An interactive learning environment designed to increase the possibilities for learning and communicating about radioactivity

Abstract

Information and communication technology (ICT) is a natural part of most people's everyday life, and has also been introduced in schools. Previous studies have tended to focus on issues related to competency of teachers and lack of computer technology in schools. Focus now seems to be moving towards studies that help us understand how ICT may be used to enhance students learning. This article explores the learning environment Radioactivity from the Norwegian Viten project in order to provide insights into how features of the environment may influence student learning. A characteristic of the features of Radioactivity is provided and discussed in light of a set of quality principles for digital learning resources developed by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.

Keywords:

• interactive learning environment
• animations
• radioactivity
• science education

Acknowledgements

This study is funded by a grant from the Norwegian Network for IT-Research and Competence in Education (ITU). I would like to thank the teachers and students that invited us into their classrooms. I would especially like to thank Doris Jorde for discussions and comments on many drafts of this paper. Also thanks to Erik Knain, Andreas Quale, Svein Sjøberg and Ellen K. Henriksen for comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript, and to Wenche Erlien, Øystein Sørborg, Torunn Aanesland Strømme and Alex Strømme in the Viten project.

Notes

1. The word ‘viten’ means ‘knowledge’ in Norwegian.

2. http://wise.berkeley.edu

3. http://viten.no

4. Radioactivity is available in Norwegian and Danish, but the following learning environments are also available in English: http://globalwarming.viten.no/, http://northernlights.viten.no/, http://genetechnology.viten.no/

5. A high number in a country with 4.6 million inhabitants and about 60,000 students in each cohort.

6. In June 2005, the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised the alarm that radon is the second most common reason for lung cancer after smoking. Norway has the world's highest concentration of radon indoors.

7. The content of the radioactive discharges from Sellafield can be traced from the Irish sea north to the coast of Norway and up to the Barents sea, reaching as far north as Spitsbergen. The largest concentrations of radioactivity may be found along the coastline off the Sellafield site itself. Radioactive contamination has been traced in shellfish, fish and seaweed, to ocean water, sediments on the bottom of the Irish sea and in sand on the beaches.

8. A new national curriculum was launched in Norway in 2006, placing radioactivity only at Grade 11.

9. A unit is defined as a link that is found in the navigation menu of radioactivity. Each unit may have several steps, and the work load varies between different units.