Cast your imagination out and think about what it would be like to LIVE as a cell or a tsunami or a liver. This month’s tech tool encourages students to think about this type of question. MySciLife is a free social learning platform, created for grades 6-9. Participation is entirely FREE, and MySciLife offers educators training and mentoring support. The materials are ready to go and easily integrated into your already existing science curriculum, plus materials are aligned to Next Generation Science Standards. MySciLife is offered by The Source for Learning, a nonprofit educational company with over 40 years of serving educators. Are you ready to learn more?
Through MySciLife students take on a science identity and participate in exchanges (social learning posts) with a global community through research and sharing connections. Maybe Tornado Techie will be writing to Senior Tsunami, learning weather phenomena together through the words of the other students. Writing activities blend with science when using this platform. Students get to LIVE as science concepts, and engage with other students in their class and throughout the world.
This teacher-moderated environment allows teachers to pick the modules and activities that work best in their classroom. There is a full virtual library of classroom resources. Here is an idea of the included modules: Atoms, Cells, Chemical Reactions, Earth, Ecology, Force, Motion & Energy, Genetics, Human Body Systems, Moon Phases & Season, The Universe, and Weather. In addition to the modules and activities, teachers can also use the web tools listed, already-created rubrics, learning checklists, and more!
One of my favorite features of MySciLife is the badging options. This gamifies the science activities! Students earn badges, based on teacher input. Some of the badges relate to the modules, while others are more general types of badges. My favorite badges are the Eggcellent Post and Awesome Attitude. You simply click on the badge that you wish to give, click on the student’s name, and submit. EASY!
There are many reasons to consider using MySciLife. MySciLife provides students with an opportunity to learn (and practice) digital citizenship, written communication skills, and critical thinking. MySciLife’s social learning engages students with the technology that they already know and enjoy. Incorporate MySciLife easily into what you are already teaching. The work is already done and ready to go. This science treasure truly digs into 21st Century Skills (and the 4Cs) and involves collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, communication, and even digital citizenship!
Wondering how to get involved? The homepage for MySciLife has a link to click for teachers to join. MySciLife also offers JumpStarts for teachers interested in learning more about this amazing tool. JumpStarts are one-hour introductions to the MySciLife platform. The next JumpStart is on Thursday, February 28th at 7 pm ET. Training is all done online, and after the initial JumpStart, you can train when is most convenient for you. If you are reading this blog after February 28th, just check the MySciLife webinar calendar to learn when the next JumpStart will take place. Bring science to life in your class!
This blog has some great ideas for bringing science into the classroom through technology. I especially like that it gives positive feedback to the students and badges for rewards. Very insightful.
This is a great resource to keep students engaged in their science curriculum! I love that the teacher can pre-select the modules and activities they’d like for students to complete. The tasks are fun for students and keep them motivated and excited about completing their coursework.
MySciLife is an engaging resource that speaks directly to the science curriculum and standards. Since it allows teachers to pre-select the modules and activities for students to view, it is more flexible than most programs I’ve come across. The activities are engaging and able to keep students focused and motivated to complete the work.
My Sci Life looks like a great interactive way for students to learn about a science topic. By becoming a character, they establish ownership of the learning. They are invested in discovering by researching on a topic. It seems very interesting. I wish there were more things like this for younger learners as well.
My Sci Life seems like a great resource for students learning Science in grade 6-9. I appreciate that this interactive tool uses the 4 C’s of creativity, collaboration, consultation, and citizenship are embedded in this online curriculum. The Jumpstarts are a great way for teachers to receive free training on how to use this tool and incorporate it into their classroom.
The idea to gamify curriculum is brilliant. It taps into an industry that our students enjoy and makes it more useful and relevant, helping them with school! How exciting to think that our students may work in the video gaming industry in the future. Adding a writing component is a good idea, like you suggested in the weather lesson, but I am curious if kids will complete the writing or try to skip it.
MySciLife is such a great resource to engage learners and bring science concepts to life. I love how teachers can pick the modules and activities that work best for their curriculum and in their classrooms. Students are able to connect what they are learning in class to the real world around them.
This is a wonderful way to keep students engaged while learning about science. Now that many activities students are doing are behind a screen, I think it is valuable to have resources like this one that engage students in a unique way. Having the program give positive feedback and the option to earn badges is a wonderful idea.
As a special education science teacher, I feel MySciLife has so much to offer students. Students today are engaged through technology and online communication, as they do in the real world. This program allows teachers to monitor student progress and make sure students are learning. It follows science standards and it is pretty flexible. The students get to interact with each other and learn from one another, which is my favorite part. I will be trying this with my 6th grade science students.
What a great way to get students engaged in science! They are able to take control of their learning, and connect with peers from other schools. Students are given the opportunity to practice digital citizenship in a safe environment. Any chance there will be a version geared towards elementary students?