Note to Respondees:
The project is to design one or more learning activities (online delivery only) for a specfic audience. It should be possible for the activities to be completed within 10 hours (this could be spread over a period of time. We are not expected to include the learning material itselfrather a detailed description that includes:
the purpose of the activity
what technologies are used and why
a description of the activity itself, structture and resources used
how learners wil engage with it i.e. individually or in groups, with or without support, over what time.
Assumes participants will have home computer access. Podcast recording hardware/software will be supplied.
Activity design - learning activities
Activity design - teaching notes
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18 comments:
very interesting piece of work.
I agree with previous comment.
yes i agreee
really like this
hi ruth its arran the one for the blog stuff at Gylemuir Primary School so keep it up from arran
Hi Ruth sorry about the podcast becaousse i cannot get into it
all links are now active so the podcasts etc should work. Why not try accessing from home and get back to me ?
Agree that the web article should be chunked up for easy use. Can an image or images be associated with the podcast? This could enhance it's impact. Glossary is also a bit heavy. Guide to Blogging (netiquette) is good.
I like the group activity - there may need to be a more specific guide to the role play exercise possibly as a Word doc.This would depend on the teacher and the classes background for the type of activity. Safest would be to include instructions. This could also be used to enthuse and motivate the task. This might include some other web links which could be more 'attractive'/stimulating to the pupils than some of the other more intensive texty links.
The overall theme/exercises, I think are very good.
KK
Hi Ruth
We think our server is blocking the links as we're still unable to open them in school. I'm off on holiday tomorrow so won't be able to view them at home but here is a couple of my thoughts.
The activites are a great idea - pupils love podcasts and making their own would be a great activity. As a teacher, I think there is too much text before you get to the activity. Perhaps you could have a page specifically for pupils - with child friendly language taking them through the activity step by step. This would be particularly useful as the activites are intended to be done at home. The teacher's notes could be separate and referred to if necessary. When I do an on-line activity I go straight to what the pupils do and only refer to the teacher's notes if I need to.
Ruth
I agree with the points made above. The learning intentions in your project are clear and worthwhile - both with respect to the development of an understanding of sectarianism and a commitment to using 'new' technology to make learners more independent.
However, I think that at the moment you have over estimated what is possible for P6/7 pupils to achieve working independently, particularly if the intention is for pupils to work on this as independent homework tasks.
Although your intention is for pupils to not be 'spoonfed' I feel that for most of the activities you do need to give them more guidance and advice. The role of the tutor within your project seems much more low key than I suspect it would have to be in reality.
Some of the websites given as background for activities assume a fairly advanced reading age and grasp of vocabulary. The podcast is good as it gives the views of pupils close in age to the intended audience for the activities. Much more structure is needed within the tasks eg in task 1 pupils are asked to make notes - a sample note making page would give this task more structure.
In particular I feel that activity 2, requires to be broken down much more. P6/7 pupils would need a lot of guidance to formulate suitable questions for a 5 minute interview. This activity might be best carried out as a group activity - encouraging collaborative learning is a key objective.
I like the activity where pupils are encouraged to look at the issue from different perspectives. However, this too needs to be broken down into smaller chunks with clearer instructions.
Activity 4/5 is a useful summary of learning and changing attitudes.
Your ideas for evaluating learning are good. I like the variety of technolgies used throughout the project, these should interest the pupils. In particular posting responses on a blog will allow learners to give their own opinions while at the same time responding appropriately to those of others.
Think about your target audience for this project - I personally feel that in its current format it should be aimed at older pupils - perhaps 13/14 year olds.
Overall I think your ideas will stimulate debate about how learners could learn using new technology.
Hope this helps!
PC
Ruth
Looked over your project. I think that your learning intentions are good - this is a worthwhile subject area for pupils to think about and I think using the new techologies available is a good way of capturing their interest.
However, I feel that at the moment you have over estimated what P6/7 pupils can achieve especially if your aim is for them to complete most of the work independently, possibly at home. Some of the web links take pupils to sites which assume a higher reading ability and grasp of vocabulary than many of them currently have.Many pupils are put off websites which have blocks of text. This could mean that they don't have all the background information that they need.
The podcast is very good as it has been created using views from children of an equivalent age. However, pupils could do with more guidance on how to respond to it than is given in the notes which go with the activities.
Similarly,in activity 2, the creation of a podcast is a great idea, but pupils of this age will require a great deal of support eg in formulating relevant questions. I think they will have few difficulties in accessing and using the technology to create the podcast and will enjoy doing this. The difficulty will arise in creating the material for the podcast.I like the idea of encouraging pupils to use the blog to comment on the work of others.
Activity 3 is a good idea as it encourages pupils to look at the issue from a variety of perspectives and formulate some solutions. This activity relies on pupils having gained a lot of knowledge through the previous activities. I'm not sure if all pupils will have gained this knowledge as they may have had difficulty accessing the information as some of it is too difficult for them to read.However, completing this task as a group may overcome some of the problems.
The last activity is a good activity for summarising learning which has taken place.
I feel that the variety of technologies which are used are good and pupils will enjoy using these.
Throughout the project, however, the role of the tutor in supporting the pupils seems to be understated. Pupils of this age will require much more support and guidance than you assume in the notes. Tasks need to be broken down into smaller chunks and given questions and prompts given sharper focus. As it stands the project may be more suitable for slightly older pupils - age 13 - 14 perhaps. They would be more able to complete the work independently.
I have enjoyed looking at your project and how you have incorporated different technologies.
PC
Hi Ruth
I’ve read through the Learning Activities and Teacher’s Notes and visited the weblinks. Here are some comments.
The Learning Activities.
