A presentation that was given at SMART 2015 Conference

1. Dr. Dana Crăciun
Teacher Training Departament, West University of Timișoara 4 V. Pârvan,
Timișoara, Romania
Dr. Mădălin Bunoiu
Faculty of Physics, West University of Timișoara 4 V. Pârvan, Timișoara,
Romania
Training Teachers for the Knowledge
Society: Social Media in Science Education

2. Why?
2
 Social networks have changed several areas since ancient times,
including business, industry, economy, art, culture, and education
 HOWEVER: social media is mostly used to share informations, post
photos, videos, comments, and sales
 NEVERTHELESS: Social networking in educational settings may be an
interesting pedagogical strategy
 AND: The creation of virtual environments to complement traditional
learning is significant to promote and consolidate teacher-student and
student-student interactions in sharing knowledge and cooperative work.
 AND: We live in a world that is constantly becoming innovated with new
concepts, ideas and technology. Having the creativity to help innovate
something that has never been created before is a crucial today
 HENCE: We believe that a good blend between SM and creativity
enhancing activities is exactly what is needed!
Introduction

3. Structure
3
1. Communicating science
 SM and web 2.0 in science communication
 Creative communication methods in science
education
2. Comics and digital storytelling in ISTE at the West
University of Timisoara
 Activities description
 Results and discussions
 Students attitude toward using SM in science
education

4. SM and web 2.0 in science communication
Students
 express their opinions on current scientific issues
 participate in online debates
 participate in scientific projects
(collective intelligence of the crowd)
need to express their point of view in a strong
and persuasive manner
adequate communication and ICT skills
4 1. Communicating science

5. Creative communication methods in
science education
Creativity
 foundation stone of progress and innovation in science
 developed through interdisciplinary activities
(enhance written and verbal communication in science) [5]
Activities
 creative writing use of narrative explanation
 creative analogies to understand phenomena and ideas
 approaching the teaching and learning of science through art
Combining narration with ICT and new communication media!
[6]
5 1. Communicating science

6. Creative communication methods in
science education. Digital stories
Digital storytelling form of multimedia that combines
narrative and digital content to create a story [7]
 stories used in science education: storylines, historical
presentations, small illustrations, thematic narratives, dialogues or
dramatization
 created to raise questions or make a point
 aim to enhance the teaching-learning process in science [8]
6 1. Communicating science
First step to gain the necessary
skills needed to hold a scientific
discourse

7. Creative communication methods in
science education. e Comics
Comics form of narration which is mainly based on the visual art
use to transmit a certain message [9]
 Comic strips and concept cartoons
Used in science classes to:
o introduce/communicate scientific issues
o identify preconceptions
o assess what the pupils have learned throughout the
academic year [10]
e Comics – comics in digital format
7 1. Communicating science

8. Creative communication methods in
science education.
Digital stories and e Comics
a viable alternative for science teachers to
incorporate creativity and emotional content in their class
can aid in humanizing science, making it more
accessible to students regardless of their inclinations for science
8 1. Communicating science

9. Students’ view on SM
9 1. Communicating science
74%
80%
95%
90%
SM- useful in professional activity/ science
education.
SM - important for the dissemination of
scientific knowledge
SM - experimented user
SM- can enhance professional/transversal
21st century skills
Students opinion

10. Comics and digital storytelling in ISTE at the
West University of Timisoara
We conducted 2 projects, in academic year 2014-2015,
aimed to:
 integrate ICT resources and new available media for
communicating science
 help students develop ICT skills, learning skills and life
Participants: students from the Faculty of Physics
Collaboration: with the Timişoara branch of the Romanian
Physics Society
Goals of the projects:
 to induce in students a positive attitude towards using SM and
web 2.0 in science education
10 2. Comics and digital storytelling in ISTE at the West University of Timisoara

11. Activity 1 - Digital storytelling
 an extra-curricular activity
Activity description
Volunteering physics teacher students:
 Prepared a set of digital stories inspired from the life of scientists,
scientific discoveries, inventions or the history of science
 Presented the stories in four middle schools
 Discussed with the pupils about current scientific issues and the
necessity to achieve a scientific literacy
 Organized a digital story contest on “Light – phenomena,
researchers, inventions, applications”
11 2. Comics and digital storytelling in ISTE at the West University of Timisoara

