The Effect of Technology on Students Opinions about Authentic Learning Activities in Science Courses

Abstract

Today, most of the researchers have agreed on the importance of classroom environment where students responsible of their own learning. It is important to use modern learning methods with technology to reach this aim in courses. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of using Technology in science courses to investigate 7th grade students' opinions about Authentic Learning and using technology in science courses. In order to achieve that, a qualitative study was administered with a total of 32 students been in 7th grade. The study was conducted at a public secondary school during the spring term of the 2014-2015 education years in Turkey. At the beginning of the study we implemented Authentic Learning Activities that supported by technology (ALAST) in 7th grade science course for 9 weeks. These activities were "Publishing a Newspaper", "Filming a Short Movie" and "Preparing a Mini-Symposium" After implementation, semi-structured interviews were performed with small group of participants. The obtained data was evaluated by considering the context analysis of interview forms. Results of the study showed that, with ALASTs, students' opinions about authentic learning and technology usage in science class change through to a positive perspective. Students wanted to attend lesson more actively, they realized what authentic learning is and stated out that they can use technology for learning science. Also their opinions developed through using technology in school and out of school life for learning science.