10 A NEWCASTLE HERALD Saturday, September 15, 2012

Screen legendsA special technology class empowers students to be independent and self-directed learners, writes Helen Gregory.

H2

OURSCHOOLSOURFUTURE

WHEN teacher RobynChristie tells her class tofinish their Popplet, uploadit onto Glogster and share iton Edmodo, her studentsdon’t even blink. For the 29 pupils of WaratahPublic School’s technology class, the wordsare part of their everyday vernacular in thesame way their parents would have spokenabout page margins, rulers, textas and pencilsharpeners.

Fingers tap impatiently on keyboards asthe seconds that remain to complete the tasktick down to zero.

‘‘Hands off computers!’’ Christie instructsthe class.

A former training manager at AMP,Christie became a teacher 11 years ago andspent eight years as technology co-ordinatorin Sydney primary schools.

When Christie joined Waratah in mid 2010,the principal at the time asked her how the

school could retain the gifted year 5 and 6students who were leaving at the end of year4 to enrol in opportunity classes at otherschools.

‘‘We talked about having an extension andenrichment class for those kids, to providethem with the opportunity to problem-solveand think creatively and all the things that gowith that,’’ she said.

The year 5 and 6 students chosen for theclass would move through the curriculumfaster than their peers in the two other year 5and 6 composite classes.

But this would be an opportunity class witha twist – it would also operate as a technologyclass, with each student seated in front of adesktop computer and encouraged to use theinternet, e-books, cameras and iPods inalmost every facet of their learning.

Daily use of the tools would, as schoolprincipal Maria Williams said, ‘‘scratchwhere the kids are itchy’’ and mirror their

use of technology at home.It would aim to increase students’ aptitude

for technology but also engage them on adeeper level, to hone a love of learning.

‘‘Every single student in the class has a

computer at home so for these kids it’s anatural extension of their learning becausethey pick things up fairly easily,’’ saidChristie, who is also the assistant principal ofyears 5 and 6, runs staff developmentsessions and is responsible for repairing theschool’s arsenal of computers.

‘‘If we can get them hooked on learningnow then hopefully it won’t matter what toolsthey use, they will still enjoy learning nomatter what.’’

Students sat a literacy, numeracy andgeneral ability test and were asked to createa Powerpoint presentation.

The class was formed for the start of 2011and operated from the computer lab for thefirst term, where students learnt about cybersafety, summarising and paraphrasing, andcompleted 15 minutes of typing practiceevery day to bring them up to a speed ofabout 30 words a minute.

The school invested in 30 computers, and a

Saturday, September 15, 2012 NEWCASTLE HERALD A 19

The school invested in 30 computers and a dedicatedclassroom was established at the start of term 2

FEATURE

LEARNING: Teacher Robyn Christiewith Waratah Public School’stechnology class. Above, studentsshooting a video.

Pictures: Anita Jones

dedicated classroom was established for thestart of term 2.

Christie used to set aside up to an houreach day to build computer skills.

But after the year 6s have ‘‘upskilled’’ theiryear 5 classmates, Christie has now focusedher attention on increasing her students’technological skills through the completionof literacy and numeracy tasks.

‘‘So for instance at the moment we’relearning to write for the screen, so we’remaking their own movie, an advertisement, anews program or a music video.’’

When H2 Review visited, the students wereworking in pairs to learn about the effect ofsmoking on health.

They watched a DVD of anti-smokingcommercials and created a Popplet, similarto a mindmap, with nuggets of informationthey gleaned from the advertisements.

Students uploaded their Popplet as agraphic to website Glogster to create a Glog.

A Glog is a page akin to an interactiveposter that includes the Popplet, boxes oftext, graphs, images and music.

When the students finished their workChristie turned on the interactivewhiteboard and brought up a grid of eachstudent’s computer screen, which could beseen flickering as students put the finishingtouches on their Glog.

Christie clicked on one of the screens andpressed ‘‘broadcast’’ to show it on thewhiteboard and on everyone’s computers.

She used a control button to scroll down onthe Glog and edit the work.

When she reviewed each pair’s work, sheinstructed the class to upload their work toEdmodo, a social networking site similar toFacebook.

While they may have been at the computeron Wednesday, the rest of the week mayinvolve work on the class’s website and blog,using video cameras to film scenes for thepieces they have written and directed, orrecording themselves using iPod Touchesreading Bridge to Terabithia aloud to measurefluency.

There is also opportunity to participate inexternal competitions, and when the schooldidn’t have enough copies of Animal Farm

last year, the class simply downloaded ane-book version.

Christie regularly brings in her iPad andaims to next focus on podcasts and vodcasts.

Christie is aware not every high school willhave the same resources as Waratah, so herstudents still complete pen- and paper-basedtasks.

Aside from digital-based research projectssuch as a slide presentation that studentscomplete twice a term, the homework sheassigns does not usually require time on acomputer.

Her students still go to the library toborrow books.

The increase in the number of toolsavailable for learning has changed the rolesof the teacher and student.

Christie still teaches through the ‘‘chalkand talk’’ method for numeracy and literacytasks, which requires more contact time tocater for students of varying ability.

‘‘The rest of the time I give them what theyneed to do or I tell them what they need to doand we talk about it and they jump in and doit,’’ she said.

‘‘Whereas when I started originally we’d gothrough it and I’d show them this and that

and go through everything step by step, nowit’s more troubleshooting.’’

Students are empowered to beindependent and self-directed learners,moving through set tasks at their own pace orpicking subjects for projects.

Year 6 student Laura Giles said she wasshy when she first came to the class.

‘‘The work is very extended and can betricky sometimes,’’ she said.

‘‘We’ve learnt a lot of courage andbraveness – if Mrs Christie gives us atough project to have braveness and get

in with both hands and enthusiasm.’’The classroom is structured to facilitate

teamwork, with year 5 and 6 studentsworking together as buddies.

Christie has also implemented a rule thatstudents must ask two of their classmates forhelp before approaching the teacher.

For some parts of the day Christie actsmore like a facilitator, walking around theclassroom to oversee progress.

Christie can use SMARTSync software tomonitor each student’s computer screen.

Students stay focused through time limitson tasks and a list of work for students tomove onto if they finish before their peers.

Principal Maria Williams said students inevery grade at the school learnt about cybersafety and visited the computer room at leastonce a week. (Christie’s class has anIndonesian lesson instead).

Every classroom has at least twocomputers, an interactive whiteboard andthe ability to engage in video conference.

It is hoped iPads will be implemented intothe curriculum in the near future.

‘‘We see the whole thing growing andprogressing – this is not the end of it, this isjust the beginning of it,’’ Williams said.

‘‘The only certainty we have is what we’redoing now is going to have to be upgradedand reinvented in three years.

‘‘We as a school have to continue to changeand be responsive to the needs of thetechnological age and the children.

‘‘I can’t even imagine where it’s going to go– it’s exciting, though, and I love it.’’