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  • Day 2
  • Workshops
• Keynote Speakers
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Workshops

_{How to register for workshops}

To register for workshops, please complete the PDF form below and fax to (03) 9419 3517.  Completion of this form assumes you have registered to attend the conference. Number the workshops of your choice from one to four, in order of preference.  Participants will be allocated a maximum of two workshops for the entire conference duration.  You will be notified of your workshop selections prior to the conference via email.  Workshops run for a maximum of 90 minutes each.

Workshop Selection Form

_{1. How can we best prepare Australians for the 21st century?}

Presenters: Judy Travers and Angela Cooke, Centre for Extended Learning Opportunities (CELO), Tasmania and Laurie Campbell, ICT Learning Innovation Centre, Education Queensland

The vision for 21st-century learning is not a distant reality. It is taking shape across Australia where Microsoft is supporting initiatives by policymakers, departments and individual institutions to change the way education is delivered, assessed and managed.  This workshop will focus on using ICT to provide personalised learning advantages to accommodate student diversity in the 21st century.

Workshop activity

• receive a short overview of Microsoft’s ‘Partners in Learning’ initiative, in which Microsoft is partnering with departments of education in projects that support the innovative use of ICT
• will learn about the work being undertaken by departments to accommodate student diversity
• In particular, explore a case study from the Tasmanian Department of Education which focuses on the use of ICT to create online programs to engage gifted students
• take away innovative ideas and resources for the use of ICT which can be put into practice immediately.

_{2. The use of remote access telescopes in science education: Impacts and opportunities}

Presenter: Lena Danaia, Charles Sturt University, School of Teacher Education, New South Wales

The Charles Sturt University Remote Telescope Project has been delivering access to a remotely controlled telescope accessed over the Internet since 2000. Primary and secondary students and their teachers from both Australia and other locations around the globe have been imaging the southern night sky and undertaking real science using the digital images they have taken.

The project was conceived by Associate Professor David McKinnon in 1995. He built the telescope system and wrote the educational materials to support teacher professional development and student learning. Concurrently, he conducted extensive educational research into the effects of the project on student learning and teacher professional development. This workshop presents an overview of the project and the educational outcomes achieved. The presenter finished a BEd (Honours Class I) thesis on the impact of using this technology with students in grades 5 and 6 and teachers. After teaching here and overseas, Ms Danaia commenced her PhD in 2004 when a DEST-funded QTP project began and based her thesis on the impact of using such technologies on students’ attitudes towards science and their learning outcomes in junior secondary school. The thesis will be completed in June 2006 and will be under examination at the time of the Conference.

Workshop activity

• gain an understanding of how the system works (demonstration)
• gain an understanding of how students and teachers use the system to enhance learning in science
• be exposed to the learning outcomes achieved by students in a national study conducted in 2004 on the impact of remote telescope use
• be exposed to the research findings as they relate to students’ perceptions of science, engagement in science and the complexity and quality of their thinking in science
• hear from a Year 10 student who used the telescope to acquire data on a suspected variable star and won the Years 10 through 12 NSW Science Teachers’ Association Physics Price in 2005.

No limit to participation.

_{3. Heart, Hand and Mind: Middle school students using ICT to powerfully present}

Presenter: Ann Langman, Grange School, South Australia

Round table assessment is an authentic opportunity for students to demonstrate and share their learning, knowledge, skills and understandings. The concept gives each student a strong sense of self-worth and identity in a school setting. Students give a presentation of approximately 15 minutes to a panel consisting of family and community members.

Round table assessment is organised under three headings:
Heart: something the student is passionate about
Hand: something the student can do
Mind: something the student has knowledge about.

Students choose topics to research using a range of multi-literacies and select a variety of ICT tools to enhance their learning and presentation. Effective integration of ICT empowers students to develop skills for the world of work. It is very inspiring to see students taking responsibility for and ownership of their learning.

A key component of this assessment uses Art Costa’s 16 Habits of Mind. The habits give students a language in which to communicate about their learning and a framework to develop skills and strategies to solve real-life problems.

Participants will experience the process of Heart, Hand and Mind from the beginning to the conclusion. They will see how students can articulate their learning.

• setting the scene for students to choose
• the scaffolding provided during the process
• ICT integration through choice
• the role of Art Costa’s Habits of Mind in learning and assessment processes.

