientific enquiry skills.
  • develop technologies (especially interfaces) that are appropriate to teachers and children
  • integrate these technologies within the curriculum and the classroom environment.

Deliverables

  • Phase 1: Developing the sensor toolkit and software.

This work will be undertaken within the Mixed Reality Laboratory and will involve regular visits with the Schools to ensure the toolkit and software meets the needs of children and teachers. The toolkit will have two distinct development activities:

  1. The construction and packaging of a small set of remote sensors to allow children to collect and download environmental data from their local environment.
  2. The construction of interfaces for displaying and visualising the data.
  • Phase 2: Deployment and assessment in the classroom.

Working closely with teachers and children (and in line with the national curriculum) a project on pollution will be developed involving a series of classroom activities integrating the sensor toolkit and the data visualisation tools. The activities will be run by the class teacher and the researcher during school science lessons. Each session will be video recorded for analysis purposes.  

  • Phase 3: Developing an all hands demonstrator.

We will package the results of our experiences as a demonstrator to be shown to the UK e-Science community at the 2004 all-hands meeting.

  • Last updated on 11/09/08 by Kerry Ann Down