On the 21st of June, 2018, at the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University was held a workshop “Using Phet.Colorado.Edu in the study of chemistry in secondary education”, as the part of the project “Modernization of Pedagogical Higher Education by Innovative Teaching Instruments” (MoPED), No. 586098-EPP-1-2017-1-UA-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP.
This event was organized as a pilot workshop for Ukrainian teachers based on the training “Use of Go Lab to Promote Inquiry-Based Learning” (The University of Cyprus), which was adopted by Svitlana Vasylenko, a participant of the international project, Deputy Head of University’s Education IT Laboratory.
Creative teachers of chemistry, who constantly implement innovations and techno-trends in the educational process, became the participants of the first thematic workshop.
Colleagues were interested and pleased to work with online simulators, appreciated the quality of technical and scientific content, the ability to differentiate tasks by complexity and class of learning, and possibility to implement Inquiry-Based Learning. They noted that the use of these online simulators would significantly improve the quality of education of students
from 7 to 11 classes, will lead to a better and deeper understanding of chemical processes. The author of the workshop organized a collaboration in GoogleTab to create a subject catalogue of online tools with annotated materials for further use.
In addition, participants were introduced to the methodology of using personalized gadgets for students during the lessons for quick and easy transition to use computer applications through a link in the form of QR codes. The participants mastered the technology of creation of QR codes.
The participants of the training noted that the explored tools work perfectly with both interactive whiteboards and mobile devices, provide the implementation of the principle of visibility, and provide an opportunity to organize an interactive presentation of the training material in the classroom. Also, each student can practice on a particular topic individually and independently, outside the classroom, at his own pace.
