Program 1

School Objectives

To develop an awareness of other cultures in the development of the school's history;

To develop a sense of pride in the community and a sense of belonging;

To develop an understanding and appreciation of cultural differences;

To develop an understanding that cultural values change over time;

To appreciate and value the contribution that older people have made to the community and that these people are a valuable resource as source material for historical information;

To make use of the learning technology resources of the school to produce databases, publication and multimedia presentations;

To develop and extend communication skills;

To develop writing and presentation skills.

Overview of the program

This program was instigated by the school teacher/librarian and involved documenting the oral history of the school through the collection of interview data and artefacts. Senior citizens in the area provided recollections of what life was like in the school in past years. Interviews targeted specific areas of school life such as discipline, travelling to school, the school tuckshop/lunch box contents, experiences of people from other cultures, past teachers and principals and any other specific area that students and teachers found interesting and relevant.

The program coordinator, Byron Pershouse argued that technology offered a chance to record data in a way that traditional methods could not. Multimedia technology was used to present an integrated presentation of video, digital photography and computer enhanced text presentations. Future generations of students at the school will be able to gain a better idea of the people providing the interview data by viewing video sections of the interview.

The task of investigating and documenting the history of the school through interviews and collection of artefacts provides a relevant focus for the integration of learning technology with many other curriculum areas. In collecting the samples from interviews of community members, specific attention was given to the necessity for the sample to include representatives of different cultural groups. These data will provide the basis for the development of a traditional publication outlining the history of school as well as the multimedia presentation which will include a brief video of the person being interviewed, photos of the person and relevant artefacts and enhanced text.

The program will also be linked to the nutrition theme by the production of a recipe book and recipe database detailing a variety of preparation methods used by different cultural groups. As a focus activity, the school arranged for an aboriginal group to prepare food by traditional methods for the children to eat for lunch. This led to discussions on the different methods of preparation and food types indicative of various cultures and a greater appreciation and understanding of aboriginal culture. Capturing of images for publications and multimedia displays are enhanced by the use of a video camera, video capture card and a Quicktake digital camera. These images provide a focus for further discussion at a later date.

Strategies

As the ‘Quicktake’ camera and video capture card are new technologies in the school, smaller projects have been conducted to introduce the children to the equipment and its use. A mystery photo display has been created by various classes. This involved taking photos with the ‘Quicktake’ camera and using them to produce a slideshow in 'Clarisworks'. Included in this was the addition of clues as to where the photos were taken. Other groups were assigned the task of trying to find the locations documented in the presentations. Some enterprising groups included a representation of the school in map form with colour coding to show the function of the various buildings.

Another activity was the production of licences when students successfully completed classroom tasks. The licences included colour photographs of the students from digital 'Quicktake' images. Picture books in slideshow form were produced and stored on the library computer. These picture book slideshows included short videos of students as well as digitised photos, attractive borders, colours and fill patterns. Activities such as these formed the basis of prior experience in the skills with technology needed for the major project.

Students have been involved in devising, typing and saving structured interview sheets after discussions about the type of questions which would lead to the collection of valuable data. A database of people suitable to offer information about different phases of the school's history is being compiled by the students.

As a preliminary activity students are using the computers to construct and print flow charts showing major events in the history of the school. These flow charts will help the students gain a historical perspective of the school's development and will lead to a better understanding of the sequence of events that they will be investigating.

Students and teachers have realised that advertising for community people to participate in the program is a necessity in order to gain as much data as possible and to include a wide range of cultural groups. Computer technology has been used to create newsletter items for publication in the school newsletter and local newspapers and posters for the school and for community noticeboards. Using computers for the production of text and the inclusion of appropriate graphics is a continuation of the skills gained by students in previous units of work. Models were also presented to the students in the form of traditional publications such as , "Changing times - School as Seen by Four Generations" by R. Thompson (1994).

Summary of Learning Technology Activities

Preparation of newsletter and newspaper items;

Preparation and printing of posters;

Design, production and printing of historical flowcharts;

Taking digital photographs with the Quicktake camera;

Storing and manipulation of digital photographs on the computer;

Using digitised photographs in presentations;

Designing and producing databases on community resource people and artefacts;

Using the video camera to produce images suitable for multimedia presentations;

Transferring; manipulating; storing and editing video images on the computer.