12. Results
People involved : 6 students, 100 pupils from Timis county, 15
teachers
Digital output: 8 digital stories: Archimedes principle, The story
of Physics, The story of the Battery, Curiosities in the world of
Physics
Applications used: Scratch, Prezi, MovieMaker, ProShow Gold.
Collaboration and communication: Facebook, email tools
12 3. Comics and digital storytelling in ISTE at the West University of Timisoara

13. Activity 2 – eComics
 Curricular activity that aim to enhance the
creativity of students in presenting scientific
information and to integrate web 2.0 applications
in science communication.
Activity description
Second year physics teacher students:
 created digital comics - concept from optics studied in middle
school
 presented their comics within a workshop
and
 discussed the effect of using comics in teaching-learning-
assessment activities
13 2. Comics and digital storytelling in ISTE at the West University of Timisoara

14. Results
People involved: 13 physics students, 2 teachers
Digital output: 11 eComics on optical phenomena and instruments
Web 2.0 Applications used: MakeBeliefsComix, Pixton, ToonDoo
Collaboration and communication: Edmodo forum, email tools,
Facebook page
.
14 3. Comics and digital storytelling in ISTE at the West University of Timisoara

15. Students attitude toward using SM in
science education
15 2. Comics and digital storytelling in ISTE at the West University of Timisoara
Positive attitude - integrating SM/web 2.0 in the training program and
in science education
68%
64%
80%
74%
Communicating science trough SM/web
2.0
Using social networks and web 2.0 in
science education
Increase of students’ confidence
After Before

16. Students attitude toward using SM in
science education
16
Why?
2. Comics and digital storytelling in ISTE at the West University of Timisoara
58%
37%
64%
64%
Designing learning experiences using
web 2.0 and media resources
Motivating students to learn and
communicate science trough SM/web 2.0
Increase of students’ confidence
After Before
limited teaching experience
students are not able to understand the intrinsic
link between the pupils' motivation and authentic
learning experiences

17. Conclusions
17
 Both projects reached their intended aim to increase the
students’ confidence in using SM and web 2.0 applications.
 Student teachers were positive that they could induce in their
pupils the desire to learn and communicate science through
SM and web 2.0 applications.
 The activities led to an increase in the students’ creativity for
science communication and enhanced their professional and
transversal skills.
Social media and web 2.0 – way of promoting collaboration
in ISTE, tool of communication in science, making the
activity visible!

18. Questions?
18
Thank you! Connect with us…
Dr. Dana Crăciun craciun.dana@e-uvt.ro
Dr. Mădălin Bunoiu madalin.bunoiu@e-uvt.ro

19. References
1. EU-report (2013). Study on Policy Measures to improve the Attractiveness of the Teaching Profession in
"Europe-final report" vol.1-2 Luxembourg: Publications Office of the EU,
2. Zaidieh , A., (2012) The Use of Social Networking in Education: Challenges and Opportunities, World of
Computer Science and Information Technology Journal 2(1): pp 18-21.
3. Kidd, W. (2013) Framing pre-service teachers’ professional learning using Web2.0 tools: positioning pre-service
teachers as agents of cultural and technological change, Professional Development in Education, 39 (2), pp 260-
272
4. Dahlstrom, M.F. (2014). Using narratives to communicate science with nonexpert audiences. Proc Natl Acad Sci
USA 111, pp.13614–13620.
5. Hadzigeorgiou, Y., Fokialis, P. and Kabouropoulou, M. (2012). Thinking about Creativity in Science
Education. Creative Education 3, pp. 603-611.
6. Avraamidou, L., and Osborne, J. (2009), The role of narrative in communicating science. Int J Sci Educ 31(12),
pp. 1683–1707.
7. Robin, B. R. (2008). Digital Storytelling: A Powerful Technology Tool for the 21st Century Classroom, Theory
Into Practice 47, pp. 220–228.
8. Klassen, S. (2009). The Construction and Analysis of a Science Story: A Proposed Methodology, Science and
Education 18(3-4), pp 401-423.
9. Tatalovic, M. (2009). Science comics as tools for science education and communication: a brief, exploratory
study, Journal of Science Communication 8(4) A02.
10. Olson, J.C. (2008). The comic strip as a medium for promoting science literacy,
http://www.csun.edu/OlsonActionResearchFinal.pdf19