Participants will be part of the panel assessing one or two round table assessments. They will be able to ask the student presenters questions about how they used ICT to enhance their presentations and their development during the process. Parents will also be present to take questions.

No limit to participation.

_{4. E-Schooling: Policy, pedagogy and practice - Barriers and enhancers to the use of new media in schooling sectors  CLOSED/FULL}

Presenter: John Dabinett, Libby Round and Kim Bell, Access Media, South Australia

This workshop engages participants with an initial reflection on samples of digital learning environments. This reflection will form the springboard for exploration of some of what is and is not working for students, teachers, policy makers and jurisdictions in creating effective, challenging and cogent digital learning environments.

Access Media is the education publishing arm of the South Australian Open Access College. The unit’s remit is to develop and produce digital learning materials for use by distance education students, as well as those in other Department of Education and Children’s Services sites and sectors. The observations presented in the workshop derive from a distillation of the unit’s intensive work in the area of digital learning at the local, state and national levels over more than six years.

The key focus will be on pedagogies associated with much of the new media as it is perceived at a policy and school level and the links between these institutional perceptions and the experience learners bring from their own digital environments.

Other elements will include consideration of the drivers for the development of jurisdictional policy, such as the ‘location’ of the policy development within systems. The place, use and impact of LMS, CMS, LCMS, Metadata, DRM and copyright will also be considered.

• An understanding of what works and what doesn’t work for students and teachers engaged in online learning
• An appreciation of how digital learning environments are played out against systemic policy, infrastructure and e-tools
• Identification of some of the challenges facing the creation of A Vision Splendid? and strategies for debate and discussion.

• Introduction
• Activity groups assess approaches to online learning
• Evidence findings from Access Ed evaluation of what works
• Emergent themes and issues for best practice online learning development and delivery
• Questions and discussion.

This workshop is limited to a maximum of 30 participants.

_{5. ThinkQuest: Beyond the Boundaries} 

Presenters: Ralph Leonard, Australian Council for Computers Education, Tina Photakis, Norwood Primary School and Dave Richards, Oracle Education Foundation 

This presentation will demonstrate the high level degree of applicability of ThinkQuest within the curriculum of Australian States and Territories.  It will be based on an interactive approach to understanding ThinkQuest and how it can be used in Australian schools.  

The workshop will start with an overview outlining the nature of ThinkQuest and the various roles associated with it - student participation, coaching a team and evaluation processes.  Examples showing the collaborative work of highly successful international ThinkQuest teams with Australian participation will be used to demonstrate the principles of ThinkQuest activity.  There will be representation from the three roles giving personal accounts of their experiences with ThinkQuest.

Discussion of how ThinkQuest can be used in generating authentic tasks in general classroom teaching and resource-based learning will follow.  Workshop participants of ThinkQuest will have the opportunity to explore the ThinkQuest site and to assess how ThinkQuest could fit into their current teaching situation or curriculum frameworks.  Overall, it will be an interactive workshop that is information rich and practical.

• Overview of ThinkQuest
• Links with current curriculum issues
• ThinkQuest examples
• Hands on activities
• Group discussion of ThinkQuest and its use in education

This workshop is limited to a maximum of 25 participants.

_{6. How do we realise the potential of ICT to transform schools so we can prepare our students for their future?}

Presenters: Lynn Davie and Louise Bowe, Department of Education and Traning, Victoria

School communities are faced with the challenge of rethinking their educational practices so that students are equipped to lead fulfilling personal, community and working lives. This means shedding some of the practices currently taken for granted in learning communities, including how schools are organised, the types of tasks students are traditionally engaged in and how students are taught. School communities need opportunities to develop their understandings of the new learning students need to equip them for the future. If we are to realise the potential of ISCT, we need to consider making it pervasive in our schools, ensure that ICT is used for powerful learning and teaching and provide rich professional learning opportunities for teachers.

Workshop activity

This workshop will provoke discussion around key questions and issues that need to be addressed if we are to realise the potential of ICT as an enabler of transformation in our schools. Participants will be encouraged to speculate about and share what they consider to be the key ingredients for making ICT pervasive in our schools and for enabling schools to use ICT effectively for teaching and learning.

Successful practices in learning communities will be showcased and a range of student work samples reviewed and discussed to determine how ICT can create powerful learning opportunities.

Participants will have an opportunity to glean ideas and view, review, discuss and consider their future actions to ensure that the potential of ICT is maximised.

No limit to participation.

