As
the first Australian school to join the Apple Classrooms
of Tomorrow, teachers and students at Apollo Parkways
Primary School are learning some valuable lessons.
Pauline Ellis teaches a composite year 5
and 6 class at Apollo Parkways Primary School in suburban
Melbourne, the first school in Australia to join the
Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) project examining the effects
of plentiful computer technology in schools.
Research findings in the US include improved academic performance,
better teamwork, and a shift in the teacher's role from lecturer
to guide. According to Ellis, a big differences between Australian
and American schools is that ours have already moved towards
the idea of cooperative learning, while US schools appear to
be more teacher-directed and the technology is
encouraging a change in style.
Two groups of Apollo Parkways teachers have visited
North America for training. Ellis was part of the first
group that visited three sites over two weeks, looking at
classrooms and the way the technology had been
integrated.
"That was really good, although they weren't
using the technology the way I thought they'd be... [but
the schools] were certainly doing good things with the
presentation of kids' work and the assessment of work, so
that gave us lots of ideas in those areas," she
said.
The second group attended a three week "summer
institute", spending a little less than half the
time learning to use technology and the remainder working
with students.
"They sat at the computer all day," said
Ellis, "and they came back with a lot of practical
knowledge." This model will be used locally to spread
Apollo Parkways' experience to other teachers.
Professional development (PD) is a key feature of
ACOT, and 2000 hours of PD are scheduled for the 31
teachers this year. Apollo Parkways' principal Rex
Chadwick believes the ratio of $1 on PD for every $2 of
equipment is about right, but hard to sustain.
"If you've been teaching a lot of years it's a
real challenge to try other things and see how something
works... I've got lots of things I'm going to change for
next term, [things] that worked well but could work
better," said Ellis.
"You can't ever have all the knowledge, the way
the technology's moving, and you don't need it to teach
it to kids," she observed.
Chadwick agreed, pointing out that the school's top 50
technical experts includes three teachers, a couple of
parents who work frequently at Apollo Parkways, and 45
students. He suggested staff are becoming more like
directors or producers than traditional teachers
Ellis agreed: "Kids are responsible now for their
own learning... [they] show initiative far more; the kids
that aren't quite up to the challenge aren't so thwarted,
as other children in the group will help them
along."
Because a lot of work is done in teams, students
expect their peers to meet the agreed work plan.
"When the bell goes, I just cannot get the kids
outside," said Ellis. "It's not just the kids
working on the computer, but the kids sitting on the
floor doing maths... it's just changed the whole feel of
the room.
"You don't use [the computer] for everything,
there are still things that you use paper and pencil for.
But for things like story writing... they don't have to
go through the laborious task of rewriting, " she explained.
"They don't rewrite in pencil," interjected
Chadwick, explaining that they do when writing on a
computer.
Apollo Parkways involvement in ACOT is too recent for
formal research outcomes, but the staff are already
noticing improvements in behaviour and performance even
among 'problem' children.
"I think it's the technology," Chadwick
mused, "it's another way in [to education]... and
they have to get on with other kids. They've got to work
with them, cooperate with them... and it's so enjoyable,
they want to do it."
"The cooperative skills are a really big thing,
and that's a preparation for their future. They're doing
so much more research, and they're able to pick out the
facts and edit [them] into their own words," said Ellis.
"But we're still reading [and] writing,"
pointed out Chadwick.
By Stephen Withers
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