Issues for Stakeholders

Interviews with students revealed a very positive attitude towards the project. A common response of students was that they were looking forward to continuing the work as it would increase their understanding of the past and they valued a more informed view of what has preceded them. One noticeable feature was the low rate of home ownership of computers with less than 25% of students reporting home ownership. Some students reported a desire to increase the amount of computer technology in the school so that access to the required tools for the project could be increased. Almost without exception the students expressed positive attitudes to the learning technology tools used and felt that they had contributed to success of the project and that they particularly enjoyed working with computer technology.

Training in the use of new technology was an important issue for teachers. New equipment such as digital cameras and video capture cards in computers capable of capturing live video represented exciting opportunities but also new techniques and skills to learn. Time was not available for specific in-service in this area so the Teacher - Librarian (Byron) tried to overcome this problem by taking groups to complete tasks and training children who often become peer tutors and also show their teachers the multimedia slide shows and how they are created. The teacher/librarian/computer coordinator has no formal training in computing but has learnt through job experience and home use. Lack of time for in-service in a rapidly changing field means that new technology may often be ignored without the input of at least one staff member willing to act as a facilitator in modelling the use of new technology.

Program 2

Nutrition Program

School Objectives

To increase awareness in the total school community of the value of good food and nutrition;

To develop a good knowledge base concerning nutrition and healthy diets;

To encourage children to eat healthy foods during school hours and after school hours;

To improve the food offered in the school tuckshop;

To provide opportunities for practical, relevant use of the school's learning technology equipment.

Overview of the Program

This program seeks to raise the awareness of good nutrition throughout the whole school community. A qualified nutritionalist has been employed to help develop, implement and coordinate the program. In the first year the community’s knowledge of nutrition was increased through workshops for parents, students and teachers. The current phase is to use the knowledge to facilitate whole school change such as:- the types of lunches eaten by students, the food offered in the tuckshop and changes to nutritional offerings at home.

Strategies

Nutrition has been adopted as a school wide theme with different components in various grades integrated in the total school curriculum. Workshops were provided on sound eating habits and healthy food for parents in sessions before and after school, for teachers during staff meetings and for children during class time. Learning technology is now being used to reinforce the knowledge previously gained and to foster positive attitudes. This has been in the form of nutrition quizs and competitions. Desktop publishing facilities have been used to produce the quiz and competition sheets and many children have used the computer facilities to prepare their entries for the various competitions. These have included the publication of recipe books and posters focussing on various health issues related to food. These posters have also been used to promote healthy new additions to the school's tuckshop.

Another use of learning technology involves the publication of two 'Nutrition Newsletters'. One is aimed at the students and the other at parents and include thoughts and new information from the school nutritionalist and items of interest eg. 'sports nutrition' from students and community members. Database technology is being used for recipe lists and to record and evaluate the data recorded from a recent extensive survey into the eating habits of the student population. It is hoped that this data will be analysed using the statistical features of database and spreadsheet.

Summary of Learning Technology Activities

Desktop publishing to produce posters;

Desktop publishing to produce nutrition newsletters;

Creating food databases;

Using food databases.

Issues for Stakeholders

Students expressed enthusiasm for learning about food and what constitutes a healthy diet. Most children expressed the view that they still enjoyed snack and fast foods but had modified their diet to decrease the amount of unhealthy foods and increase the amount of healthy foods. One student reported that he did not want to see the school become some sort of ‘health farm’ but could see the benefits of modifying the tuckshop menu. Students could easily demonstrate their knowledge of the role that technology had played in the development of the theme. Students appreciated using technology for relevant tasks such as enhancing their competition entries.

SPSS funds allowed for the employment of a nutritionalist who arranged for in-service afternoons for staff and day sessions for parents. This meant that the program included all stakeholders in the school rather than just targeting the students. One difficulty reported by the nutritionalist was the resistance to change when it came to reviewing the tuckshop menu. This was partly overcome by the nutritionalist becoming part of the tuckshop committee and slowly working at changing attitudes. The use of data base information, poster and newsletter creation all assisted in the long term process of changing attitudes in the whole school community.