_{7. Screen it: screen stories, games and learning - Why?}

Presenters: Vincent Trundle and Annemaree O'Brien, Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Victoria

Games and screen texts immerse young people in highly appealing and complex worlds in which learning, engagement, communication and literacy practices are very different from traditional school learning. What can students learn from games and screen texts? What can we learn from our students? How can we use this information to better equip our students to meet the challenges of life in a complex and constantly changing world?

Participants will explore some of the current thinking about using, reading, analysing and creating screen texts and video games in the classroom and identify some important implications for teaching and learning across all disciplines. Participants will also explore the process of creating screen texts as part of communication and how traditional learning and new technologies can come together in a powerful co-learning model, with students and teachers learning together.

Participants will also examine critical analysis to develop students’ broad understandings and critical awareness of how new media texts work and their role in shaping and reflecting cultural values. This session will stimulate thinking, provide ideas and identify resources for teachers.

Workshop activity

The presentation will include examples and group discussion. There will also be an opportunity for hands-on experience for some participants.

• Background to the exponentially expanding world of technology and what it means for students and their education. Outline of some of the current thinking about using, reading, analysing and creating screen texts and video games in the classroom.
• Why is this important? What can students learn from these texts? What can we learn from our students? Discussion and identification of some important implications for teaching and learning across all disciplines, including thinking and interpersonal development. 
• Discussion about why and how students can conceive, compose, edit and publish a range of screen texts and how students and teachers can learn together in a highly motivating, interactive co-learning process.
• Discussion of why and how we can develop students’ broad understanding and critical awareness of how new media texts work and their role in shaping and reflecting cultural values.

Outcomes: It is expected that this session will provide participants with a focussed, up-to-date, practical overview of some of the current thinking in this area and how it relates to current and future teaching and learning in schools. It will also stimulate interest and ideas, provoke further thinking and identify some practical resources for teachers.

No limit to participation.

_{8.  Screen it -How? Video and animation}

Presenters: Vincent Trundle and Annemaree O’Brien, Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Victoria

Good films are good stories. They are strong, compelling, funny, dramatic or sad stories that make us laugh and cry and think. We can help our students make such film stories. In this workshop participants will look at where filmmaking fits into the curriculum and explore some practical ways to help teachers enable students to make films. The main focus is on the development of content and the teaching and learning processes involved in conceiving, planning, composing, editing and publishing screen stories. Good filmmaking is mostly about ideas and content, but it can present significant practical challenges, given that many classroom teachers do not have media production skills and access to the necessary equipment and IT support. Discussion will cover production planning, practical tips and equipment, as well as resources for animation, live action and mobile phone films.

Participants will also create a simple group screen story using mobile phones.

Workshop activity

This workshop will consist of a presentation (with examples of student work), a short practical component, group discussion and questions.

• Introduction, including an outline of where filmmaking fits into the curriculum and the processes involved, and examples of student filmmaking
• An overview of the process of implementing a pedagogically sound student filmmaking program and developing content
• Discussion of some of the challenges of film production in the classroom - production planning, practical ideas, equipment and resources
• Practical component, including filming with mobile phones
• Screening of work, discussion and questions.

Outcomes: This workshop will focus on the development of content in the production process, provide support and encourage teachers to have a go at filmmaking themselves. It is expected to stimulate interest and ideas, provoke further thinking and identify some practical teaching and learning ideas and resources and clarify new ways of using technology.

It is recommended that this workshop be taken along with workshop No.7.  This workshop is limited to a maximum of 20 participants.

_{9. Screen it - How? GameMaker}

Presenters: Al Upton, Glenelg School, Adelaide, South Australia 

GameMaker computer game creation software can sit at the junction between ‘kids culture’ and ‘educational culture’, offering new pathways for both students and teachers. These might include game design, multimedia development, curriculum innovation, programming skills or teamwork in an established worldwide community. Students are more engaged in class and show a great deal of interest in each others’ games, and are keen to swap ideas and help each other solve problems. Also, much more work than usual occurs outside of formal lesson times.  Recognising that introducing games into the curriculum can create significant and ongoing challenges for teachers, we will explore ways in which games can work in the classroom, where they fit in the curriculum and how we can encourage and support teachers and school communities to get started.

Workshop activity

This workshop includes a presentation, a practical component, group discussion and questions and take-away resources.

