Assessment Task 3 - eLearning Design

PART A:

Introduction: 

Profiling students is a great way to determine the learning preferences within the classroom.  Online and paper testing is effective in defining whether your students are visual, auditory or kinaesthetic learners.  I am in a class with 56 students and have had no chance to profile them formally.  If I did have time I would conduct an online learning styles test such as the Birmingham Grid for Primary students.  This test determines multiple intelligences to see which elements are your strongest.  The students are learning about Bloom’s Taxonomy and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences in another subject.

LMQ 1: What do my learners already know?

Prior learning experiences for the basis of my unit called Fantasy Flight – Students have touched on interest rates, calculating interest, mapping and different cultures in previous grades and have also gained informal knowledge about borrowing money, maps and timetables from everyday life.

To gain knowledge of the student’s current achievement levels I perused school reports, in class tests, observations and from teacher’s anecdotal notes.  This class is an average class with the majority sitting on a B/C level.  There are some lower students and some gifted students also.  When conducting my observations I was also looking for the students who aren’t great at socialising and have been making a point of including these students in my learning experience plans.  This encompasses the theory of a safe and supportive learning environment.

LMQ 2: Where does my learner need/want to be?

Links to the Essential Learnings:

KNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTANDING - MATHEMATICS

Number:

• Financial decisions and transactions are influenced by a range of factors, including value for money, discounts, method of payment, and available income or savings e.g. interest earned is reduced when savings are spent.

Measurement:

• Timetables and duration of events involving both 12- and 24-hour time cycles and Australian time zones can be calculated e.g. calculate the length of a flight between the east and west coast of Australia, taking into account the time difference.

Space:

• Mapping conventions, including coordinates, compass points and scale, are used to specify and identify locations on maps and plans e.g. applying coordinates, compass points and scale when orienteering.

KNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTANDING - SOSE

Culture and Identity:

• Perceptions of different cultures and groups are influenced by local, national and world events and by representations in the media e.g. the response to non-Europeans working in pastoral and mining industries at the end of the 19th century; the media using stereotyped portrayals of particular cultures, genders and age groups.

WAYS OF WORKING - MATHEMATICS

• Analyse situations to identify mathematical concepts and the relationships between key features and conditions necessary to generate solutions

• Pose questions that draw on familiar examples to clarify thinking and support predictions

• Plan activities and investigations to explore concepts through selected pathways, and plan strategies to solve mathematical questions, problems and issues

• Select and use suitable mental and written computations, estimations, representations and technologies to generate solutions and to check for reasonableness

• Develop arguments to justify predictions, inferences, decisions and generalisations from solutions  
•  Evaluate thinking and reasoning, to determine whether mathematical ideas, strategies and procedures have been applied effectively

• Communicate thinking and justify reasoning and generalisations, using mathematical language, representations and technologies

• Reflect on and identify the contribution of mathematics to their life

• Reflect on learning, apply new understandings and identify future applications.

WAYS OF WORKING - SOSE

• Collect and analyse information and evidence from primary and secondary sources

Declarative & Procedural Knowledge:

Students will be able to (procedural):

• Calculate simple interest and money repayments

• Select/choose a suitable credit card for fake holiday

• Compare credit cards

• Identify lines of longitude and latitude on a map

• Interpret the different international time zones and timetables

• Organise all their research and trip information into a final budget and itinerary

• Create an itinerary and budget

Students will know (declarative):

• What simple interest is

• Identify lines of longitude and latitude

• Name 2 countries rules

• Recall how to book flights and accommodation

• How to engage in higher order thinking

Personal learning goals and needs: This Unit of Work (UoW) is very real world based.  This is also a student centered UoW.  Students in this class love a bit of freedom so I feel they are going to embrace this Unit of Work.  Students will need to be motivated.  The goals I want the students to accomplish are above under Declarative and Procedural Knowledge. 

Learning outcomes:

• 1.    Pick 4 countries that you would like to visit

• 2.    Research 2 countries cultures and rules (PMI)

• 3.    Draft timetable (flight schedule)

• 4.    Set up a class wiki

• 5.    How to construct a budget

• 6.    Itinerary due (flight schedule and accommodation)

• 7.    Final submission onto class wiki

LMQ 3: How does my learner best learn?

From the lessons I have implemented during my practicum placement so far I have noticed that the student’s love the hands on activities and anything involving information communication technologies (ICT).

