The Learning Sequence and Rationale...Poetry - Safe Online

Three Phases of Learning – Three Technologies

Listed below are broad phases of learning however, they underpin most learning design in the primary years curriculum. Extra phases could be added, for example produce, but my belief is that produce is just part of the create and refine loop. Other models of learning I regularly use in my pedagogical approach such as the IMPACT model (Project 600) or Information Process (Information studies) also align with the three broad phases. In my initial planning I decided when and how certain technological tools at certain times would be the most appropriate way or place for students to work in that phase of learning. In my blog entry that contains background information you will find further discussion around the curriculum content of the unit of work.

It is important to note:

• ·         the learning in the three lessons below is in sequence but it is NOT a set of back to back lessons, they sit within a unit of work surrounded by other learning activities.
• ·         in the Wikispaces classroom is where the majority of the work will take place but students will go in and out of this virtual space throughout most of the unit to either other digital resources or perhaps print resources.
• ·         scaffolding and exemplars are provided in the main wiki room and  teacher/s will differentiate instruction amongst individuals and groups (both face-to-face and in the Wiki Classroom) via comments, notes added to wiki project content and referral to further resources.
• ·         technical skills and site navigation will be demonstrated by the teachers at their respective schools (in class) via whiteboard demonstration.
• ·         knowledge acquisition occurs within all three phases of learning in association with the three main technological tools used. Students come to each phase with prior knowledge of content and technology.

This unit of work was designed to provide students with an opportunity to use 21st Century skills and media fluency, I identified in a previous blog, to achieve the learning outcomes. It was also designed to allow me to strengthen an area of my practice mentioned in the same blog, "I think in practice though I do not provide enough opportunities for creative and critical thinking". Effective online communication and collaboration will be key to the successful completion of the poetic presentation.

Investigate and Plan – Web Conference using Collaborate platform

WHAT - Students will be introduced to the topic, the project, each other (team members) and they will have a live online session with a children’s writer of poetry (for example Ken Nesbitt who offers online author meetings).  Students will engage in the poetry writing process and be invited to ask questions about content and the assigned project.

WHO - Year 6 students of two classes from two different schools, class teachers and the invited author.

WHY – Collaborate is a secure online meeting tool available to students and teachers when at school; outside guests can be invited in by a moderator. Presenters in collaborate can upload presentations and present in audio and video. Break Out rooms can be utilised for small group interaction. Applications can be shared in real time. Files can be shared in real time. The session can be recorded so absent students receive the same introductory information.

Students in the state’s regional areas often lack access to guest speakers. Using a web conference to meet and chat to a genuine author makes for good inspiration. It is also a cheaper option in this time of tight education budgets. The meeting of students from another school provides variety to the learning event and requires students to demonstrate online social etiquette and communication skills.

HOW – I would create a Collaborate session in iConnect. Organise an author and send the link to all participants with a start time. I would give the author moderator privileges on session entry so they could upload their presentation. Break out rooms could be set up so teams could meet, chat and perhaps complete an activity together. Students will have had to have an introductory session prior to the author chat so they have some familiarity with the basic tools. Currently, the majority of Year 5 students in our schools have not experienced being webconference participants. The likelihood of students working in Collaborate in future years is high so this was an appropriate unit of work in which to introduce this digital environment. A second session in a webconference mid project will reinforce skill acquisition as students work with their team in breakout rooms.

Create and Refine – using Wikispaces Classroom titled wwwrite at http://wwwrite.wikispaces.com/

If you would like an invite to this wwwrite Wiki Classroom please provide your email address in the comments below or go to the wiki and “request membership”  J

WHAT – Students will communicate, create and edit in their project area.  Students will access, and add to, resources in this virtual classroom. They will upload artefacts and post responses to each other. They will write a poem together and present it to all class members. They will make decisions and provide feedback in the Wiki Classroom. Built into the learning environment and task (but not as a focus outcome) will be the ethical use of materials by students. Explore wwwrite to see just what students will experience!

WHO – All registered students and their class teachers. The guest author from the webconference above could be invited into the wiki to comment on the poem each group has decided to publish in audio. This final feedback from a “mentor” in the field would add to the authenticity of the task.