• Introduction, including an outline of where game making fits into the curriculum and the processes involved, and examples of student work
• An overview of the process of implementing a pedagogically sound student game-making program
• Discussion of some of the challenges of using game making in the classroom - practical ideas, equipment and resources
• Practical game-making workshop using GameMaker software
• Discussion and questions.

Outcomes: This workshop will focus attention on the use of game-making software, provide support and encourage teachers to have a go themselves. It is expected to stimulate interest and ideas, provoke further thinking and identify some practical teaching and learning ideas and resources.

It is recommended that this workshop be taken along with workshop No.7.  This workshop is limited to a maximum of 20 participants. It is recommended that participants bring their own laptops.  

_{10. Connecting teachers, learners, tools and content: A systems perspective}

Presenter: Andrew Dalgliesh, The Learning Place, Education Queensland

Developing a system-wide e-learning solution requires, and should be driven by, more than the procurement of content and the deployment of tools. A vision of effective learning for the 21st century underpins the delivery and design of e-learning services in the Queensland State schooling system. As Education Queensland’s e-learning environment, The Learning Place has been charged with the task of delivering on the promise of the Learning in an Online World agenda, and particularly online curriculum content from The Le@rning Federation (TLF).

This workshop will explore the vision of e-learning in Education Queensland and the role of TLF content and collaboration in the realisation of that vision. The workshop will include stories of transformational learning and teaching, an examination of powerful tools for connected learning and a reflection on the successful integration of online curriculum content from TLF into a vision and practice for learning in an online world.

Workshop activity

What is learning in the 21st century? Participants will reflect on the needs of learners and education systems in an online world and examine the national and state policy frameworks that inform the implementation of initiatives such as TLF.

• finding TLF content and other resources in the Learning Place’s Curriculum Exchange resource centre
• deploying content using online learning environments such as Virtual Classrooms and ready-to-go courses
• access to professional learning opportunities and support
• alignment with key local, regional and systemic priorities.

Lessons and milestones - Reflection on some important lessons learnt during the journey.

This workshop is limited to a maximum of 50 participants.

_{11. Equation: Digital resources + interactive whiteboards + learning management systems = transformative pedagogy for the classroom}

Presenters: Sue Beveridge and Jane Hunter, Centre for Learning Innovation, New South Wales

This workshop contributes to new understandings of teaching and learning by examining teacher engagement with innovative information and communication technologies.

We propose that transformative pedagogy for classroom practice is one that is personalised and motivating for students. Such learning is enabled when teachers use quality digital content via an interactive whiteboard that is embedded in a collaborative tool like a learning management system.

Explicit examples from our studies with schools of how to connect these technologies will be discussed, including resources produced by the Centre for Learning Innovation (CLI) through gateways like the Teaching and Learning exchange (TaLe), interactive multi-media and digital resources from The Learning Federation (TLF and various education-focused simulation games.

Workshop activity

• system and school level responses
• potential benefits of the combination of quality digital content and collaborative tools
• the evidence so far from teachers in schools applying such an approach.  

No limit to participation.

_{12. Making magical movies: Three stories of student collaboration, creativity and diversity}

Presenter: Alan Peucker, Mawson Lakes School, South Australia

This workshop is based on the work students from Mawson Lakes School did with renowned Canadian documentary maker Peter Wintonick in 2005. Wintonick’s theme was ‘shining light in dark places’ and centred around opportunities to hear the voices of minority groups. As a follow-on from this project Mawson Lakes School students have been working with the Vietnam Veterans Association to build a more peaceful community through understanding the ongoing issues that affect families that have been involved in conflicts like the Vietnam War. The local veterans have many stories to tell and students are working in collaboration with them to bring these stories to life.

Working with mentors and utilising Apple’s ‘iLife’ suite of software, students will engage with a variety of literacy genres to plan, produce and publish veterans’ stories to share with the wider community. Students will demonstrate storyboarding, digital video editing, image manipulation and sound editing techniques to bring the stories to life.

Workshop activity

• the power of video to share stories
• the diversity and integration of multimedia tools to enrich stories
• the use of collaborative processes to engage students
• how students engage with real-life issues and the community
• how literacy genres broaden and enrich student learning.

• Introduction to the context and background of the project - teachers
• Decisions about our involvement - students
• Examples of how Apple’s ‘iLife’ integrated a variety of media to enrich presentations
• Exploration of how literacy enhanced the project
• The role of teachers as mentors in the learning process.

This workshop is limited to a maximum of 50 participants.

