ICTeD Services

My PD Offerings for October, 2011

For VITTA

Reinvent your Teaching with Challenge Based Learning!

Find out how Challenge Based Learning can invigorate teaching and learning of Primary and Middle Years classes! It is an approach that is highly engaging, embraces authentic learning and is great for students and teachers to use 21st century learning skills. Find out about the theory and seeclassroom examples.
A comprehensive set of online resources will be available as will membership of a network to support this learning.

DATE: Thursday, October 20, 2011

TIME: 4:30 - 6:30pm

VENUE: The ICT Teaching & Learning Centre, Williamstown Primary School,
Corner of Parker and Electra Streets, Williamstown.
Ample parking available outside school, check signage.
Nearest railway station, Williamstown Beach.

MacBooks, online resources and afternoon tea included

PRICE: Non-members $100 Members $80

To Register http://www.vitta.org.au/events/event/reinvent-your-teaching-with-challenge-based-learning

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For VITTA

What's New in iLife '11?

Just got a new MacBook, maybe through the DEECD Notebooks for Teachers and Principals program? You will notice that it comes with the new version of
iLife.

This will be a hands-on session as much as possible. A comprehensive set of online resources will be available as will membership of a network to
support this learning.

. So what's new in iLife '11?
. What are the changes?
. What are the implications of this upgrade for the classroom>
. Exploring what's new in iPhoto?
. Exploring what's new in iTunes?
. Exploring what's new in GarageBand?
. What about iWeb & IDVD?
. Exploring what's new in iMovie?
. What are some great things you can do in the classroom with iLife '11
. Where to after this session?

DATE: Thursday, October 27, 2011

TIME: 4:30 - 6:30pm

VENUE: The ICT Teaching & Learning Centre, Williamstown Primary School,
Corner of Parker and Electra Streets, Williamstown.
Ample parking available outside school, check signage.
Nearest railway station, Williamstown Beach.

MacBooks, online resources and afternoon tea included

PRICE: Non-members $100 Members $80

 To Register http://www.vitta.org.au/events/event/whats-new-in-ilife-11

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For ICTEV

Western Region Study Tour

Thursday, October 27, 2011 - 09:00 - 15:30

Visit three schools during the day [Williamstown PS, Altona PS & Seabrook PS]

Synopsis of Williamstown component

9.00 am
Williamstown Primary School - Host: Mark Richardson,
Whole School ICT/eLearning planning at Williamstown Primary School.

Mark Richardson, ICT Coordinator at Williamstown PS, will introduce you to the ways that the school organises its curriculum around its notebook/netbook trolleys and interactive whiteboards. Find out how these devices are used in English, Mathematics and Integrated Studies and learn how you can plan activities like these for yourself. Examples of planning and activities will be shown and you will be able to talk to teachers about their work.
Topics covered will be:
• The importance of whole school ICT / eLearning planning;
• How to plan great ICT / eLearning lessons;
• The organisational and technical support that is needed;
• Using Bloom's Digital Taxonomy as a planning tool;
• Making the most of all the software on PCs and Macs;
• Using Interactive Whiteboards to enhance classroom management, teaching and learning.
Mark will also demonstrate some of the great Web 2.0 tools to use in the primary classroom, discuss the assessment of student work in ICT / eLearning lessons, explain how a Learning Management System can enhance your lessons and conclude with describing how PD can be integrated into these activities.

Member Cost: $160.00 Non-member Cost: $190.00

Register here http://ictev.vic.edu.au/pd/2011/10/27/western-region-study-tour-integrating-ict-your-primary-school-program

Hope to see you at one or all of these events

A School's eLearning Planning - The Magazine Article

I've been asked by an Educational Technology Solutions magazine to write an article on the eLearning Planning of my school. Nice to have my stuff on this picked up by them on Google. See http://www.ictedservices.com/eLearning_Planning.html. It will be interesting writing the 1500 words, as it will have to summarize the journey the school has gone through over the past 18 months. I will need to contact the Victorian Department of Education & Early Childhood Development, [DEECD], re: the availability of the eLearning Planning Guide & Matrix to a wider audience. And then write the article. Also need to check out some back issues of ETS & their style guide!

Working Title: How to write a great eLearning plan for your school….and why your school needs one!!

Breakout: Now all this expenditure [on ICT in schools] we would want to be able to demonstrate that we there are improvements to student achievements and learning. But can we if fact, do this? Or is this great amount of expenditure just being spent with little monitoring?

