Rethinking Junior IT Kevork Krozian, Forest Hill College k.krozian@fhc.vic.au

1. Rethinking Junior IT Kevork Krozian, Forest Hill College k.krozian@fhc.vic.edu.au

2. Session Objectives • To stimulate thinking to audit current junior IT courses • To look for options and new directions • To keep VELS in mind as required • To consider delivery models -- dedicated ICT vs across Key Learning Areas • Any other ideas

3. Primary School snapshot Multiple feeder schools about 100 – 120 into Yr 7 students

4. Current Year 7 Dedicated ICT subject – full year 4 x (72min) periods per 3 week cycle

5. Current Year 8 Dedicated ICT subject – full year 4 x (72min) periods per 3 week cycle

6. Current Year 8 continued

7. Current Year 9 Dedicated ICT subject - 1 semester only 4 x (72min) periods per 3 week cycle

8. Current Year 10 Programming Elective – 1 semester only 4 x (72min) periods per week

9. Delivery Structure - Yr 9 MyFHC Intranet Course Outline – Task list Course individual tasks worksheet Assessment – Task list with rubrics for assessment Reporting – rubrics descriptors transfer to report and VELS level

10. Review what in junior IT ?? New College Strategic Plan 2010 - 2012 Develop a whole school understanding of key learning attributes that identify all students at Forest Hill College Expansion of enhancement activities Students given opportunity to do individual work Catering for differentiated learning with tracking and monitoring of individual progress Agreed pedagogical approaches including teaching literacy across the curriculum The use of ICT in teaching, learning, assessment and planning More challenge Better assessment practices Higher order thinking *

11. What is higher order thinking ? • Higher-order thinking requires students to manipulate information and ideas in ways that transform their meaning and implications. This transformation occurs when students combine facts and ideas in order to synthesize, generalize, explain, hypothesize or arrive at some conclusion or interpretation • Evaluation - Judging the outcome • Synthesis - Putting together • Analysis - Taking apart • Application - Making use of knowledge • Comprehension - Confirming or understanding • Knowledge - Gathering Information • Manipulating information and ideas through these processes allows students to solve problems and discover new (for them) meanings and understandings. When students engage in the construction of knowledge, an element of uncertainty is introduced into the instructional process and makes instructional outcomes not always predictable; i.e., the teacher is not certain what will be produced by students. In helping students become producers of knowledge, the teacher's main instructional task is to create activities or environments that allow them opportunities to engage in higher-order thinking.

12. What is lower order thinking ? • Lower-order thinkingoccurs when students are asked to receive or recite factual information or to employ rules and algorithms through repetitive routines. • Students are given pre-specified knowledge ranging from simple facts and information to more complex concepts. Such knowledge is conveyed to students through a reading, work sheet, lecture or other direct instructional medium. • The instructional process is to simply transmit knowledge or to practise procedural routines. • Students are in a similar role when they are reciting previously acquired knowledge; i.e., responding to test-type questions that require recall of pre-specified knowledge. • More complex activities still may involve reproducing knowledge when students only need to follow pre-specified steps and routines or employ algorithms in a rote fashion. • “Technology alone cannot move learners to higher order thinking skills, but some applications are more suited for this task than others” (Burns, 2006). Burns classifies applications into “Lower-Order and Higher-Order Applications”.How an application is used by an educator determines whether it is a lower or higher order application. An example of this is the use of the Internet. If used as an electronic textbook it would be a lower order application as only lower order skills are used if the learner does not validate, question, or evaluate, the information obtained. When learners engage in online collaboration they would be using higher order thinking skills and therefore the Internet would be used as a higher order application (Burns, 2006).