WHY – A wiki is somewhere students can edit each other’s work and post comments both asynchronously and synchronously in the same virtual place so it was a better option than a blog. It is password protected and can be set as a closed community. Teachers can view each student’s contribution and participation level by accessing the assessment area. Using Wikispaces afforded the embedding of podcasts and the setting up of project areas for each team. Adding pages is simple and provides a logical format not dissimilar to a book format (allowing children to transfer knowledge). There are other affordances to wiki use as per the table in my blog post Affordances of Wikis - Wikispaces.

HOW – Students will have access to the wwwrite classroom 24/7 but they will have a one hour lesson each week in school time to work on their project. Teachers will access project team areas out of class and work with individuals in class. Students will be able to access from home in their own time.

Present – using Podomatic and Glogster

WHAT – Into Podomatic students upload an audio file of their poem presentation designed to encourage younger children to be cyber aware and safe online. This file is translated into a pod cast that can be embedded in the wwwrite wiki classroom.  A teacher will collate all podcasts and embed them into a Glog that can be uploaded to the Learning Place as a learning object. At this stage adding two new

WHO – Students (Podcast) and teacher (Glogster) with demonstration to students. All EQ students and teachers will have access to the final Glog in the Learning Place - Student Spaces. The Glog is similar to that on the Final Product page of the wiki classroom.

WHY – The students have prior knowledge of recording with Audacity and Windows Media Record function. Using Podomatic will take them further into audio production building on current knowledge. Podomatic podcasts can have an image included and they embed seamlessly into Wikispaces. Glogster was selected as a quick and easy way to create a single image with the podcasts embedded.   This allowed for simplified access by the intended audience.

HOW – Teachers will demonstrate in class how to create a podcast in Podomatic. After a final copy of the poem is published (in text in their project rooms), teams will decide who will provide the voice to be recorded and who will create the podcast. Creation of an image to sit with the podcast would add a further challenge students may choose to take up. Images are another powerful way to communicate an idea.

The unit Poetry - Safe Online has been designed through the intertwining of my pedagogical, content and technological knowledge. It is a unit that is framed by my core belief that every student is capable of successful learning, each person's personal best looks different and it is my job to bring out the personal best in my students.

Poetry - Safe Online (A Year 6 Unit of Work) - Background Information and Introduction

This creative writing unit of work would run for 5-6 weeks.

It would be implemented as a blend of face-to-face teaching/learning and synchronous and asynchronous learning in a digital environment.

It would involve Year 6 students from two schools in project teams of four.

Learning design is framed by Australian F-10 Curriculum -  General Capabilities Continuua and English Content Descriptors.

The students would have completed a Cyber Safety and Security unit of work the previous term providing them with prior knowledge of content.
Students at this year level also participate in a unit of work, in library lessons, titled "Ïs It Yours To Share?". Creative Commons, copyright and attribution are examined and practised earlier in the year and ethical use of other's work will be expected to be adhered to, as necessary, in the Wikispaces Classroom.

Students will have previously experienced recording with Audacity, blogging in a virtual classroom Education Queensland Learning place and uploading content to an EdStudio (also EQ) as part of previous Year 5 and 6 study. The majority of students should therefore bring sufficient prior knowledge of technology to the task. Transference of skills to similar tasks in a different online space will require higher order thinking.

A Wikispaces classroom titled wwwrite will be where students place digital artefacts and work collaboratively. Each team will have their own project area and pages only accessible to them within the space. All students will have access to the main classroom and pages. In the main classroom there is scaffolding and an exemplar as well as other resources of interest. Students can add to these resources.

The Problem

Most young children have access to digital devices that allow them to go online.
Many young children share too much personal information online. 

This could place them in a dangerous situation!

The Task

In your writing team write a persuasive rhyming poem which contains
cyber safety advice for middle primary students. Record the poem so the younger students have easy access.

My next post will elaborate on the learning sequence with particular reference to three distinct phases within the unit.