By looking at a learning style questionnaire that was conducted at the beginning of the year I was able to determine that my suspicions were correct.  The majority of the class are predominantly kinaesthetic learners.  

There are no students with physical or mental disabilities in the classroom.    To combat this issue I always stand close to them when giving instructions and I also make sure they are at the front of the group when whole class teaching.

There are 2 students in my class who are gifted and talented in Mathematics.  They have outstanding grades.  To make sure those students don’t get bored and stray off task I have been developing extra worksheets or games for them to complete after they have completed the class work.  

As part of another units homework, tasks were was set for the term that is called Bloom’s Taxonomy/ Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Matrix and they must choose 2 activities to complete per week (Appendix 1).  The students call this their HOT activities (Higher Order Thinking).  Once that unit was over students still get time to complete HOT activities based on a specific topic at this website. A poster of Blooms Taxonomy is in the room for students to refer too.  The whole idea behind this is to get students thinking rather then memorising.

Design Rationale:

Getting students to upload their final piece of assessment on to a wiki is effective in targeting a range of learning abilities.  It is also a great collaborative activity and by using wikis in the learning environment is promoting the constructivism theory.  This theory is about constructing your own reality based on experiences.  This UoW will be different for every student as they are picking 4 different countries therefore each student will be personalising the task/learning.  Through the use of visual aids and graphics on the students laptops as they are researching their countries students are engaging in constructivist activities.  Graphics and visual aids can assist students in understanding complex ideas.

This UoW is one big scaffolded activity.  We are learning skills in week 1 and 2 that link together in week 3 and 4 and so on until the unit is complete.  According to Olson and Pratt (2000) activities provided in scaffolding instruction are always just beyond the level of what the learner can do alone.  However each week the students’ knowledge base gets bigger and they use this information in a practical way (organising a holiday).  This activity is also engaging students in higher order thinking through the use of PMI charts and frequent opportunities to work in groups to share ideas.

I will be trying to teach in a connectivist approach.  Throughout this unit students will be learning online and through digital mediums.  One of the schools main focuses is on embedding ICTs in the classrooms so a lot of this unit will be taught using the interactive white board and the laptops the students have.  Downes (2007) states that to teach is to demonstrate and to learn is to practice.  This unit focuses on this theory.  I will demonstrate the principles and techniques (simple interest calculations, mapping longitude and latitude and cultures) to the students and then they will practice these new skills by booking a holiday and taking into account the different cultures and time zones.  Prensky (2005) said that learners are no longer interested in or capable of learning in environments that don’t reflect their real-world experiences.  I hope this unit reflects real world experiences.  Students will all eventually borrow money, research for a holiday, develop a timetable, calculate interest or need to know how to interpret a timetable.  These are all relevant life skills.

My teaching style will be based around scaffolded learning. The objective when using scaffolded teaching strategies is for the students to become independent and self-regulatory learners and problem solvers.  

1.    My learning design (using ICTs) is integral to learning in this unit as it couldn’t be achieved any other way.  The information we could gain out of an Atlas or Encyclopedia wouldn’t be as current as the online information.  The idea of using the laptops is to make it a real world activity.  Developing tables and itineraries online wouldn’t be the same as on paper. 

2.    The resources I will be using include the student and teacher iMaths Books, workbooks, the interactive whiteboard, laptops, excel and wiki page.  Other teaching resources I will be using are PMI charts, informal discussions, observations and worksheets.

Action plan for classroom

1.    What your learners will be learning and demonstrating at the end:

 ·         Grade 7

·         Mathematics & SOSE

·         9 week unit plan overview

·         QCAR framework

·         Essential Learnings

·         K&U- See Above

Topics -

Simple interest, credit cards and borrowing money, discount, budgets, 24-hour time, reading & interpreting timetables, international time zones, coordinates, latitude and longitude, higher order thinking and examining different cultures.

Unit is Based On -

This unit is based around iMaths Fantasy Flight investigation – students will basically plan and research a holiday (not as easy as it sounds) and look at the different cultures of their countries (language, customs, currency & country rules).

·       This unit will be challenging and encourage higher order thinking

·       Students will be marked on the Assessable Elements of the KLAs

2.    What the learners will be doing:

Students will be divided into 2 groups as the class has 56 students.  Both groups will do the same work but the team teachers will teach a group each.  This will ensure minimal behaviour management issues.