13. Review what in junior IT ?? Focus on the Thinking Curriculum • Learning centred vs teacher ( teaching ) centred • Process driven vs content driven • Students setting own questions vs students answering only others questions • Shared experiences and learning vs private thought processes • Developing independent, critical, creative and caring learners • More ‘just in time’ vs ‘just in case’ learning • Mistakes to be learned from vs mistakes to be avoided or feared • Teacher fellow learner/collaborator vs expert source http://www.thinkingcurriculum.com/TradvsTOC.asp Focus on the ‘constructionists’ model – students learn by creating • more meaningful and transferable learning will result when students are given opportunities to construct knowledge from their own point of view • Different options for selecting project topics • Training students • Collecting information • Scaffolding process • Organising • Evaluation • Synthesis ( one group’s project linked to another group’s project ) • Assessment • source http://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/models/powerpoint/constructionism.pdf

14. Review what in junior IT ?? Teaching to, and awareness of, multiple intelligences • Linguistic intelligence ("word smart") -- eg. Succinct instructions for games interface • Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart") -- eg. Trigonometry in games programming • Spatial intelligence (“picture smart") – eg. adding artistic, aesthetic elements to programming tasks • Musical intelligence (“music smart") -- eg. adding self composed music to project • Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart") -- eg. reflect on human reaction times in games • Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart") -- eg. allow for multiple players in games, feedback • Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart") -- eg. allow for a player to track performance over time • Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart") -- eg.adding nature based components (plants, animals) to project source http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm Enhancing cross-curricular learning, content and coordination • Why teach something twice if once will serve your purpose ? • Learning in Science with the “enquiry based approach” no different to learning in and with ICT • aligning teaching Excel skills with Maths Petrol vs LPG vs Diesel consumption project • aligning DVD production in ICT with Media • aligning Oral presentation in English with presentation in ICT • aligning LOTE with Gamemaker allowing other language instructions • aligning Heart Rate monitor use in HPE with uploading and analysing in Excel • Use of a database for the creation of a dating game perhaps in Human Development • Use of research skills to locate and verify Australian Standards in Technology • Kahootz type environments in ICT and Arts cross teaching and collaboration • Kahootz and animated LOTE story books • Music and sound editing in DVD production

15. Review what in junior IT ?? Dedicated junior ICT vs non dedicated junior ICT classes • Local solutions will vary across the spectrum from one end to the other • At Forest Hill in mid 90s all junior ICT removed and then replaced 5 years later • Data on school models would be interesting and informative • Problem of non ICT qualified teachers assessing ICT skills, knowledge and content ?? • At University of Washington efforts underway to make Computer Science a compulsory component of any Science degree Content and options and new directions • Not necessarily cramming more into less space and time • Why all of Word, Powerpoint, Publisher, Web authoring in depth ? Can we focus on one here and create time/space if we are using WYSIWYG ? • XNA Game Studio 3.1 – Programming with Visual C# both for the PC and the Xbox - Email: P.Taylor@LaTrobe.edu.au • Alice - 3D programming www.alice.org • Blender – 3D animation and programming with Python www.blender.org • Scratch – programming scratch.mit.edu • Programming using mobile devices or PDAs - Flash Lite to play Flash games on Mobile Phones • Quicktime VR - Virtual reality programming • Robotics - Does it have a place in junior IT , even at a simple level ? • Data Visualisation links -- http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/08/02/data-visualization-modern-approaches/ • Teacher Tube with extensive tutorials

16. Review what in junior IT ?? Stronger links with the feeder Primary schools • Can we work with the Primary schools and define a minimum skill set to achieve by Grade 6? • Can some of these skills be taught as visits beyond the annual 45 mins Grade 5 orientation ? • Consider an ICT skills audit for new Year 7s • Support Primary teachers in delivery of ICT skills . Can we build bridges and collaborate ? • Projects eg. Kahootz learning activity for Grade 4 or 5 prepared by Year 7, 8 ? Stronger links with VCE ICT • Any vertical streaming ? Can a Yr 10 do a VCE subject ? What about a Year 9 ? • Why not insist on a minimum skill set before a student can do Yr 11 or 12 IT ? • Consider closer links between junior and VCE ICT teachers • Consider clearly communicating pathways for junior IT students towards VCE . Eg. How many of you would do Yr 10 programming and then Yr 11 IT if it had the following content …… ?

17. Rethinking Junior ITwhere to now ? • To imagine the possibilities, to excite the staff and students • To join the journey of discovery and share the rewards of achievement and learning • I will be working on Programming with Scratch, Xbox XNA Game Studio 3.1, Alice and Blender for inclusion in junior IT for 2010 and 2011. • Join me and others on this and similar journeys on the online communities • Invitation to join and participate on mailing lists • Specific Junior IT online community has colleagues and resources for sharing. Many ideas in this presentation came from this and related online communities http://www.edulists.com.au