![\"Fifth-graders](\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/IMG_4220-Ward-cells-on-iPad.jpg\")
<\/a>No one had to wait for each student to peer through a compound microscope to view Ward\u2019s cells, rather, they shared the learning experience at one time together.<\/p>\n
This is one of the reasons Ward applied for a Virginia Beach Education Foundation (VBEF) innovative learning grant to acquire digital microscopes for his school.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents of all ages are fascinated with the microscopic world,\u201d wrote Ward in his VBEF grant application. \u201cHowever, access to this world is quite limited and the equipment provided is archaic, to say the least. For science units ranging from first-grade plants to fifth-grade cells, the Micro Fi would be an amazing tool to use for connecting students to the miraculous microscopic world!\u201d<\/p>\n Ward was correct. His students couldn\u2019t wait to use this \u201camazing tool.\u201d They quickly gathered the necessary equipment and got to work in teams of two.<\/p>\n \u201cRinse your mouth out so you don\u2019t have leftover lunch on your slide,\u201d called out Ward as students decided whose cells would be used.<\/p>\n As students rinsed, some explored the capabilities of the Wi-Fi enabled handheld digital microscopes using items within arm\u2019s reach.<\/p>\n One student put the microscope on the top of his hand and viewed his skin up close.\u00a0\u201cCool,\u201d he said before calling over a peer. \u201cTake a look at this!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhoa,\u201d said another fifth grader viewing a microscopic image of his sweater on an iPad. \u201cYou can see all of the threads!\u201d<\/p>\n The student teams are each using one iPad to view images, but the Wi-Fi enabled digital microscopes are able to connect to up to three smartphones or tablets at once.<\/p>\n Ward likes seeing students work together in authentic investigation.<\/p>\n \u201cStudents are able to immediately share their images with each other and collaborate on tasks created around those images,\u201d he said.\u00a0Ward added, \u201cStudents are more apt to listen to each other\u2019s discussion when they see the actual specimen together on their iPad screen.\u201d<\/p>\n With their ease of use, Ward speculates that the handheld microscopes can be used by students in kindergarten up through a high school AP Chemistry class.\u00a0More importantly, he sees the potential for improved teaching and learning, which is the mission of the VBEF and companies like CH2M Hill that funded the grant Ward received.<\/p>\n \u201cImagine the creative thinking that will come with a greater understanding of the scientific objectives that most students only hear about and rarely see,\u201d wrote Ward. \u201cOur teachers will have an entire new world of images and videos that can be used for authentic performance tasks and challenges.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>