Brief unit overview:

·         Learn the ground work

o   Simple interest, borrowing money etc.

·         Brainstorm holiday destinations

·         Pick 4 countries they want to visit

o   Mapping, international time zones, longitude, latitude, coordinates

·         Research flight details

o   provide a time table of dates and times (assessment)

o   Flight rules

o   Baggage restrictions

·         Choose a credit card (online research time)

o   Borrowing money, simple interest, repayments, budget (assessment)

·         Find accommodation

o   Research skills

·         Students are given a fake amount of money to plan their trip with

o   Budget the trip

o   Excel spread sheet

·         Present an itinerary and budget (assessment)

·         Research the countries they are visiting (assessment)

o   Cultures

o   Places of interest to visit/history of them

o   Customs

o   Currency

o   Rules

·         Present a final piece of work including a flight schedule, accommodation details, budget and cultural aspects onto a wiki page.

3.    How they will be doing this:

·         Whole class learning

·         Individual work

·         Research time (class and individual)

·         Discussions

·         Brainstorming holiday destinations

·         Setting up a class wiki page

4.    How ICT is embedded into the unit/learning sequence and what it is used for:

·         Whole class wiki for sharing ideas, great websites etc… and for final submission

·         Excel to develop timetables and budgets

·         Laptops for research

·         Interactive whiteboard for whole class learning

5.    What the final product will be and who it will be for: Assessment:

The final product will be a fully planned holiday with dates, times, budgets, places to visit, cultural aspects, maps of the country and more. 

This presentation can be for individuals or it could be for another person (as all the details will be there).

6.  How you will align your unit with Bloom’s Taxonomy to support a focus on higher order thinking

This UoW will teach students the knowledge of some mathematics and SOSE skills and how to apply them in a real life context.

Understand – whole class learning about key concepts

Knowledge – learning specific skills (E.g. simple interest, researching & cultures)

Comprehension – organising these skills into project based learning

Application – create a holiday plan

Reflect – examining what could have been changed or made better for next time

Students can refer to this website for ideas when it comes time to do some higher order thinking tasks about their topic.

References:

Olson, J. and Platt, J. (2000).  The Instructional Cycle.  Teaching Children and Adolescents with Special Needs (pp. 170-197).  Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Downes, S. (2007). Half an Hour.  What Connectivism Is.  [Web log message]. Retrieved March 13, 2011 from http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2007/02/what-connectivism-is.html

Prensky, M. (2005).  Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.  Engage Me or Enrage Me, What Today’s Learners Demand (pp. 60-64).  Virtual Academy, New York.

Appendix 1 - Bloom's Taxonomy/ Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Matrix:

