Bits and bytes bring learning to life to re-engage kids in the classroom

When the language of the playground includes lingo like “Skype” and “blogs” and your computer is just as likely to receive a call as your telephone, it’s no surprise many teachers feel overwhelmed by the speed of technological change.

But there’s no escaping the fact that technology has become an integral part of children’s everyday lives. And teachers are discovering that new technology can have a huge impact on students’ will to learn.

A national survey of teachers conducted in 2001 by the Queensland University of Technology’s Education faculty indicated that teachers would prefer better access to online resources for themselves and their students. The survey showed that many teachers would choose to use online resources for pedagogical reasons more frequently than they do now if they had the right hardware, software and support.

Aaron* is an 11 year-old student at Queensland’s Minimbah primary school. He used to find school life tough. He wasn’t participating in class and had no friends to play with at lunch time. Now he wants a career building and testing computer games and his classmates count themselves lucky to share his new love of technology.

The dramatic turnaround in Aaron’s behaviour at school is the result of a new online learning program funded by the Queensland Department of Education and the Arts. The program uses technology to put the fun back into schoolwork for students with behavioural or social problems that have become a barrier to learning.

The Learning Engagement Online project (LEO) is being developed by Education Queensland teacher Dan Isele. Dan’s job as LEO Coordinator became full-time this year as demand from schools for access to the program skyrocketed.

LEO has been running since 2004 and has already earned Dan national recognition as the winner of the Australian Microsoft Innovative Teachers Award 2004. He represented Australia at the 2005 Microsoft Worldwide Innovative Teachers’ Forum in Seattle in July where 60 award winners from 23 countries presented their technology-driven teaching projects.

Dan says the technology trend in education is to be embraced. “I believe there’s a groundswell towards innovative technology in schools,” he says. “Teachers have the responsibility to come to terms with this generation of students and understand how they use technology.

“Where teachers see technology as a learning tool, students see it as part of their everyday lives. We must make sure that this digital divide doesn’t get too great. It’s important that teachers receive opportunities to experience these technologies.”

Learning with LEO

With LEO Dan has merged 20 years of passion for teaching with a technology bent that spans back to his own teenage years when he loaded computer games onto his Commodore 64 computer. In his early teaching years, Dan volunteered his computer knowledge at school by setting up computer clubs and managing networks.

The technologies Dan works with today are at the forefront of networking, communication, multimedia production and online collaboration. And his 10-12 year-old students are soaking it all up with ease.

There are currently 24 students from 13 schools in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast Region participating in the LEO program. Dan runs two 45 minute online lessons each week where the LEO students complete classes together by teleconference. Each child sits at their computer alongside a mentor from their own school who helps them through the class work.

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Dan has developed interactive exercises for students that are designed around their interests and current classroom topics. These include creating their own computer games and publishing their work on the Web for other LEO students to see. “I want students to feel that every part of learning is valued, not just the finished product,” he says. “By publishing dynamically to the Web the LEO group can see other students’ work in progress and learn from that.”

The LEO group can work together from their remote locations to publish on communal Web pages. “We use Microsoft NetMeeting which means students can share their desktop with all students online. I can see their screen and their mouse movements. One child can watch another student while they work.”

For a cultural exchange project, Dan’s students communicated with students in Japan through software that translated Japanese character script into English and vice versa. “We had a project based on understanding the life of a 10 year-old student in another society,” says Dan. “The kids thought it was brilliant.” The students communicated for months, sending text, images and video to their new friends.

As part of the LEO program, students work through activities on The Learning Place – an online workplace developed by the Queensland Department of Education and the Arts which provides interactive projects for students such as online forums to discuss movies, books and music. Through The Learning Place students can communicate with people outside the school to share ideas, question experts and discuss current events. Dan describes the site as a “world-leading tool for online learning”.

Other student projects include internet searches, digital photography, graphic design, clay animation, digital video and movie making.

The LEO students also spend one session a week presenting what they have learnt to their classmates at school. This is an important aspect of the program which Dan says boosts their confidence and helps build social skills.

“LEO students become mentors in their own classrooms,” says Dan. “Children who aren’t involved in LEO have the opportunity to participate and the LEO students become leaders to their classmates. These kids have never seen themselves in that role before.”

Dan stresses that the program is not intended for the sole purpose of boosting academic achievement, nor is it designed specifically for children with learning disabilities – although he believes it can help any student who is not engaged in the classroom. “LEO is about giving kids a belief that they can learn,” he says. “We hope that by improving students’ participation, academic achievement will improve. But the bottom line is you have to be a willing participant in the learning process before that can happen.”

LEO’s best results have been in rekindling childrens’ love of learning. “LEO gives students an opportunity to immerse themselves in a fun learning environment,” says Dan. “The kids are changing their own learning and classroom behaviours as a result.”

