Summer 2004

Talking Maths

Looking to the Future

‘Do not confine children to your own learning for they were born in another time’ says a Chinese proverb. Taking the advice to heart, LISA HAYMAN adopts and creates ICT-based activities that encourage teachers and students to take a wider view of the world.

Key elements of a WebQuest

Generations Y and X don’t remember life without video machines, DVDs, mobile phones, Playstations, etc. In addition, the use of Internet, email, chat rooms and SMS all enable our students to be in contact with people across the globe. Our classroom practice needs to reflect this ever-changing environment.

Online learning increasingly provides us with ways in which to expand students’ knowledge and understandings of the world in which they live via a range of learning and teaching strategies that link to the draft Principles of Learning and Teaching promoted by the Department of Education and Training in Victoria (www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/pedagogy/plt/principles.htm).

As a result of my involvement with the Asia Education Foundation in 2001, I participated in a four-day professional development program on the use of Internet-based resources to support studies of Asia. The professional development program facilitated by Tom March (www.ozline.com) introduced me to a range of online learning strategies. Three years later, Hotlists, Knowledge Hunts, Subject Samplers and WebQuests have become essential elements of my teacher toolkit.

Making effective use of the web and all that it has to offer enables us to provide rich learning experiences. Here are some examples of activities and websites that support teachers in creating an ICT-rich learning environment that provides students with the opportunity to explore our nearest neighbours.

Hotlists are a bit like taking a tub of library books into your classroom. Rather than students spending time searching the Internet, they are provided with one page listing sites that the teacher wants them to refer on a topic or unit of work. These sites are then placed in categories for easy access.

Researching the World

www.web-and-flow.com/members/lhayman/research/hotlist.htm

A Knowledge Hunt introduces the teaching and learning in a formal sense. Teachers select the sites they wish students to refer to and develop a series of appropriate questions. These may be lower level (who? what? when? where?) or may develop higher-order thinking with effective use of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Japanese American Internment Camps

www.web-and-flow.com/members/lhayman/japan/hunt.htm

A Subject Sampler is used to develop the student’s personal interest in a topic. This is achieved through developing questions that have a focus on the use of the word ‘you’. There is no right or wrong response. For a sampler that explores East Timorese children’s view of their world through a series of images, visit www.web-and-flow.com/members/lhayman/east_timor/sampler.htm

WebQuests involve the development of student-centered problem-solving activities. Students work together on a question and take on roles. They use the Internet as one of many resources, and then come together to share what they have learnt and to develop a group response to the initial question.

Earlier this year I participated in BestWebQuest University, an online course involving educators from the United States and Australia. As a result I developed a WebQuest on globalisation for a year 11 Industry and Enterprise class. Globalisation—what does it mean for me, Australia and the world? can be viewed at www.web-and-flow.com/members/lhayman/globalization/webquest.htm

In the development of this WebQuest I took care to address the key elements that are needed for a BestWebQuest as outlined in the diagram featured above.

Key elements of a WebQuest

The use of ‘scaffolding’ to support student learning has been included as a key element of this WebQuest. Making use of de Bono’s tools (such as the Six Thinking Hats) or a PMI chart leads to furthering students’ knowledge and understanding of the topic and their ability to use the information gained in a real-world sense. The strength of these online teaching and learning formats is the strong pedagogical framework in which they lie.

As a result of working with teachers in the development of online curriculum, I have developed a website called Hotlists to WebQuests, located at www.bssc.edu.au/public/learning_teaching/pd/hotlists_webquests/ index.shtml

By making use of the quality formats and rich range of materials available via the Web, we can ensure that we provide our students with a classroom environment that is interesting, exciting and leads to improved outcomes.

Effective use of ICT also acknowledges the changing context for this generation of students. They are more likely to be working in a multinational, multicultural and multi-faith setting, to be employed by an internationally owned firm and to be more mobile in terms of working overseas or interacting with different cultures via electronic communications. We have a responsibility to create a curriculum which matches this context and provides students with effective skills in engaging with new technologies across cultures.

Lisa Hayman is the professional development coordinator at Bendigo Senior Secondary College in Victoria.

The author owns the copyright in this article. For information related to the reuse of this work in any form please contact the publisher denise.quinn@curriculum.edu.au