MI Blooms	Verbal/ Linguistic	Bodily/ Kinaesthetic	Musical	Maths/ Logical	Visual/ Spatial	Ecological	Intra-personal	Inter-personal
Knowing	List 5 ways of using water inside and 5 ways of using it outside. Use A-Z to list water words. Make a list of the ways water is used in our catchment area. List the rivers, creeks and other waterways they are found in our catchment area.	Mime the journey of a water drop through the water cycle.  Film it and create a movie on your laptop.	Record sounds from the catchment to coast areas. Write a 5 line poem about water using the letters w,a, t, e, r List as many songs as you can think of about water.	Create a timeline of your daily water use. E.g. shower, flush, drink etc.  Estimate the amount you use daily /yearly. Find out the number of glasses of water (ml) your family drinks per day.  Using Excel, create a bar graph to present your findings. Find out what percentage of waste water is solids and what is water.	Find and download from the internet a poster that shows how water gets to your tap from its source in dams and reservoirs. Paint an idyllic water scene, beach, lake, creek etc.; you may use Microsoft paint or any other form of art work you wish.	List 12 uses of water. List some fauna found in the local catchment area. List some flora found in local catchment area.	Visit a water information web site and list 3 water conservation actions we can take to save water in the house and 3 to save water in the garden. List the places you love swimming and the places you don’t. Explain your choices.	In a group make up a list of water saving actions you know of during the last drought. Work with a partner to create as many unique sentences as you can about ‘Liquid Gold’ using these letters – F,S,D,A,C,W,C,D,O,R,T,A,S,A,P
Understanding	Write a 2 minute talk to explain why water is important to our lives. Think of questions to suit these answers, Rain, Boiling, Wasted. Research the difference between the sewerage system & the storm water system. Read some Dreamtime water stories. Give a brief review of the one you like best.	Act out some recreational activities that take place in our local waterways. Film them.	Identify sounds heard in our catchment area (Fitzroy River to the ocean.)	List all of the ways we use water and create categories for them.	Draw a water conservation poster using Microsoft paint with the heading ‘Every Drop Counts’. Paint same scene as above after it has been affected by pollution.	Draw a food chain of an insect / Animal / plant/bird species. Find 6 ways of storing water.  Which is most effective?  Justify your answer. Choose two water conservation appliances and describe how they work to save water.	Look up an international water information web site.  Determine 2 global water issues. Write a brief outline of these issues considering the impact of this for Australia. Explain the difference between sewage and sewerage.	In a group of 3-4 brainstorm strategies for reducing water usage. Write this up as a report.  Include group member’s names in your header.
MI Blooms	Verbal/ Linguistic	Bodily/ Kinaesthetic	Musical	Maths/ Logical	Visual/ Spatial	Ecological	Intra-personal	Inter-personal
Applying	Write a newsletter article on how your class helped the school to save water. Make a word search using as many waste water related words as possible.	In a group of 4, act out the water cycle. Film what your group does.	Reproduce bush sounds and record. Make musical sounds using pipes. Make music by filling bottles to different levels with water.  Record your music.	Average toilet flush – 19L of water, shower 19L water, bath 110L water.  Calculate how much your whole family uses through a weekend and show as a graph.	Draw a birds/pilots eye view of the Fitzroy river from Rockhampton to Yeppoon using Google Earth/Maps	Write a letter to Fitzroy River Water asking about water conservation strategies that are employed in the area.	Use a PMI (plus, minus, interesting) chart to investigate charging for water usage or having water restrictions all year round (not just dry months).	Make an Active Engage quiz or Who wants to be a millionaire? Quiz and test your peers. Your topic is “Catchment to Coast”.
Analysing	Investigate water use at school.  Arrange under the headings water wasting or water saving activities that you find. Find out what ‘sludge’ is in wastewater terms.	Make a pipeline using drinking straws how water moves around the catchment.	Find an instrument that represents water and its value in our lives. Draw a picture of it and explain your response.	Examine water by drawing a mind map. Start with water in the middle then work your way out from there identifying values & uses. Do a class survey on ‘Do people brush their teeth with the tap running’. Graph the results.	Look at 5 paintings by different artists which feature water. E.g. Turner, Ken Done, Russell Drysdale.  Rank the paintings according to criteria which you devise. Explain your criteria.	Find ways of removing pollution from our rivers and oceans. What do the words recycled and reclaimed mean when talking about water?	What do you value more – fire or water?  Justify your answer in a written paragraph.	Record an interview with an older person to find out their memories of droughts and floods.  Word process a transcript of the interview.
Creating	Write and illustrate a story for young a child which teaches water conservation principles. Write a story about a drop of water going down the plug hole. Read some Dreamtime water stories. Now write a story of your own	Design a logo for a new brand of toilet paper. Mime the journey of a water drop through the water cycle.  Film it and create a movie on your laptop	Create a rap with a water conservation message.  Hint: Use an existing rap and alter the words.	Invent a piece of equipment or a plan to redesign the area so no water is wasted at the school bubblers.	Create a label for a bottle of recycled water.	Create a board game about our catchment area. Use recycled materials, where possible, to make your game.	Design a sign that the council would put up at the entrance to town when water restrictions are in place.	Plan strategies for getting people to drink recycled water.
Evaluating	Recommend a list of water saving devices & appliances that could be installed in all new buildings.  List in order of most to least water efficient.	Review a film produced by a fellow student. Does it clearly demonstrate information about the intended topic? Offer 3 positives and 3 ways to improve	Choose a piece of music that would suit a documentary about water conservation.  Justify your choice.	Evaluate the class survey above.  Report the findings to your teacher and suggest a way to improve water conservation.	Design new and fantastic flippers and goggles for sea diving. Label their features,	Evaluate another student’s board game. Offer 3 positives and 3 ways to improve the game.	Use an internet web search to learn more about water.  List and compare 4 sites and recommend the best one.  Explain why.	Conduct a debate – desalination will solve all our water problems.