General comments
Reading through each task it was very clear that you are trying to achieve a balance and variety of learning experiences for the pupils. They are expected to find, select, process, share and evaluate information for their topic by reading, listening, researching, creating and discussing online. Given the right technology and teacher support, which would include careful monitoring of the project throughout its various tasks, able and interested pupils of 11 and 12 years will rise to the challenge and I’m sure enjoy it too.
The Activities
Activity 1
Quite a lot to take in and complete in the given time of one and a half hours I would have thought and much depends on the pupils’ previous experience. For instance reading and taking notes from the background article Football and Sectarianism might prove quite challenging for pupils who have not been taught those particular skills. Some indeed might be very competent! The Podcast Sense over Sectarianism is a good choice to start with as it they can identify with children of their own age and would enjoy listening to their opinions. Including an extract where children’s views are expressed, conveys the message to the pupils taking part in this exercise that what children say matters. This will encourage them to express their views too. A listening task provides a balance in Task 1 to the more demanding exercise on the article.
The questions set for the group blog are good, encouraging team work. Members of the group blog might also exchange ideas in other ways on eg via email before writing the blog. This might happen frequently initially until they gain confidence in expressing their views via blogs. The request to respond to three other blogs widens the discussion, an introduction to the potential of exchange ideas on a much wider scale.
Resources
The resources will have to be presented in a much more engaging way for pupils of this age. For example you could explain that the Writing Post link show video clips on blogging and how to write a blog. How do you chunk an article? Pupils will ask that? The Glossary is a good. Given the time scale I wonder how much time the pupils will spend exploring these additional resources for this task.
Language
I am assuming the Activity design is at the design stage and not how it will be finally presented to the pupils. Instructions have to be very clear and in language that an 11 year old can understand.
The purpose of the exercise and the methods used to achieve those ends should be clearly stated in language pupils can understand. It might be an idea to have a check list included to clarify exactly what each tasks requires and also help pupils keep a track of what they have done.
The tutor role etc should be presented in a separate document from the Activities presented to the pupils.
The vision and clarity of design of the tasks, the use of technology to achieve them and the role and responsibility of the tutor come across very clearly.
Activity 2
Excellent follow-up idea to interview an adult and record and share podcast within a given time limit. Good questions to address afterward on group blog.
The inclusion of LTS netiquette guidelines is very important in promoting responsible use and protecting those taking part. Also good idea to organise some training before in the use of recording devices. Pupils can also refer to the procedural resources if required before seeking additional help. Pupils encouraged in this way to problem solve before requesting help if need be leading to more independent learning.
Activity 3
The deli.cio.us account set up makes a very good starting point for this research. Presumably pupils will have some prior experience using deli.cio.us and understand the concept. Three hours researching and reading on the internet soon flies by and I think possibly pupils would want to spend some time deciding and allocating the roles they want to adopt. Will this be done by blogging? The two supporting resources you have included should go some way to raising awareness of the time factor………also increase the time spent on the task! Can’t win. I think they will enjoy this part of the project and there should be lots of suggestions on the blog!
The task clearly reflects what is set out in the Purpose and Solution.
Activity 4
Interesting and challenging final activity. Good support document and website to help pupils organise ideas for task.
A lot of input from teacher organising the groups’ recommendations from the blogs and comparing and contrasting them with the sources given. In addition pupils’ changing views following the Activities have to be taken into account.
Would the final summary of the exercise be published as a short paper for all bloggers to read? If so who would do this?
Teachers’ Notes
The activities and the support and resources within each task clearly reflect the aims and final outcomes as set out under the headings of:
• Aims:
• Learners will be able to:
I feel that 10 hours for this project is not enough particularly if pupils are having to learn lots of new online skills.
In summary
The design of the project is very clear and the resources identified to support it are well thought-out and appropriate. The presentation of the activities for pupils needs to be much clearer and the use of language more child-friendly if they are expected to engage in this activity as independently as possible.
I really enjoyed reading it !
I think it is a good idea using the podcasts and blogs if the teachers have enough expertise.
I think that the activities would work better with older pupils.
The sharing of ideas and research between the groups is a good idea as this reduces the amount of work that each group would have to do. As the groups are all sharing it seems that they are all working in one big group. With this in mind it might be easier for pupils to work as individuals and share their research with the big class group in podcasts and in blogs. Each person would do a piece of the work but need everybody elses. The teachers could also make sure that everyone is contributing fairly.
Project design looks good, clear. Activities a tad ambitious for many pupils in the target group. How you present the tasks to the pupils would need careful thought - differentiation would need consideration.
Plenty of interesting resources - I found myself going off at a tangent (created an edublog in the process). Again, some information a bit inaccessible (dull) for the target group (Scottish Exec!!).
Enjoyed the podcast.
With all the new skills to be learned along the way, I think time element has been under-estimated.
I'm sure that the topic could be tackled by the suggested age group with some different resources.
The subject matter is interesting and certainly a worthy subject. I do feel, however, that there should be a visual element included. These days children of the targetted agegroup almost expect to be able to see, as well as hear, what is going on. I also feel that seeing the interviewees makes it easier to identify with them and their opinions.
I am a 14 year old male. I found the topic interesting and it is good to cover a subject like this early in education. I do think that the children taking part in the learning activity would find it more interesting if they could see who was being interviewed. A visual element would be most useful to help to hold the attention.
Im 13 and I found the design of the activity clear and easy to follow.
The resources were very useful in providing background to the subject and to the technologies required.
the activity is something i would be interested in participating in.
I am 13 years old and found the activity well designed and the subject very topical.
The use of technologies like podcasting helped make the activity more interesting as a classroom project although I would have liked images to be included to help explain the subject better.
The resources were good, especially the ones about podcasting.
I would like a project like this in school as its like creating and listening to a radio show which helps with understanding the subject.
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