Planning a learning sequence - Popplet

I am a Teacher Librarian and therefore have some flexibility in learning design. The content areas I decided to focus on are from English and the General Capabilities of the Australian Curriculum. I have selected strands from the Year 6 level as I wanted students with sufficient basic literacy and technology skills to work fairly independently in the Wikispace classroom. In my role as TL supporting classroom teachers (English) and  providing instruction in a digital environment (all students) I decided to set a task that requires students to employ the 21st Century skills. The skills involved in content creation, collaboration, critical and reflective thinking and problem solving will all be practised within the unit. Socially constructed knowledge will result in a finished product to be used in an authentic project relevant to Year 6 students' life outside of the classroom.

This is a Popplet (concept web) at the early planning stage of the unit of work.

Networking and Collaboration in Blogs

A tool is only as good as the user...
As I become more comfortable with blogging and learn more about it's technological capabilities, the more blogging appeals to me for networking and collaboration. I am at the stage now where I can confidently instruct learners about blogging. I can see where a blog would be the most appropriate tool for various learning tasks and how this can be placed within learning design.

Being able to read the posts of others is where I learn most I think. I prefer social learning to other forms. Suggested tools, websites and other learning objects placed in blogs sends me on learning adventures - at my own pace. It is thought provoking to reflect on someone's opinion/situation/actions in their blog entry and compare their ideas to my own . This tends to result in changes to my knowledge base - the whole point of socially constructed learning! An example of this is advice from Kylie, " I was relieved that Authorstream maintains the multimedia and interactivity features of PowerPoint so that it is possible to embed these presentations without losing these features". This means I don't have to worry about features being lost with embedding as I have learnt by reading another's blog it won't be a problem.

Although my blog is only viewed by a few it meets my need as a place to think reflectively and clarify my thinking. My RSS feed alerts me to some great blog posts by others. For example today Silvia Tolisano has a postAnd you thought it could not be done - blogging in maths. I have sent this link to a peer I observed teach an online numeracy class last week, thought she might be interested.

When I read blog entries by people not in my field of work I sometimes struggle to understand their thinking because I have little background knowledge of their work environment and content. This does however ever broaden my thinking which is a good way to avoid becoming too insular in my chosen field. An example of this was reading a young doctor's blog. The work language was foreign to me but the social/people issues not so unfamiliar therefore reading his blog was a valid learning experience for me.

I agree with Suzy's mention of the amount of time required to investigate and play with the various technologies being significant. I found this a bit of an obstacle because of work and family commitments. My understanding of some tools was quite superficial although the tasks raised my awareness of the affordances of many spaces and digital media. Greater use of digital spaces and artefacts to better cater for authentic, problem based, collaborative learning (as opposed outdated pen and paper methods) is warranted. The use of Blogger in this course has met the requirements of 21st learning for me.

How Fun is Glogster?

The look of many of the templates in Glogster would appeal to children. Lots of colour!
My play example is not complete however, I would use it with the intention of students adding their own content to construct content knowledge. It took me a little while to master adding content as it is a two step process. All types of media can be added. It would be useful in the digital classroom as a collection place for resources on a topic/theme.
I particularly like how an image can be hyperlinked. You can add audio via uploading a file but I have nothing suitable at this stage.

Prezi

A Prezi designed to revisit the terms from the Project 600 reading strategies (Yr5).

Prezi tool is a very versatile presentation media. I have based mine on a template but they can be created from a blank. Pretty much any theme is possible. I chose a "construction" theme because we talk about the strategies being used to support/scaffold when reading for meaning. The zoom facility focusses the viewer's attention. The zoom out can be used to "hide" less important aspects so they are not constantly distracting from the main ideas. Video clips can be inserted as in Sandy Shannon's Prezi .
In terms of pedagogy it can be used to introduce or revise a concept, explain or even give instructions.
Viewers can replay sections with the drag of a mouse to suit learning speed. A presenter can stop a Prezi to add to the presentation in person. To extend learning hyperlinks can be added. Visuals can be inserted too. Prezi's can be played offline via USB. In relation to Powerpoint this tool's strength lies in it being less linear a viewer could examine back and forward in an out easily.