My name is Fiona MacDonald, I am a head teacher of TAS faculty, which is Technology and Applied Studies at St. Luke's Grammar School at Dee Why. In the TAS faculty, project work is the main focus. And we do a product system-oriented environment. And it's always supported by a design portfolio, and they've always been a paper portfolio. >> My name is Alma Loreaux and I'm Head of Information Services at St. Luke's Grammar School in Dee Why. The main reason we started teaching using online tools or I guess in this slightly blended approach of face to face and online components is to enable students to think outside of the square. What might be also worth mentioning is that, in Seven Technology, students are working on projects that involve a lot of hands-on work, so a lot of tactile handling of materials. So what the teachers really wanted was for students to have the time in the classroom to really get engaged with those materials. But then to also make their learning visible through the online sites and online portfolios where they're commenting, discussing, doing a lot of their work in their own time in a ways. So, that the lesson time is not spent typing and thinking, and thinking about reflecting on the process for the entire duration of the lesson. Not that that wouldn't be happening in the lesson but just so there's a lot more time devoted to that practical component. We decided to go with Google Sites in the end for the flexibility and adaptability of the site. And the ability for students to share with each other, with their teachers, to embed other elements of the Google Apps platform which we have available. I guess we were thinking, if the students could use a tool with that they had complete control over, would we give them that, and what would that tool be? And that was a Google Sites for us. >> With all of our projects that students do a design portfolio and the e-portfolio includes pages which show our design process. I'll go through quickly the site with you, the title page. Then they go through an action time plan, which they do in a table format, so they project their actions. Their Idea Generation, where they do some mind mapping. They do storyboards and concept boards. And then they do some drawings and sketches of their ideas and then, they come out with their final solutions. What's important of course is their final evaluation and their learning assessment. And this is where they're able to collaborate with their fellow peers and the other student members. So that they can give comments and feedback on this site, and also learn about the process as well. >> The preflight checklist for us would definitely involve that planning time. Getting the team together, talking about what the purpose is, what we're trying to achieve. Making sure that we've got some planning time and then considering the tools. Making sure that the tools are not driving the pedagogy but the pedagogy is actually supported by the tools that we're going to use and then covering those technical components. Getting the help from anybody you need at that crucial initial planning stage. Also making sure that there is a solution for what to do when you run into technical problems. Because you don't want that to take away from the learning and the problem solving in terms of the design process and the pedagogy and the outcomes that are actually behind. >> We've had to get our teacher skills up and running for the e-portfolios. We've had to have meetings, we've had to have demonstrations, I've been able to access the help of our an IT specialist. >> There is certainly a bit of extra workload to consider, particularly in the planning stage. If you're not used to marking online work or some teachers don't like marking on the screen, because they're just not used to that practice, then that can be an added problem or I guess complication. Something to consider I guess. Instead of having the underlying environment being an extra, we want it to be an embedded practice, a transformation of something that they're already doing. Certain teachers may have decided to approach it in a way that allows students to deliver a lot of the instruction using the online component, where the students come to the lessons to problem solve. So, they might be doing quite a little bit of a flipped learning approach if you like. But other teachers, depending on their students needs, might be doing a lot more of the face to face instruction with those online components in the classroom being discussed or demoed or modeled if you like. Just to be really upfront with students, in terms of what the purpose is, what is the benefit, what is the purpose, why are we doing this. And how to get their skills up in a fairly quick amount of time, so that they're not feeling the pressure of trying to master a particular skill as well as the course content, if you like. So that the technology doesn't get in the way. And we really consciously wanted to make sure that that doesn't happen and try to provide as much in-class support as possible. >> The benefits to teaching this way is that it's an exciting way, the students are really, really engaged because they use this technology at home. They're embracing and they're linking to what's actually happening in the world today. >> The discussion worked because we could see one's answers and then we could learn from them and change our answer and discuss with the class. >> The differences between working online and working face to face is some kids like talking and speaking out, and sharing their results, where there's some kids prefer saying things not face-to-face. And that way you can really get everyone's opinion, including maybe kids who don't really like confidence face-to-face speaking. And then, also you can access everyone. You can learn from others' mistakes. And instead of individually going out and asking everyone in your class what do you think of this, you can just put it out there and they can give you your comments. >> Teachers could suddenly see every minor detail that the student was working on at any given point in time. They could then post comments and questions about their work that you wouldn't normally do in a physical form with a portfolio that might go home or stay in the classroom. And I guess to ask them also about their fears and what they might possibly be excited about. Just to spend a little bit of time brainstorming, that is really helpful because at least that way you know exactly where the students are coming from, who might need some extra help and who might need the online component possibly designed a little bit differently. >> The advise I'd give the new teacher would be maybe tell us what we're going to do, so we know what we're trying to do and then she can also help us with it and show us what to do and stuff. >> Brief them, brief them on how to use everything because it saves time later on. Make sure you know everything about all the apps because different apps do different things and then you can sort of use them together and it comes in really handy when you're trying to make a project. So yep, that's my advice and my comment, yep. >> I think it has been a very worthwhile experience. And not only seeing the students tackle something that they haven't worked with before, but also seeing staff, I guess, working new ways with the students and develop new ways of thinking about approaching teaching and learning. >> We still always keep learning the scope of the program, we still need to keep our schools going.
