From Little Things Big Things Grow

From Little Things Big Things Grow Sowing the Seeds of successful use of ICT

Jacquie Bourne

Tasmanian Society for IT in Education

Launceston Church Grammar School is an independent school (k-12) in the north of Tasmania with a student population of approximately 550 at the senior campus. The school is well equipped with technology resources. ‘Terrific’ I hear you say, but teachers surrounded by this ever growing gamut of gizmos and gadgets often ponder the questions ‘What an earth do I do with this stuff?’ and ‘Why do I need to learn about it?’

The introduction of these resources demands major change from teachers. This can be confronting and challenging and often leads to teachers ‘bolting on’ technology as an easy fix, rather than truly embracing the seamless integration of ICT. This type of initial reaction to technology is common but is a hurdle that can be easily overcome with careful planning, expectation and persistence.

There are two major facets to our successful approach to integrating ICT: . Carefully planned Professional Learning . Relevant, reliable and rich technology products. The Professional Learning experiences provided for staff and the technology that has been used along the way are described below.

PERTINENT, POWERFUL and PLANNED PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

The Learning Technologies Coordinator, in consultation with senior staff, has implemented specific Professional Learning programs and experiences that have helped the staff begin the process of integrating ICT into their teaching practice. The experiences have focussed on the development of skills, knowledge and understanding to form a foundation upon which staff can begin to embrace change. The Professional Learning provided is always carried out in a consultative, collaborative and supportive manner is increasingly valued and popular. Key teachers have been identified in order to help spread the word about the benefits of smart use of ICT as part of teaching. The small steps that have been taken have been cleverly woven together to help build teacher confidence and develop a culture of ICT literacy across the school.

A starting point for many staff was the acquisition of basic skills. Programs such as the Microsoft Office suite and the Internet were focussed on as these are tools that students use as a natural part of their lives. The increased ICT literacy also benefited teachers. Initially these sessions were offered in after school time slots, however the demand on teachers from extra curricular activities lead to a change of focus with teachers being offered one to one or small group sessions throughout the day. These sessions were very popular as it allowed those staff who lacked confidence the privacy to learn at their own pace. It also catered for early adopters by providing the opportunity to try out new ideas in a collaborative setting. These sessions were successful in arousing teachers’ interest classroom application and the potential for enhancing learning that ICT provides. Alongside this was the provision of in class support from the Learning Technologies Coordinator. Uptake on this support was initially slow however teachers have now enthusiastically embraced this. This allows teachers to try something new without feeling isolated and unsupported. The Professional Learning program has grown to include more focussed and intent sessions. These provide opportunities for teachers to begin their learning by looking at specific programs and extend their knowledge and thinking over time. This approach has encouraged teachers to consistently and confidently embed ICT into their teaching and embrace innovation. The program that was conducted in 2007 is an example of this approach. The focus group for the program was the Grade 7 team, consisting of 6 key teachers. The sequence was designed to be consultative, supportive and non-threatening. A major reason for the program’s success was the provision of time. Teachers were released from class for large blocks of time throughout the school day to attend sessions and plan in teams. This acknowledged the importance of teacher learning as participants were not expected to use their own time for something that is a critical part of teaching. The sequence involved three stages that are outlined below.

Possibilities Teachers explored possibilities for enhancing learning. As a team teachers investigated a number of software and hardware options. In this half day session the teachers focused on 4 main questions: What is available? What skills do we already have and need help with? What will enhance our students’ learning? What fits into our current program? Instead of thinking ‘Here’s the software, we need to use it, how can we bolt it on?’, the 4 questions highlighted a major message: ‘Don’t try and fit a square peg into a round hole – fill the hole completely with stuff that fits!’

Focussed Learning This session involved focussing on one piece of software (Microsoft Photostory) that the team had agreed would greatly benefit student learning. A number of other humanities staff were also invited to attend. A full day was spent with an expert from the Australian Centre for the Moving Image exploring digital storytelling through the use of Photostory. The focus was on pedagogy, skills and empowering teachers. It was a hands-on session with a collaborative and supportive approach. The success of this day led to staff feeling motivated, empowered and positive and was a catalyst for the program being used on a regular basis to meet a wide variety of student needs and enhance learning outcomes across the school.

Collaboration Collaboration underpinned this process with our third session involving teachers working as a team to deliberately plan the embedding of ICT into their existing program. The focus was on learners’ needs and effective methods of integration. Rather than adding onto the syllabus, teachers discussed and planned experiences where students would benefit most from a varied approach.

Support A critical part was specific classroom support. It is one thing to plan for integration but quite another to successfully carry this out in your own classroom alone. The Learning Technologies Coordinator included particular skill development into Grade 7 IT lessons. There was also in class support whenever needed. RELEVANT, RICH AND RELIABLE TECHNOLOGY

The software and hardware focussed upon has ranged from the simplest applications to more involved concepts such as using Digital Portfolios. The enthusiasm of staff to learn about new programs is proof of the success of the ‘small step’ approach that has been taken in the last 2 years. Teachers no longer feel threatened by new ideas as they are fully supported when undertaking these things in their classrooms.

There have been many software and hardware products introduced including: . Microsoft Office applications . Inspiration . Photostory . Digital Microscope . Masterfile (our Learning Management System)

Programs such as Inspiration are used widely across the curriculum. The program has become used so readily that students will now make an independent choice to use it for tasks, making it evident that there is seamless integration. Other applications are producing exciting results for teachers in relation to student motivation and enhancement of learning outcomes and are becoming more frequently used. ICT is now acknowledged readily as a practical and accessible alternative when planning learning experiences.

Use of our Learning Management System has been a major focus over the past two years. The system has been in place since 2004, however uptake had been less than enthusiastic. With carefully planned support and expectation from leadership use has expanded to use by approximately 80% of staff and students. It is has become a major communication tool with course materials, email and study guides being accessed internally and externally. The System also provides the opportunity for the construction of digital portfolios something which will be a focus in 2008.

The experiences and approaches outlined above have greatly assisted our teaching staff to successfully traverse the bumps encountered while travelling the journey of change needed to successfully integrate ICT into classroom practice. The process, applications used and provision of time have opened the doors for staff to become increasingly enthusiastic and passionate about the benefits of using ICT as a regular part of their teaching. This assists all staff to work towards our future direction and ultimate goal of providing students with the best opportunity to learn in an exciting, readily accessible and motivating environment.