Relationship of Program 1 and 2 to the Literature

One theme expressed constantly in the literature is the need for training in the area of technology. This particularly applies to teachers who are restricted to in-service only after school hours due to current policy. In the case of these two programs the technology section is successful mainly because of the expertise of one person. Bigum (1995, p.2) claims that, ‘the one thing that schools, school systems and government initiatives have consistently neglected in the promotion of computers in schools is adequate support and professional development for teachers."

The program co-ordinator reported that finding the time to show teachers how to use new equipment and software was a genuine problem which detracted from the success of the program.

On-line services would be particularly useful for researching current knowledge on healthy eating and to examine the food preferences of other countries. Through this medium the school could publish and communicate the successful outcomes of the program to a wide audience. Barriers to this happening are cost (especially in rural areas) and lack of teacher training. The emergence of government initiatives such as Education Network Australia will improve access to remote networks. Their charter is to ensure that students, "of all ages across Australia will be able to access the network at affordable rates, regardless of their socioeconomic status or geographic location" (DEET Newsletter, Issue 6).

Many of the activities completed by students in these programs are not the drill and practice type activities which are often

assigned to students from low socio-economic backgrounds (Wirth,1993 & Sutton,1991)

Including activities which were interesting to students and involved a higher level of cognitive skills proved to be a factor in the success of the programs.

Reports in the literature (Chambers and Clarke, 1987 & Campbell, 1989) that home ownership of computers was a significant factor in student participation and attitudes were found to be pertinent. Observation and interviews revealed that the most enthusiastic students and often those taking leadership roles were those students familiar with home computers.

A concern expressed in the literature (Connell, Ashenden, Kessler & Dowsett, 1982) that students from low SES backgrounds face lower expectations is a reason for programs such as these. Special, innovative programs sometimes create situations where expectations are higher. In both of these programs opportunities existed for students to become more highly motivated and to participate at a higher level than might be normally expected.

Objectives of the School

To help children better understand the importance of literacy and numeracy skills in common day to day activities;

To show children that there is a relationship between success in school work and future participation in the workforce;

To provide opportunities for children to use their literacy and numeracy skills in practical and functional ways;

To teach the children a range of practical life and vocational skills.

Overview of the Program

This program involved offering the students from Year Five to Seven a choice of options consisting of computing, construction, cooking, mechanics, drama and dance. Each student made a choice of an initial activity by completing an enrolment form which outlined the student information, preferences and conditions. Students then worked with either a teacher or a paid community person who had expertise in the particular area. Female students were encouraged to join in activities which have been traditionally fairly gender specific such as construction, mechanics and computing.

Parents were also asked to complete medical details and give their permission for children to participate in the program. After a six week timespan with one Friday afternoon per week devoted to the activities, students would submit their next preference and enrolment forms. Activities could be deleted or added depending on student interests and needs. This review will mainly focus on the computer group although most activities fit within the broader definition of technology. Each option program was specifically designed to include practical applications of literacy and numeracy skills as well as skills specific to the activity. For example the group involved with mechanics gained hands on experience stripping and assembling engines as well as using engine manuals and diagrams.

Strategies

Activities for the computer group involved an introduction to word processing, database, spreadsheet and paint and draw software. These applications were seen as being relevant and worthwhile to the students’ needs as well as linking with the types of applications utilised in the workforce. Rather than delivering these programs in a drill and practice format which may have seemed boring and irrelevant to students, they were presented as a means of assisting all the other groups. They also assisted with the management of the program.

The students were able to see that technology could have an important role in the program’s success. Word processing as well as database and spreadsheet documents could be produced by the group. Useful items for group production were seen as being :- information sheets for parents, enrolment forms, rolls for all groups, spreadsheets to list and calculate costs for all groups, a database of enrolments, preferences and final selection of groups and a newsletter where students could reflect on their experiences in the options group as a means of sharing ideas within the student population as well as reporting to parents. All of these activities were ‘real’ applications of computer technology rather than ‘mock’ or simulated activities, so the students felt that they were engaged in useful activities which had obvious relevance. Sachs (1993, p33 ) argues that, "in school programs all too often the experiences and voices of students are neglected. In particular a split is made between life on the inside and life outside schools. Lundgren (1987) refers to this as the split between two cultures of pedagogy, one in the schools and one of commerce and entertainment." Experiences become more powerful in the educational sense when activities are life-like and mirror experience in the outside world. The school principal commented that the children at the school often do not see a connection between work completed in the school and relevance to life outside the school and that the options program would be continued, "in an effort to make the curriculum more relevant to these children and to provide them with a range of practical skills which will better equip them for day to day life."

