Language Suits: ICT Connecting Students and Teachers to the English Course of Study

1. Language Suits: ICT Connecting Students and Teachers to the English Course of Study Juanita Healy, Iyleen Vickers & Margaret Brophy WestOne, K-12 Curriculum Resources & Schools of Isolated and Distance Education

2. E-enhanced Learning - Key Features • teachers can customise learning content to meet individual student needs • facilitates the design of learning experiences that focus on specific student outcomes • simple, flexible, adaptable, easy access and retrieval of multiple and varied resources • operates within a collaborative online environment • facilitates collaborative instructional design, drawing on the talents and expertise of many teachers

3. Model adopted • E-learning materials developed for SIDE have been: • based on The Learning Federation model (a joint Federal and State Government initiative) which is the most efficient and cost effective way to produce and provide online content for courses • designed as a series of separate stand alone interactive objects that are combined to form courses and are able to be used in various contexts • uploaded into a learning management system

4. Decision to produce web-based materials • greater student control • more interaction and feedback • individualised self-paced learning • continuous access to instruction • realistic simulations • problem solving skills • cooperative knowledge building and collaborative learning tasks • teacher to assess student processes and to intervene in the learning process • lower costs

5. Language Suits • Language Suits is uploaded into a learning management system (Janison) which enables: • students and teachers to work collaboratively • students to collaborate synchronously and asynchronously • teachers to post new information whenever required to particular students or the whole class • teachers to tailor the learning activities and the level of support according to individual student needs

6. Outcomes, content & context Course of Study Outcomes Speaking Listening Viewing Reading Writing Learning contexts (examples) Personal Social Vocational Academic Cultural Content area knowledge & skills Contextual understandings (Attitudes & values) Conventions Processes & strategies

7. English Content

8. ENG 03B Level 8 ENG 03A Level 7 ENG 02B Level 6 ENG 02A ENG 01B Level 5 ENG 01A Level 4 Level 3 English Unit Organisation

9. Language Suits - development Database of digital resources Teachers and writers design and build resources Janison Toolbox Teachers and writers identify existing resources Build individual and group programs

10. Language Suits - Cohort Shark Bay Mt Magnet Tincurrin Dalwallinu DHS Gingin DHS Ravensthorpe

11. Learning Objects • are self contained, small unit (chunks) of information and activities designed to contribute to student learning. They are digital resources that might consist of graphics, text, audio and animation • are reusable, ie a single object can be used in multiple contexts (eg across a number of learning areas, year levels, different locales and culture) and for multiple purposes (eg for diagnosis, teaching, assessment) • need to be placed into a learning context, ie the objects should be embedded into a task or a learning sequence • can provide opportunities for students to learn differently and more effectively • should be selected according to the learning needs of individual students or groups of students • can be used alongside a range of non-digital and digital content and tools

12. Language Suits - Learning Objects

13. Implications Teachers’ pedagogy Need for school/s to embrace ICT to enable teachers to be more responsive to individual students on a daily basis ICT seen as a tool for providing more engaging, interactive learning/teaching curriculum resources

14. Implications Linear/sequential Hypermedia Teacher centred Student centred Instruction Discovery School Lifelong Teaching to the mass Customised teaching School as fixed School anywhere Teacher as transmitter Teacher as facilitator

15. The development of Language Suits has … • made teachers aware of the power of learning management systems • supported schools in discussions/negotiations with parents and students • acted as a springboard to explore opportunities for students to work collaboratively and for teachers to monitor students’ progress on a daily basis • promoted a greater understanding of what a learning object is, and the need to address associated infrastructure issues and ongoing teacher training requirements

16. The development of Language Suits has … • provided a model for discussion with SIDE teachers on the essential features of an online course • enabled K-12 Curriculum Resources to come to grips with the technical and pedagogical issues connected with developing online materials • resulted in the production of many high quality learning objects that can be recycled both within SIDE and by teachers from across West Australian government schools

17. Student responses to Language Suits… Modern approach to learning Opportunity to publish and to read each other’s published work Immediate feedback Collaborative synchronous & asynchronous discussions with their peers and the teacher Modelling opportunities through the video clips of other students, explicit feedback & student work samples Bright, engaging presentation of the learning materials

18. Closing Thoughts • A cultural shift has begun which is due to the design of the new electronic curriculum resources • Recognition of the potential power of online learning • Engagement in infrastructure and training issues • More teachers are exploring ways of adjusting their pedagogy and are acknowledging their roles in adjusting learning/teaching activities and tasks for students • Recognition by teachers that ICTs offers new quality learning opportunities not able to be provided in print-based courses • Students are immersed in a technology which will be fundamental to their future success