Global ForumNovember 7-10, 2011 | Washington,

D.C.

Virtual Classroom Tour - VCTPartners in Learning Global Forum

November 7 – 10, 2011Washington DC

Virtual Classroom Tour – VCTName of Project:

Educator(s) Lyneth Crighton

SchoolBrief description of school context

Brescia House SchoolBrescia House School is located in Bryanston, Gauteng, South Africa. It is a Catholic school for girls which educates 850 girls from Grade R (6) to Matric (18). The pilot “Anywhere, Anytime Learning” program was launched on the 1st March 2011 when 72 grade 10 learners each collected their brand new Dell Latitude 2110 netbooks from the IT Support Centre to embark on a digital adventure with their peers and teachers.

School Website http://www.brescia.co.zahttp://Bresciahousesecondaryschool.blogspot.com

Content/Subject Areas

English (Home Language)With links to Afrikaans, History, Consumer Studies, Physical Science, Life Orientation, Life Sciences, Religious Education, Geography and Mathematics/Mathematical Literacy

Age/Grade level Grade 10 (16 years)

Project Objectives

Please note this presentation is best viewed as a presentation, and it contains links to hidden slides and to videos published on YouTube and other live websites.

• Provide a solid introduction to the prescribe English novel “Cry, the Beloved Country” written by Alan Paton and published in 1947

• Provide a platform that learners could use to analysis the themes and characters of the novel and create a central resource for further studies of the novel in English class

• How central themes of the novel are reflected in many academic subjects and by many leadersof this century

• Integrate collaboration and other Web 2.0 tools to create a 21st Century Learning Environment• Support learners with the first-time use of their new netbook, in a wireless environment,

and its features (including webcam, Bluetooth & wireless adaptors, speakers & microphone)

Project Description

Design of the Learning Environment

An collaborative integrated project which required the girls to learn how to use their new Dell Latitude 2110 netbooks in the classroom environment and work together to construct new knowledge.

For the period of a 3 day workshop, learners were each given a strand of a theme to follow for their English novel “Cry, the beloved Country” written by Alan Paton and published in 1948. Web 2.0 collaborative tools: Email (Live@edu); Skype; Twitter; Blackberry messenger; Facebook; the School Blog and Moodle On-line discussion forums kept the girls communicating during and after class; allowed them the freedom of using many learning spaces around the school and kept the online followers entertained with the events of the workshop. Each learner’s strand formed the basis of their own wiki page which they enriched with digital images; and embedded relevant Youtube videos; character avatars created online; word tag clouds and a podcast of related novel passage. Girls explored how their strands intertwined to create the themes of the novel and incorporated content topics from their other learning areas. Teaching staff “experts” guided the learners to link their knowledge to each other and related content found on the Internet.

• Large open learning space with movable desks and chairs for the learners to arrange in configuration which best suited them

• Learning was not confined to the learning space (classroom) nor the conventional learning tools of books and pens. Learners were encouraged to:

• Use their cell phones as recording and communication devices• Integrate Facebook and other social networks in their communication circles• Use Skype and email to contact peers and staff for knowledge which they could

incorporate in their wiki page• Create their own learning pathways, and follow their theme with the guidance of

staff• Watch and integrate supporting videos• Use the wiki to build their knowledge base and understanding of the novel “Cry, the

Beloved Country”

• Please use follow the linked slide images on the left to explore further details of the project and learning environment.

Workshop Plan

21st Century

Skills

Thinking Words

Learner & Staff

groups

Evidence of Learning

Click activity focus boxes marked with the link icon, on the right, to link to the Learners’ evidence of learning.Please note that some links are to videos published on YouTube and live weblinks.

Collaboration with “teacher experts”; group members; and other classmates via …

Email

Skype

Twitter

Blackberry messenger

Facebook

School Blog

Online discussion forums

Integrate information using Web 2.0 tools ….

