| (continued from page 1) Page 2 of 3 Robyn Treyvaud WCCE2001 Report Another gem was Bernie Dodge, the guru of webquests. I first heard about him from Jamie Mc Kenzie, and he was presenting a demonstration session. The Webquest model of inquiry based teaching with the internet was first developed by Dodge, and they have become increasingly popular with teachers and students. While the quality is not always high, Dodge continues to develop and maintain his Webquest site which is of a very high standard. In this session, he demonstrated exemplary webquests from among the 500 linked to his site. http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest During this session, he also recommended a brilliant site Earthbrowser : www.earthbrowser.com Other sites: www.QUIA.com http://web.uvic/ca/hrd/halfbaked The main features of the Webquest model are: Interdependence No wasted time surfing the web More resources are bought into the discussion by working in parallel Scaffolding allows students to focus their attention Take advantage of the web's timeliness and colourfulness Transforms information rather than re-telling it Dodge believes they have a place in ICT integration into the curriculum for the following reasons: "Tomorrow, adults will need to think together, think for themselves, know how to teach themselves new tricks, make sense of information they've never seen before, generate their own questions and know how to find their answers." |
| The paper about European Schoolnet was informative as it gave a perspective on the European experience, not necessarily made clear during the conference. It is a framework for international cooperation, bringing together 23 ministries of education in Europe with the European Union Commission providing political and financial support and was founded in 1997. Its aims were: To strengthen collaboration Foster European dimension in education To develop the use of ICT in schools. Each country had their own network and the purpose of www.eun.org was to "network the networks". A number of projects have been developed: EUN Multimedia European Universal Classroom FIRST EUN Software Library Different services for schools to use were: valnet; ewatch; dotstafe. A keynote speaker was Mike Couzens, the Vice-President, CISCO Systems, Marketing & Training. "The Landscape for Education is Changing in Europe", turned out to be a dissertation on the CISCO Networking Academy Program and how the CISCO employees are exposed to various forms of technology during the course of their day, which alerts them to available professional development. The delivery mechanisms for CISCO's Role Based Learning Roadmaps (ie Curriculum) are: Multicast TV Video/audio on demand Virtual time classrooms Interactive simulation I followed up on the Networking Academy Program at another session given by Brett Clark from Western Australia. These Academies teach vocational networking skills to students from 16+ years, via the Internet and instruction led practical sessions, in preparation for gaining the globally recognised CCNA (CISCO Certified Networking Associate) industry qualification. Brett led the introduction of this course into WA in 2000, enabling students at Leeming Senior High School in Perth to join over 143,000 other students from over 88 countries, in gaining industry accreditation and valuable vocational skills in the networking area. He was obviously very positive about this program, extolling the virtues of education and corporate sectors working in tandem to provide students with marketable skills. This globally recognised curriculum is important because: it is vocational, relevant, has quality assurance, is globally recognised, is portable (learn generic ICT skills) is readily available and is supported by online communities (CISCO and instructors). |
| Two papers on gender issues focused on "effecting change in the attitudes toward technology for Middle School girls and computer games in and after school context. Charlotte Owens from the US outlined the program and intention of a three-week residential camp for 24 girls between the ages of 13 & 14 years. Mentoring and role modelling were the main features of this program, with invited speakers, online chats, field trips and a research group project being the means by which these girls shared the experience and expertise of other women. The Computer Attitude Questionnaire measured the attitudes of the participants prior to the camp, at the end of it and then 10 weeks later. The analysis measured the effects of training on attitudes on the following categories: computer importance, enjoyment, study habits, motivation/persistence, empathy, creative tendencies, attitudes toward school, computer anxiety, self concept, e-mail, the www, integrated applications, graphics and skill level.The findings indicate that there are significant attitudinal changes in 6 of the 14 subscales - study habits, creative tendencies, e-mail, www, integrated applications and graphics. Dr Nicola Yelland's paper provided results from a study which sought to investigate the mathematical understandings, social interactions and the features of computer software that most appealed to primary age children. These results revealed the following: They enjoyed games that had a narrative content and activities that went beyond those of traditional mathematical tasks. They preferred to play games that were problem-solving tasks like puzzles or spatial activities. Children interacted frequently across age and gender and indicated that they recognised the mathematical content of the majority of the games presented to them. The most popular program across age and gender was the Zoombinis. Graphic organisers for teaching, learning, and writing used Inspiration to demonstrate techniques such as concept mapping, webbing and brainstorming. The basic premise was that by using Inspiration, a more effective integration of the technology can be assured. An interesting and thought-provoking paper was delivered by Margaret Lloyd from Queensland, who considered the reinvention of childhood wrought by their association with new information and communications technologies. She noted generational differences in approach to these technologies by focussing mainly on the new stories, images and allegories being told of childhood. She offered a number of extreme models in these media interpretations - either technology will advantage children or fatally compromise their values and sensory experience of the world. Lloyd raised the concern that this reinvention is creating unequal relationships between today's children, their parents and teachers and how the generational divides are widening. The paper concluded by questioning how adults can best guide children through a world which is different from their own and which is not clearly defined or understood. (Click here to go to page 3) |