Best way to use Etoys 4

> On Wednesday 28 October 2009 02:36:13 pm Carlos Rabassa wrote:
>> What recommendations would Etoys - experienced teachers and the
>> creators of Etoys give to teachers who are just starting to use Etoys
>> in their classrooms?
> Etoys is a powerful learning environment. People need time to get  
> used to this
> environment. The toys in the catalog are based on metaphors that may  
> not
> correspond to objects encountered by children in daily life in your  
> region. So
> make sure teachers (and students) get lots of time to play with it and
> establish their own metaphors. For instance, some children may  
> prefer to think
> of "lasso" as "scissors".
>
> Not all features are discoverable through exploration. So guidance is
> necessary for such advanced features. For instance, Etoys can also  
> exist on
> screen without being "visible". The object can be transparent,  
> hidden or use a
> camouflage costume. You could immerse a piece of glass in water to  
> illustrate
> such features.
>
> BTW, Etoys is a "classroom" ;-).
>
>> How much should they do and how much should they ask the students  
>> to do?
> Initially it is very much co-exploration. Teachers have the  
> advantage of
> experience, but fear of accidents may hold them back. Children, with  
> unbridled
> curiousity, explore freely without fear and discover "features"  
> faster than
> adults. But they also get distracted easily.
>
> One way to work around such issues is for teachers to initiate a  
> project on a
> particular topic (e.g. water conservation) and then get the students  
> to
> elaborate it further. Learning happens while "doing" projects.
>
>> What is the best way to ask the class to do a project?
> The best way is best left to teachers and local practices :-). I  
> assist
> teachers only on the mechanics of Etoys. I encourage them to ask  
> "how to..."
> rather than "what is the best way..".
>
> Most teachers use activities (like paper craft, beads, ball game  
> etc.) for
> concept development. I help teachers model those same activities in  
> Etoys.
> Children get to redo the same activities in Etoys and then go on to  
> discover
> the extra capabilities in the digital environment.
>
> For instance, a given count of beads are arranged in a rectangular  
> shape to
> discover factors. The same can be done by resizing a holder with  
> objects. This
> experiment is much easier (and faster) in Etoys.
>
> Or a teacher can get students to drop a ball and trace its locus on  
> a wall and
> then create this model in Etoys. Once this is done, students can  
> study how
> different gravitational forces affect the movement.
>
>> How do experienced evaluators rank projects?
>> Where do they look for value in a project?
> I am not sure if Etoys projects can be evaluated this way. The value  
> is in the
> thinking ("debugging") that goes into a project. Of course, it is  
> possible to
> create a project specifically for evaluation (e.g. an essay or a  
> diagram). In
> this case, Etoys is just an digital editor.
>
> It is nice to get in touch with school supporters around the world.  
> Thanks for
> reaching out.
>
> Regards .. Subbu