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Case study: Apollo Parkways Primary
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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

 

  Full text ©1996 Australian Consolidated Press