background information client group: adolescents from 14-17 years from esl or disadvantaged...
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Background Information Client group: Adolescents from 14-17 years from ESL or
disadvantaged background.
Schools: West Town High School in the Western Suburbs of Sydney and Parks Secondary College in Country NSW. Both these schools have culturally diverse and have been identified socially disadvantaged schools.
West Town student population originate from China, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Australia and a large proportion of students live in the Department of Housing accommodation.
Parks Secondary College students population originates from Sudan, Thailand, India and Australia. There is also a large indigenous student population at the school. Parkes is a farming community with many families effected by the drought
Key Features
Storyboard Participants
Teachers and support staff.
Pupils (ESL and native speakers)
Buddies
Main Platform
Teen 2nd Life
Web2.0 support
Wiki
Blog
Storyboard Learning Experiences
Pre-project training.○ Pupils
○ Teachers
Project goals Educational outcomes
Learning sequence 6 weeks in duration
Building competency through scaffolding
Assessment by teachers
Reflection by pupils
The Virtual Worlds Project Flowchart ( school level)
Storyboard
StoryboardThe Virtual Worlds Project Diagram (interschool)
Educational Rationale
Constructivism (Bodner 1986): Theoretical basis of eLearning Student-centred Student must interact with external
stimulus and learn by synergising new experiences into existing cognitive structures (learn by doing)
Bodner, G.M. 1986, ‘Constructivism: A Theory of Knowledge’, Journal
of Chemical Education, vol. 63 no. 10, pp. 873-78.
Educational Rationale
Students realise the education challenge/task, its associated learning outcomes and purpose
Teen Second LifeEmail
F2F activities
Students approach the learning opportunity and uses the process of reflecting, retention, adapting, exploring and researching.
Teen Second LifeBlogEmail F2F activities
Students conceptualise by identifying occurring conceptual changes during the learning process. Students use metacognition, representation, and adaption
Teen Second LifeBlogEmailF2F activities
Students structure meaning through retention, synthesis, etc.
Teen Second LifeBlogEmailF2F activities
Students apply their newly gained cognitive structures to different scenarios.
Teen Second LifeBlogEmailF2F activities
Educational RationaleScaffolding (Bruner ,1985) Gradual withdrawal of
provision of support as a student’s level of task mastery increases.
Bruner, J. 1985 Vygotsky: a historical and conceptual perspective. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed), Culture, Communication and cognition: Vygotskian perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Teacher support
Student Competence
Time
Educational RationaleSyllabus Outcomes Geography Syllabus Years 7-10
Focus Area 5A1 Investigating Australia’s Physical EnvironmentsThe unique characteristics of Australia’s physical environments and the responses of people to the challenges they present.
ESL Scales1. Pragmatic competence - the ability to use language appropriately
and acceptably according to particular purposes, audiences and situations.
2. Organisational competence - the ability to control correctly and coherently the formal structures of language.
3. Strategic competence - the ability to assess, respond to and negotiate meanings as part of a dynamic process of language use.
Competencies are developed through the language modes of oral interaction, reading and responding, and writing.
A Learning Community? Common interest of achieving learning
outcomes
Social structure which balances the common goals with individual needs.
Members build connections and trust through meaningful interactions to work towards common goals and to satisfy individual needs.
Diversity and cohesion
Synergy
Collective Learning Opportunity? Inclusive pedagogy Dynamic learning environment
Multiple channels of communicationMultidirectional communication
Social capital Syllabus compatibility Policy compatibility