Oral Presentation Only

Teaching on the Edge: Synthesis and Dissemination of a High Altitude Ballooning Curriculum for Undergraduate Students through the Web and an iBook

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Abstract

This paper will discuss the results from the design, development and dissemination of online and digital media efforts to synthesize a high altitude ballooning curriculum for undergraduate students (including pre-service and in-service STEM teachers) on the web and for middle school STEM students through an Apple iBook project for the iPad. The content and materials for the website and iBook project resulted from a multi-year educational collaboration between Taylor University (led by Dr. Don Takehara and Dr. Hank Voss) and Ball State University (led by Dr. Melissa Mitchell). New web- and tablet-based teaching and learning materials were designed and created by Ball State's Integrated Learning Institute (iLearn) and Emerging Technology (ET) unit. In collaboration with Dr. Mitchell, Ball State's curriculum and media development team created an online educational site ("Teaching on the Edge: Using High Altitude Ballooning in the Classroom" (http://ilearn.bsu.edu/tote/) as well as an accompanying Apple iBook for 6-8 grade students. The Teaching on the Edge (TOTE) project was funded as a subaward on an NSF CCLI/TUES grant to prepare for a widespread implementation of Taylor University's High Altitude Research Platform (HARP) to universities around the country and to integrate the HARP program into the STEM curricula for 6-8 grade science classes. As part of a wider implementation of a high altitude ballooning (HAB) curricula to pre-service and in-service teachers, the project website contains multiple lessons plans, data from actual balloon launches, and supplementary online learning materials and links. The website contains videos of an actual balloon launch, video interviews with science educators, and FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) pages to assist teachers who want to use the HARP curriculum in their middle school science courses. Moreover, to provide additional learning materials for 6-8 grade science courses, a companion iBook textbook project was also created. Among its many features, the iBook includes a brief history of high altitude ballooning, video examples of hands-on classroom active learning activities, quizzes, and animated time-based and geographically accurate simulations of balloon flights. While Teaching on the Edge is a proof-of-concept project, it does showcase the potential for using online and mobile technologies to enhance and disseminate high altitude ballooning curricula to universities and secondary schools. A key objective of this project was to use online and digital technologies to more broadly disseminate existing HARP curricula, including the availability of resources and lessons for active, blended and mobile learning pedagogies. To broaden participation among teachers and students for the implementation of HARP in science courses, there is still a need for additional educational services and more widely available lesson plans and modules. Online and mobile technologies have much to offer the high altitude ballooning educational community in that regard. Online learning can be used for the training and professional development of the next generation of HARP educators. Portable tablets such as the Apple iPad offer the ability for students to take a hands-on learning approach in the field as part of a mobile learning strategy that enables robust social and content interactions during actual balloon launches. The creation and sharing of open and online educational resources is a critical step in building and sustaining a new culture of learning around high altitude ballooning curricula.

How to Cite:

Edwards, R. L. & Shuler, S., (2014) “Teaching on the Edge: Synthesis and Dissemination of a High Altitude Ballooning Curriculum for Undergraduate Students through the Web and an iBook”, Academic High Altitude Conference 2014(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/ahac.5583