One student (Aaron) commented in his ‘reflection notes’ that, "the best thing I did last week was the spreadsheet. I enjoyed this the most because we got to finish it." This reveals that not only do students enjoy relevant activities but they also appreciate being able to finish a task. Often in classrooms with few computer resources, students rotate through a timetable and often need to vacate the computer before a given task is completed. This is followed by a long wait to resume the activity which often is partly forgotten by the time the student again reaches the correct timetable cycle.

‘Microsoft Works’ was used on seven desktop Macintosh computers and one laptop combined with an inkjet printer as the means of providing appropriate hardware and software. The school believes in a ‘computers in the classroom’ model rather than a ‘computer room’ although in this instance some computers were moved from other classrooms on a temporary basis to boost the available hardware for the program. The first group to be involved in the computer option successfully completed a database of enrolments and a spreadsheet containing mathematical formula and were at the stage of experimenting with paint and draw software. They were also planning the newsletter from the various option groups which would be their last activity.

Summary of Learning Technology Activities

Creation and use of a database to show the student enrolment in each group;

Creation and use of a spreadsheet to calculate each group’s expenditure;

Desktop publishing of a newsletter as a report on the options program to parents;

Word processing of letters to parents;

Creation and use of a database to show student preferences.

Issues for Stakeholders

These activities enable all students to undertake options and work through them in a small group under the supervision of an adult who demonstrated an interest and knowledge in the particular area. Supervisors of groups were mindful of the program aims to ensure practical relevance of activities and to encourage full participation by all groups.

The principal, Mr Peter Baker, planned to review the success of the different options with the supervisors and to hold planning sessions for them where effective strategies and critical reflections could be shared. Students were given input into the process by discussion with the adults, writing their ‘reflection notes’ and reporting to the parents in the newsletter.

Community members being involved as supervisors was a strength of the program as often community expertise is overlooked by schools. Using community members in this way encourages further community involvement and shows by example that the skills and knowledge which exists in the local community are valued. At the same time the program aims to change some community expectations of low achievement and traditional gender roles associated with a fishing community and the perception that skills gained at school are not relevant or useful in the world outside school.

By creating an options program it was hoped that students would develop a greater interest in school as a place that met their needs and provided skills necessary for later life. Many students expressed an opinion that computers would be important in their life after leaving school. After working on the activities the entire computer options group were extremely positive in their views on the value of computers. Students in other groups such as the hydroponics/carpentry group told me that the computer group was their first preference and that they hoped to be able to do it next time.

Interviews with students revealed a lower than average rate of home ownership of computers and peripheral devices. The fact that computers rated very highly in students’ preferences against options such as line dancing, golf and drama shows the level of enthusiasm that students have for computer technology as a medium to assist learning.

Relationship to the Literature

A primary concern to the instigators of this program was that students in this community did not see a link between school and life outside of school. It was noted that students often felt that school life was irrelevant and success at school would have little bearing on life when school was completed. These sentiments are echoed in arguments by Sachs (1993), Lundren (1987) and Wirth (1993)

who point out that educational experiences

are often more powerful and meaningful

when associated with experiences offered by commerce, industry or entertainment. Options in the program are designed to replicate these types of experiences. Through the options different computer, literacy and numeracy skills could be integrated in a way that students would see as worthwhile. Success in these activities could have an effect on the students’ willingness to participate in other school activities.

Sutton (1991) reviewed research studies showing that gender has been an important issue in how technology has been used or not used. Steps were taken in the lead up to option selection to encourage girls to participate in the technology group, the engine repair group and the carpentry group. Interviews with female students and observation of the groups revealed that the girls were active and enthusiastic participants in roles which were once regarded as fairly gender specific. Kenway (1995) also speculates that the construction of gender within the Internet will need to be noted and reflected upon. She wonders whether the inequalities which still exist will be restated, reinforced or changed in cyberspace. For many rural schools affected by poverty, particularly those not receiving special funding, the construction of gender on the information superhighway will be a moot point.