EFFECTS OF USING DIGITAL CONTENTS DESIGNED FOR PDA AS A TEACHING AID IN AN OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING OF PLANKTONS FOR FIELDWORKS ON A SHIP

摘要

We developed "The World of Planktons in Lake Biwa," which is digital contents for use as a teaching aid in the observational learning of planktons that is conducted aboard a ship as part of science lessons. This content consists of a search page with 350 still images to be used to search and identify over 200 types of planktons living in Lake Biwa; pages providing 45 video clips of actions that are difficult to observe directly, such as the hatching of plankton eggs and cell division; pages explaining cell division; and a "digital sketch" page on which students can upload and publish hand-drawn pictures. The developed content was used in actual lessons for fifth-grade primary school students observing planktons aboard a ship. We validated the effectiveness of the digital content from the perspectives of (1) "interest, motivation, and attitude"; (2) "thinking and judging"; (3) "technique and expression"; and (4) "knowledge and understanding."