E-Learning in the K-6 Classroom

During my web-based research I stumbled upon EDTECH: Focus on K-12 , a U.S. based website which contains some interesting articles and resources. The site has various sections such as; Lesson Plans, technology updates and ‘The best of Edtech’, just to name a few. One section is dedicated to “Tinfoil Stars” which are awards that honour educators who use technology to enhance learning. One recipient of a Tinfoil Star was a school in Philadelphia that was recognised for its teacher technology training program. Each summer break the teachers can give some of their time (voluntarily) to refresh their technology skills with the aim of making it easier for them to implement ICT into their programs. Check out the article relating to this school’s award here. The school has an impressive website which has links to individual classrooms where parents can check homework requirements, supplies, etc. Have a look at the bottom section of the schools homework page which contains links to each grade.

The school also has a year-long training program and a dedicated specialist who supports the teachers with their ICT lesson plans and individualised lessons by grade level. They also conduct weekly hour long “quickie-tech” sessions about a specific skill that teachers can take back to their classrooms and use straight away. It appears that this school is very dedicated to supporting its teacher in their own technology learning which follows on with benefits for the students.

After reading Kim’s post regarding this article I had a look at it myself and it had me asking the question; Should ICT be seen as a set of tools for use in the classroom setting or should it also be taught as a standalone KLA? Is it enough that children only have the opportunity for ICT learning when classroom teachers are able to integrate it or should we be making ICT lessons a formal part of the curriculum (while also continuing to use it in other subject areas when relevant)? Some schools already have ’specialist’ computer (RFF) teachers but I am not aware of how common this is. And maybe our ‘computer’ teachers need to be kept up to date through their own continuing education in the area of ICT in schools. I know of a couple of computer teachers who are still in the dark ages and do little more than teach children how to play on ‘paintshop’ or type a story in Word. I can imagine the benefits to education if our ICT teachers had specialised in the area while at university and had the knowledge to teach relevant skills to our children (and of course the schools had enough funding to purchase all necessary hardware, software and connectivity etc. and the extra time in the school week to fit it in)! Then general classroom teachers can integrate the technology where relevant to lessons but children will be receiving formal training that will be of great benefit to their futures.

The article makes reference to The International Society for Technology in Education which looks like a good website for teachers. They have some useful resources (links) listed and it is worth a look around.

One area of interest to me is the role gender plays in the ICT classroom. During the past few months research into E-Learning in the classroom I have noticed several articles referring to the obstacles girls face in this area. As quoted on the NSW Public Schools site, “The Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA) study Real Time: Computers, change and schooling (1999) found that girls are falling behind boys in attainment of advanced ICT skills, despite showing considerable interest in computer technology.” The PDF version of this study can be found here.
An article in the Australian Educational Computing journal, July 2000, about promoting gender equity (see pages 13-16), offers some ideas as to why girls may not be on the same playing field as boys when in comes to IT. The authors also suggest improving teacher awareness on the issues involved and list several teaching strategies that might reduce gender inequality. I would be interested in finding out whether this issue has improved over the past 8 years.

After reading Richards post (following on from Katie’s post) about Online report cards, I considered the implications. As a parent it would be good to be able to have a longitudinal view of how my child is going at school, although it could have me worrying unnecessarily over the nitty-gritty (she has had a bad day and not done well on a particular task). As a teacher I can envisage a nightmare scenario. From personal experience working at my daughter’s school office, I know that there are quite a few parents that are constantly up at the school ‘nagging’ staff because of some minuscule issue with their child. I can imagine if regular, ongoing, online reporting were in place these parents would be camped out on their child’s classroom verandah, teachers would need ongoing counselling to deal with nervous stress! We need to take a step back and look at the whole picture when we are contemplating a child’s progress at school, and address real issues when a teacher sees the need. Having said all that I believe that when I am teaching full-time I will embrace online communication with parents (via email) as a way to keep them up to date informally, and when there is an area of concern or something to celebrate. It will certainly make my life easier if I don’t need to be phoning parents all them time.

My 9-year-old daughter lives with a significant vision impairment. She was diagnosed with cancer, in both eyes, as a baby (Bilateral Retinoblastoma) and endured almost 2 years of chemotherapy, laser therapy and cryotherapy in a bid to save her sight (and more importantly, her life). Sadly she lost her left eye when she was 2 but luckily she still has usable vision in her right eye. She has recently started learning braille and touch typing as there is a concern that she will fall behind her peers when she gets to high-school, due to the volume of reading required. I often think about how lucky we are that she was born when she was as technology not only saved her life, but will also help to make her journey though life much smoother than the road travelled by children with this disease 100 years ago (who would have lost both eyes if they survived at all).

Due to the technology available to her today (along with the support of various specialists and Vision Australia), she has every opportunity to excel at school and go on to any career that she chooses. I treat her the same as a fully-sighted child as I believe she will not be held back by her vision impairment… the world is her oyster and that is largely due to the technology available to her.
If you are interested have a look at this ‘Adaptive Technology Guide’ from Vision Australia which explains some of the devices available to aid people with a vision impairment.

While web surfing I came across a fantastic blog of Paul Fuller, a Year 4/5 teacher in Perth. Very relevant to anyone considering the possibilities for ICT in the classroom. Paul works at a small 120 student, 8 teacher school that is the first public primary school in WA to implement a one-to-one laptop program. It is facinating to see the technology and ideas I have been learning about in my E-learning subject at uni happening in a real school. Check out his post on the laptop program here and have a surf around his blog. You should also check out their school newsletter (designed by Paul Fuller… where does he find the time???) which makes my daughters school newsletter look very old-fashioned. Check out the Jan 21 post on the newsletter, what a fun teacher. The site also has links to his class podcasts which are worth a look/listen.