Podcast prepared reading

Related YouTube video

Word Clouds of wiki writing

Digital images

Characteravatars

To create a “Cry the Beloved Country” Wiki

Complete 3 online assessments on

the Moodle portal to assess your

knowledge of the plot of the novel

Create an individual wiki

page based your theme word;

relate it to your knowledge of the

novel

Hyperlink your wiki page to other related content in

the wiki and on the web

Knowledge Building & Critical Thinking

Aspects of Knowledge Building & Critical Thinking: • Learners have to use analysis and synthesis skills as the used their own, peers and teachers

knowledge to weave into their wiki page• Learners build their own knowledge “bridges”; they made the connections of the themes to

modern times. • The project as a whole relied on the learners building their own knowledge and experimenting

with technology to create their own opinions of which tools suited them best • The wiki they created could not be copied from any source and relied on learners thinking

differently about what and how they learn.• Examples of knowledge building and critical thinking from the Wiki include:

• The learners worked together, along with their Afrikaans teacher, to find the connections between the Novel’s theme of oppression, the Afrikaans poet Ingrid Jonker and Nelson Mandela

• They integrated Geography terrain knowledge, mapping skills and distance calculations to discover the route Absolum Khumalo would have taken on his journey from rural KwaZulu-Natal to the city of Johannesburg

• The critically reviewed the movie revision of the novel – did they agree that the characters were correctly casted; the story correctly told and did the costumes reflect the period that the story is set in?

Extended Learning Beyond the Classroom

The workshop did not conform the traditional restrictions of the school day. Learning was extended beyond the classroom in the following ways:• The workshop took place in a space where would normally divided into two classrooms, or ridgidly

set out in an arrangement suitable for writing examinations. The learners rearrangde the learning space as it suited them, moving desks and chairs, sitting on the floor, even making use of the corridor outside.

• The environment allowed wireless connections, so learners video Skyped, Tweeted, Emailed, Blackberried, Facebooked and talk to each other as the travelled their journey of knowledge building.

• Unlike traditional school days, learners wore more comfortable clothing, ignored bells ,signaling the end of the lessons and teachers wondered in and out of the learning space, offering insight and guidance.

• Learning did not take place in a linear fashion, learners experimented with Web 2.0 and ideas in order for them individually and collectively again insight in the Novel’s themes

• Most importantly, for me, their were no “wrong answers”; learners created their own knowledge in the form that suited themselves best.

Collaboration • Before the workshop the girls were required to read the novel “Cry the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton; in order to assess that the girls were reading and prepare them for the Moodle environment the girls completed 3 online tests and participated in class online discussion forum.

• At the start of the workshop the 72 grade 10 girls were divided into 9 groups of 8 girls, this was done by simply giving each girl a card with her name, a puzzle piece, a coloured peak cap and a word or phrase which somehow related to one of the 9 central themes of the novel, and no instructions.

• Live debate erupted as the girls had to use their thinking caps and workout how puzzle pieces, coloured hats and random phrases related to digital experiences. (It was interesting to watch how different girls used the different clues to form groups)

• The girls were each given a “press pass” type card where they listed their fields of expertise in relation to software, digital devices and any other skills they thought useful. This served to highlight the idea that each individual has a part to play in creating knowledge and if we pool our expertise we can achieve great things

• Each group had 2 to 3 staff “experts”, who related to them the thread that the group had to research. The teachers helped guide the girls through the workshop to evaluate, research and present their own phrase and the groups theme in the grade wiki.

• Groups collaborated on mind maps to steer their research and plan their pathway. These were displayed during the workshop and adapted and changed as the days progressed.

• As the girl were “creating their own knowledge” the task suggestions were merely suggestions. The staff were there to ensure they kept within the theme but they could find their own way and own associations.

• Learners collaborated in groups, with their peers and teachers using Skype, Twitter and emails

• A Wiki by definition is “a Web site developed collaboratively by a community of users, allowing any user to add and edit content” without collaboration the learners would not succeed in producing a meaningful wiki.

• The project was structured to allow for maximum use of the collaboration tools offered by each learner having the use of her own laptop & the tools of Web 2.0