Building a "Sandpit" for Teachers

Written by Bill Coppinger and Andrew Hocking

It may sound odd, but the analogy of a "Sandpit for teachers" is one that has been most appropriate.

When confronted with the daunting task of designing and implementing a STATEWIDE curriculum initiative AND professional development framework for Victorian schools, it was obvious that the project had to take in to account the enormous time constraints on the teachers as well as recognising the realities of the demands of day to day teaching.

Yet, the "environment" that was created, was one of discovery, experimentation and collaboration. Teachers from across the state were encouraged at first to "play" and share in the sandpit we called the "Global Classroom". By encouraging such an environment, we not only gained the trust of those teachers unfamiliar with telecommunications technology, but we were also 'living' the model we would later ask the teachers to implement in their classrooms.

This lead to the step of using the model to identify "best practice" in classrooms across the State, and work to share and model this. Added to the additional benefits of utilising the I*EARN Network, the vast majority of those teachers involved found meaningful and worthwhile skills and knowledge that they could apply to improve the quality of teaching and learning in their classrooms.

With these thoughts in mind, the developers of the project ensured that all aspects of the project included:

• Project designs that were "replicable". That is, that the project structure, expectations and outcomes were designed to fit within the normal operating budgets and available resources of the average Victorian Government school.

• The goal of ENHANCING existing curriculum initiatives, ensuring that the use of the technology was not an artificial addition to the school day.

• The ability to respond DIRECTLY to the needs of practicing classroom teachers by ensuring that the project co-ordinators themselves were "on call" yet still practising teachers who were committed to using the model in their own schools.

• Additional and "followup" training activities/sessions to ensure both technical and methodological experience was built in to the local school communities, rather than relying on an "expert/transmission" model.

• A clear focus on the ROLE OF THE STUDENT as an active participant in the learning. In many cases it was clear that the introduction of such expectations fundamentally changed what both the teacher and student perceived to "be possible" within the 'normal' learning environment.

• An expectation that what was "learned" would be "applied" and communicated to the wider community.

• And finally, that those involved would be active evaluators of their own and others work, that the project would encourage a sense of real ownership and that school communities would voluntarily "take-up" the model for future use.

Specifically:

The project was based on the successful model pioneered in Australian schools by staff and students at a number of schools including Broadford Secondary College, Mansfield Secondary College, Puckapunyal Primary School and Wandong Primary School.

Participating schools were given access to electronic mail, conferences and other Internet services including the World Wide Web, Gopher and Usenet News. Face to Face Training in classroom techniques and Internet technology was also provided.

Teachers and students involved in the project have access to:

• Full internet access including E-Mail, Conferencing, Telnet, Gopher and World Wide Web;

• Interactive Satellite Learning Network (ISLN) training programmes;

• The I*EARN International Teachers Meeting: Melbourne 1995 and Budapest 1996;

• International "internet" discussion groups;

• Online technical support for teachers and students.

 
 

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