Resources:

DEECD Resources for eLearning Planning for Leaders

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/elearning/planning/default.htm

Williamstown Primary School eLearning Plan 2008-2009

http://www.williamstownps.vic.edu.au/docs/eLearning%20plan.pdf

The DEECD ePotential Continuum

http://epotential.education.vic.gov.au/continuum.php

Postscript: looks as though it has been accepted, with a publication date of early next year!

ICT Scope & Sequence for Primary / Elementary Schools /3

Developing a sustainable, useful and practical ICT Scope & Sequence for my school has required a lot of thinking & development. The direction of the  school' s ICT Scope & Sequence has come from its eLearning plan 2008-2011. [See http://www.ictedservices.com/eLearning_Planning.html and my blogpost of 18.02.2009 for what has happened before in this process.]

To make a plan that will be used by all teachers, enhance current curriculum planning, reflect the Victorian Essential Learning Standards for ICT, lead to useful assessment tools and be manageable has been a challenge.

However, I think we have now developed a useful model. This has used the planning documents of the Grade 3/4 Professional Learning Team [PLT] as a starting point.  I have used their current documentation for term 2, 2009 [which finishes in three weeks]. After meetings in the last week with both the Grade 3/4 and Grade 5/6 PLTs, they have both agreed to try the model next term.

So this is the model [no rocket science here], but I think an improvement on many of the ICT Scope & Sequence documents I have read, which imply that:

1. The teacher, teaches only ICT and is obsessed by checklists and spreadsheets [and is armed with a clipboard 24/7, monitoring and recording every time a student right clicks to get a contextual menu etc.]

2. The teacher has the post doctoral qualification necessary to understand the terminology of the Scope & Sequence document.

3. In reality, the teacher will be overwhelmed and will use every excuse possible to ignore the document.

So what is our school's ICT Scope & Sequence process [ based on the 3/4 & 5/6 PLT planning documents]

1. We get each PLTs Annual Planner [an A3 sheet and highlight any references to ICT in any subject/ domain]

2. We then get each PLTs Term Planners [A number of A4 pages of the activities to teach each VELS domain & dimension made at the end of the previous term]. Here is a Download Term 2 34 2009 of the ICT related parts on the Term 2/2009 3/4 PLT Planner. Highlighted parts relate to the explicit teaching of ICT.

3. I've created an ICT Scope & Sequence proforma / document for the 3/4 PLT with the following features:

• The extent of the school's ICT program P-6

• The applications / Web 2.0 Tools that need to be taught in the 3/4 Scope & Sequence for this term, related to the activities that have been highlighted.

• A matrix placing the activities to be taught [from the PLT planning documents] under the 3 dimensions for ICT for the 3/4 PLT [ICT for Visualising Thinking, ICT for Creating & ICT for Communicating]

• The one ICT activity is highlighted in each ICT dimension

• A three stage assessment rubric has been made for each highlighted activity

• A list of ICT skills that require specific teaching is extracted from this matrix

• These ICT skills are listed on another matrix, as to who will teach them, [ The ICT teacher, the Librarian or the classroom teachers]

• A list of the Professional Learning requirements on those staff who will teach those explicit ICT skills are then listed. There are a number of modes of delivery for this, i.e. external provider, demonstration lesson, mentoring, peer teaching, or professional learning session in a PLT meeting.

Documents:
Download ICT Scope & Sequence 3_4 T2_2009  Scope & Sequence model
PowerPoint Activity about Australia Planner #1 #2

As usual for my blogposts, I will report back later........

ICT Scope & Sequence for Primary / Elementary Schools /2

I wrote a number of blogposts last year about coordinating the development of my school's eLearning plan and one of its targets which was the development of a school scope and sequence charts in ICT. These charts would be lists of ICT skills and activities for students K-6. These would show development of skills not only between year levels, but also be the means to monitor some progress by students during a year. The scope and sequence charts were to relate ICT skills to learning activities and be the basis for school written progression points in ICT. The scope and sequence charts were also to indicate which teachers were responsible for teaching and assessing what. A progress report on this was made at the VITTA Conference in November, 2008. You can read about what happened up to this stage on my website. After I spoke at the conference I got back the ICT scope and sequence ideas from each professional learning team [PLT] at my school. Despite common input at a curriculum day, the range of responses by PLTs  to wtiting these charts was wide ranging. Some responses were in my opinion, not a useful way to go! They included things such as skills charts, not related to learning activities, gripes about resource allocation and copying and pasting for the VELS ICT standards. I really felt we weren't getting anywhere. However, one team came up with what I think will be a great model for writing ICT scope and sequence charts in future. Their process was that they went back to the previous term's planners, thought about what they wanted students to know and then developed some flow charts. I've started to put these on to Gliffy. Here are the first two. [ I'll add the rest over the next week.] There is a planner for using PowerPoint in an Animals unit of work and another on using spreadsheets to make graphs [Maths]. They also wrote mindmaps on Desktop Publishing [text documents], Student webmail, homework skills and 2D and 3D shapes, Congratulations to that PLT for doing such a great job.