_{13. A Tale of Two Services: Online groups and games}

Presenters: Suzanne Curyer and Kerrie Smith, education.au limited, South Australia

education.au limited develops and delivers quality services to teaching, learning and career communities in Australia. These services utilise new and emerging ICTs facilitated by the Internet to enhance learning outcomes for all students.

• EdNA collaborative tools
• myfuture’s new multimedia object myQuiz.

Participants will also go into a draw to win one of ten myfuture training kits for their school, valued at $60 each.

Workshop activity

EdNA collaborative tool

• How people are using the groups and lists
• How to start up a group or list
• A tour of some of the public EdNA groups
• Online experience as a user of EdNA’s training group.

myfuture

Participants will use myQuiz learning objects and create strategies to use them in the classroom for career education.

EdNA and myfuture are initiatives of the Australian and State and Territory Ministers of Education and Training.

This workshop is limited to a maximum of 30 participants.

_{14. The Siege of Rochester Castle and beyond: Integrating MORPGs in the curriculum} 

Presenters: Leah Irving, Department of Education and Training Western Australia, and Ken Eustace, Charles Sturt University, School of Information Studies, New South Wales

This workshop will look at how MOO open source software was used in a Western Australian high school to explore medieval times as part of the society and environment curriculum. Students learnt to use the software, researched the 1215 siege of Rochester Castle in county Kent, England, by King John, built a virtual castle and role-played the siege. Teachers and researchers also participated as players, making the project an immersive experience for everyone. The project was a merging of simulation and role-playing games with a narrative theme central to the siege.

The workshop will also look at what lies ahead for a project such as Rochester Castle. What might 3D Thinking Worlds^TM offer in the hands of educators and students?

Workshop activity

This workshop will demonstrate how ICTs and in particular multi-user online role-play games were successfully incorporated into a school’s curriculum. Workshop participants will enter the virtual world of Rochester Castle and experience firsthand how students constructed the castle based on their own research, assumed the role of either a castle citizen or one of King John’s men and role-played a piece of medieval history.

• Overview of the Rochester Castle MMORPG research project and  how it was integrated into the curriculum
• Introduction to basic commands and MOO interface. Journey through Rochester Castle, interact with objects students have made, experience medieval (virtual) life, build your own room, build basic interactive objects
• Discussion about what programs like 3D Thinking^TM hold for a project such as Rochester Castle MMORPG
• Conclusions and questions.

No limit to participation.

_{15. Mathematics learning objects: ICT influencing content and pedagogy}

The presenter of this workshop has had almost 40 years’ experience as a mathematics teacher and curriculum officer working with secondary students, primary and secondary teachers and teachers in training. With the TLF he has been a member of the Mathematics Curriculum Area Reference Group and is currently providing subject expertise in three project teams. In this workshop, participants will have time to familiarise themselves with a selection of the TLF-developed learning objects. Based on his experiences before and during his involvement with the TLF, the presenter will tease out the mathematical content of the objects, the significance of the content and the pedagogical implications of the use of the objects in mathematics classrooms. These discussions will necessarily lead to issues relating to how the learning objects are presently being used by teachers to support student learning and how their integration into programs and classrooms might evolve.

Workshop activity

• Mathematics content: Why is the content of the learning objects relevant and important?
• Pedagogy in the mathematics classroom: What constitutes effective mathematics teaching and learning? How do learning objects, digital resources and ICT add value to this?
• Computer access: What is the ‘minimum access’ for effective practice?
• What is the role of the teacher in a classroom where information and resources are more immediately available due to access to a range of technologies?
• In what ways do learning objects influence content and pedagogy?

This workshop is limited to a maximum of 30 participants.

_{16. The knowledge society and the future of education}  

Presenter: Jane Gilbert, Chief Researcher, NZCER   

Jane Gilbert takes apart many long-held ideas about knowledge and education. She says that knowledge is now a verb, not a noun (something we do rather than something we have); and explores the ways our schools need to change to prepare people to participate in the knowledge-based societies of the future. 

The knowledge society is an idea that is widely discussed, but not well understood.  Knowledge is developing a new meaning that is quite different to the one our schools were built on. Because of this, knowledge society developments are a major challenge for our schools. We cannot address this challenge by adding more ideas to our existing structures. We need a completely new framework - one that takes account of knowledge’s new meaning, but also gives everyone an equal opportunity to succeed.