Dan proudly tells a story of the time he gave eight classroom students the opportunity to spend their public holiday learning how to make videos with multimedia software. “Seven of the eight turned up,” he says. “That highlights how motivational technology can be for students. Give students fun technology in a learning environment and they really will love the challenge. They want to use it.”

Putting the high touch into high tech

Dan Isele’s program has brought not only personal rewards, but professional notoriety as the word about LEO spreads. Winning the Australian Microsoft Innovative Teachers Award brought his program to the attention of other education professionals in Australia and overseas.

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“Winning the Microsoft Award and attending their Worldwide Teachers’ Forum has really brought the program to the forefront,” he says. “It has been extremely rewarding professionally. The doors have really opened for me with regard to my development and the worldwide network of professionals I’ve been able to access.”

The experience has given birth to a global network of like-minded teachers that Dan hopes will continue to share their best practices across international boundaries.

“I developed incredible networks at the Forum. I invited six teachers from different countries to join a best practice sharing initiative where we will upload our successful projects to a Microsoft teacher’s portal and keep in contact on a regular basis.”

While the technologies available to assist learning are always advancing, Dan maintains that the success of the LEO program has a lot to do with relationships. “Technology is the tool to motivate students,” he says. “But it’s the face-to-face relationship building that makes this program a success.”

Dan says LEO’s success hinges on the collective efforts of all participants including the child’s teacher, their mentor, administrators and Dan’s role as coordinator and teacher. Dan visits each LEO student’s school every fortnight to meet personally with the teacher and the student, and to talk with the rest of the class. This ‘personalised’ approach addresses the child’s development of social, personal and thinking skills.

Onwards and upwards

With LEO now a full-time role, Dan has set his sights on expanding the program and developing new projects that will drive the uptake of technology in schools – starting at the grassroots level. Following his Microsoft Innovative Teachers Award win, Dan built a partnership with Central Queensland University (CQU) which brings new technology into the coursework for education students.

“I am working with the lecturers to help students understand the online environment,” he says. “Students at the University create online content for the LEO program as part of their course and this now forms part of their final assessment.”

Dan hopes this will help create a new generation of teachers who will increase the use of information and communication technology in schools.

The demand from schools across the state for access to the LEO program suggests that the project has huge growth potential beyond the two full-time staff it currently employs.

Dan says he will move the program into high schools by the end of the year and sees potential for it to expand across Australia. He also sees his role broadening to help schools employ new technology across the entire classroom. “I’m constantly playing with new technologies,” he says. “I see a spin-off of my role as evaluating the use of technologies for teaching. I can roll them out across classrooms and encourage their uptake by teachers and students.”

Dan’s real joy is seeing the results of his work. “A smile goes a long way,” he says. “It’s very rewarding to know you do make a difference and that you’re creating a love of learning for kids.”

Technology doesn’t have to be rocket science. Dan’s methods are simple: “Learning has to be fun,” he says. “If learning is fun, students are very motivated and eager to jump on board.”

The Microsoft Innovative Teachers Award honours exceptional primary and secondary educators for outstanding innovation in integrating technology into the classroom. It is part of Microsoft’s Partners in Learning program which has so far committed A$10 million over five years and assisted 8,000 teachers with affordable software, resources and professional development. *Name has been changed

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LEO at a glance

What:

• A program to reignite a passion for learning in disengaged students. • Students join a virtual (online) classroom twice weekly, and present what they have learnt to their class once a week. • Students work with a mentor and are led by the LEO Online Coordinator through fun and engaging lessons using information and communications technology (ICT). • Students work with technologies including: o Microsoft Word o Microsoft PowerPoint o Microsoft Excel o Microsoft Publisher o Microsoft NetMeeting o MOO (Multi-user Object Oriented) environment • Activities include Web publishing, email, internet searches, computer game-making, digital photography, graphic design, clay animation, digital video and movie making.

Where:

• Currently 24 students from 13 primary schools in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast Region participate in LEO. • There are plans to expand the program to other parts of the state, into high schools and potentially nationwide.

Who:

• LEO is funded by the Queensland Department of Education and the Arts. • The program is run by Dan Isele, LEO Online Coordinator. • Dan was the 2004 recipient of the Australian Microsoft Innovative Teachers Award and represented Australia at the 2005 Microsoft Worldwide Innovative Teachers’ Forum.

Contact:

For more information on the LEO program contact:

Dan Isele Tel: 07 3881 9603 Email: [email protected]

For more information on the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Award contact:

Felicia Brown Academic Programs Manager Microsoft Corporation Tel: 02 9870 2421 Email: [email protected]

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