VITTA Conference 2008 - Wrap up

Having a few broadband issues lately. I'm not at school this week and have converted to ADSL2 at home. The trouble is that the old router is struggling along [not really ADSL2 compatible] and with its replacement not due until the middle of next month!
So fewer and smaller posts until this is resolved.
Went to day two of the VITTA Conference here in Melbourne on the 25/11. Many great keynotes and presentations and great to catch up with people and network.
My session From eLearning to Classroom ICT program was presented to about 40 people and was well received.

My edited presentation is at [it's a big download, about 8MB] Download VITTA 2415 2008 edit

Support material and links are at http://www.ictedservices.com/eLearning_Planning.html

Hope, its useful, while eLearning plans may not be "sexy" they are the "concrete slabs" of any great school ICT program.

Need any further info? Please add comment

Developing a School ICT Scope & Sequence /1

Last Friday was my school's Curriculum Day [a pupil free day for teacher professional development]. The first session was to start the next part of the school's eLearning plan. I firstly presented a progress report on our agreed targets for the first half [2008 -2009] of our four year eLearning plan. This was very pleasing with most of our strategies being at least started, but with also a number completed. See the color coded attached PowerPoint.   Download elearning_plan_progress_blog.ppt
As for the ICT scope and sequence, which this was going to be the product of each professional learning team [PLT], the librarian and myself [as ICT coordinator], there were two critical things we needed consensus on. Firstly, there needed to be an agreed format and secondly, it had to be user friendly, not a large checklist, but more to indicate the progression of ICT skills in the context which engage students and enhance teaching & learning. This became the agreed position of my colleagues after my presentation, [see below to download my presentation]. It was agreed that the rubric format best served this purpose. PLTs began work on their individual scope & sequence charts, and while not finished on the day, they are a work in progress for completion over the next weeks.   Download ict_s_s.pdf

VITTA Conference Abstract

I spent Sunday getting my abstract written for the VITTA Conference 2008.
Abstract as follows "From eLearning Plan to ICT Classroom Program."
ICT teachers are presented with the big picture of a whole school eLearning planning, audits and targets that they have to reflect in their classroom lessons. Based on the experience of one school, find out that by having a well constructed eLearning planning matrix with a high level of ownership by all stakeholders that this is can be done with relative ease. See examples of Web 2.0 tools [mind maps, blogs, rubrics, online surveys, and social bookmarking] that can assist this process of planning, delivery and assessment.
Mindmap of talk here
Let's see whether it gets accepted

Update September: My paper has been accepted and has been scheduled for 13:40 PM, Tuesday 25 November 2008

eLearning Plan

Request today for the school eLearning Plan to be used as a resource for other schools. Great! A bit of re-writing to make it a bit generic. Hope it is of use! If anyone else wants a copy, based on the DEECD eLearning Plan structure [Victoria, Australia], contact me via the comments box!

eLearning Plan progress

Forgotten to add to the original post. I took the eLearning website to the Leadership team. It was felt that of summary was needed to sell to staff. This was done and taken back with debate ensuing over resourcing and equity issues throughout the school. eLearning committee formed. Plan taken to both the education sub committee of School Council and then staff on curriculum day. Robust discussions. I think overall support for plans and targets, although continuing differing views over resourcing and equity issues.

Developing a School eLearning Plan

Much of my holidays have been spent developing an eLearning Plan for my school. Initially I wanted to use an online format for this and started to put the material on a wiki. This worked OK, however, there were some limitations. Size and menu format where to small for such a document.  So it was back to DreamWeaver to set up a website. Pleased how it went though, it was based on school review and the 4 year strategic plan of the school.  The draft material of DEECD on eLearning Plans & the e.Potential survey & website are excellent structures to build a new plan with.