Interactive Web Site

The RiverWatch web site provides on-line data entry and charting

The RiverWatch web site provides on-line data entry and on-line charting. This truly interactive web site means that students are no longer just technicians mearly collecting data. Students are now empowered through on-line charting to select and use data as they see fit

Using on-line technology to assist with data collection, data manipulation and communicating findings will become a fundamental feature inherent in all "next-generation" science field trips.

The RiverWatch Web Site is a seamless opportunity to infuse collaboration and technology into a science program! It's just the right thing to do!

Mandated Use

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) is now mandated in Alberta schools and teachers are very much interested in collaborative Internet projects. The most desirable Internet projects are those that engage students in the collection, analysis, comparison and use of original data.

Locally Relevant Monitoring Site

The RiverWatch web site is target-specific for Alberta schools investigating Alberta rivers. This focus keeps the program simple, friendly and a manageable size. The web site is a great telecommunications resource for classroom use within and between schools across central and southern Alberta.

A Growing Database

Each season, RiverWatch students generate tremendous volumes of data sheets. The web site now provides a secure home for this data and makes it available to students in other schools in other years.

Collaboration

River monitoring data collected by students is shared on-line with other students and across the years!

The RiverWatch web site has corrected many of the problems encountered with traditional ecology field trips. Ecology field trips are no longer isolated technique labs; they are now studies of environmental trends over space and time.

Where students once could only get only a small snapshot of river health, RiverWatch now makes it possible to collect information gathered at many sample sites over many days and many years. Information that was often not shared between classes, between years or between schools, is now accessible by all students through this collaborative medium.

Valid Conclusions

The RiverWatch web site makes much more data available for students and allows them to draw more valid conclusions. Trends become more apparent with more data.

Expert and Shared Advice

The RiverWatch discussion bulletin board provides an opportunity for students to seek expert advice and discuss information and experiences with the peers in other schools and on other rivers. This web of "river pals" can only help increase a sense of common stewardship for Alberta's rivers.

Researchers vs. Technicians

The RiverWatch web site promotes the sharing of long-term information and contributes to higher levels of learning involving synthesis, analysis and hypothesizing. Students are no longer technicians just gathering data, but rather, they are now researchers that chart data, analyze data and draw conclusions.