Rethinking Junior IT
Kevork Krozian, Forest Hill College
k.krozian@fhc.vic.edu.au
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Session Objectives
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To stimulate thinking to audit current junior IT courses
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To look for options and new directions
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To keep VELS in mind as required
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To consider delivery models -- dedicated ICT vs across Key
Learning Areas
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Any other ideas
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Primary School snapshot
Multiple feeder schools about 100 – 120 into Yr 7 students
Course
Details
•Powerpoint
Quite skilled and confident
•Publisher
Some knowledge . Eg. Why can’t I type straight
away ? Because you need a text box to type into
•Kahootz
Quite skilled and confident
•Word
Generally used to type up stories with little other
skill
Comments/Rationale
Apart from Powerpoint and Kahootz generally students need to
learn from scratch ( not the programming language ) and it is best
to assume they haven’t used other software ( apart from a
browser, chat ) to any appreciable level prior to Year 7.
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Current Year 7
Dedicated ICT subject – full year
4 x (72min) periods per 3 week cycle
Course
•Word : 4 – 6 weeks
Details
•Focus on skills, alignment, tabs, columns, layout, spell and
grammar check. Assessed with a final task to complete
•Journal online
•Word counts, accuracy, technique, writing and text types
(Moodle) for reflection
on each topic
Comments/Rationale
•Students do not possess these skills therefore seen to be
valuable across all areas
•Students enjoy the competition and challenging themselves and
each other
•Ties in with Health and Physical education nutrition unit
•Touch typing - 4 weeks •Graded skills acquisition. Project to analyse restaurant menus
and produce a tri-fold brochure of their own menu. Use Visio to •Final result placed in a “time capsule” for collection in Yr 12
•Publisher
create map of restaurant location
•Visio : 4 - 6 weeks
•Powerpoint : 6 weeks •Graded skill acquisition. Current project selected for
completion (eg Olympics)
•Final project used in English as part of oral presentation with the
use of Que cards for prompting
•Qualitative and quantitative data used. Surveys of favourite food
•Graded skill acquisition. Data sourced from any media outlet or of students in class
class survey. Results recorded and graphed with the use of
simple formulas
•Levels 4 and 5 of VELS ICT domain requires evidence of digital
•Digital Porfolio : 4 – 6 •Recent implementation of EdCube to create digital portfolio on portfolio (or bank of digital evidence ) under ICTfor visualising
weeks
any topic of choice eg my first year at Forest Hill College, my thinking and ICT for creating
friends, social me, thinking me
•Excel : 4- 6 weeks
•Allows a self paced approach to acquiring a range of skills from
•Kahootz : 4 weeks
•Intro to Year 8 : 2
weeks
•Graded tasks directly from Kahootz site following teaching
resources
•Introduction to Gamemaker, web authoring
•Establishing links with the next phase of learning and orientation
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for Year 8.
Current Year 8
Dedicated ICT subject – full year
4 x (72min) periods per 3 week cycle
Course
•Gamemaker: Term 1
•Journal online (Moodle) for
reflection on each topic
Details
Comments/Rationale
•Graded skill acquisition, stepping through a
number of tutorials, completing a project
followed by an open book assessment tasks
modelled on the project principles.
•Game programming provides a context for a wide range of cross domain
learning. Drag and drop tools means kids do not get bogged down in
programming syntax. Games require graphics and sound so the links to
the domains of music and art are obvious. Sound and graphics creation
• See http://www.rupert.id.au/header-links.php and editing through a variety of software options.
for a comprehensive discussion of the benefits •See http://www.freewebs.com/schoolgamemaker/IT%20Courseof games programming, and specifically worked game.doc for a multidisciplinary game making project (based on a media
examples of application of Gamemaker
project by Keith Richardson and Tony Forster)
•Also Tony Forster is a leader in the use of
Gamemaker. Search Edulists archives.
•Games have a narrative or storyline, though branching, get kids to
www.edulists.com.au or see
develop game storylines as a literacy activity. See also Tim Rylands
http://www.users.on.net/~billkerr/g/int.htm
http://www.timrylands.com/ and Brock Dubbels
•Game making can be a good way to learn kinematics: speed,
acceleration and gravity, a few ideas at http://www.rupert.id.au/headerlinks.php
•Quest style games which have lots of narrative could be made in a 2nd
•language, see http://www.freewebs.com/schoolgamemaker/ for how to
set up dialogue in a quest game with foreign character sets
•Excel, Access and Word :
Term 2 – 3
•Organising a party.
Excellent set of activities that engage students readily. Varied and
Acquisition of spreadsheet skills for managing a specialised skills acquired. Use of validation in Access, querying with
budget, organising supplies, shopping online for Boolean operators, Use of formulas in Excel and the mastery of
provisions. Database skills for gathering guest spreadsheet functions for budget and guest list creation and
data, special dietary and musical needs, forms, management. Peer evaluated with scope for student input into
querying and reporting, creating name tags, mail the direction of the overall task.
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merge and more. RSVP through web site to
store in a file or email.
Current Year 8
continued
Course
Details
Comments/Rationale
•Web authoring with
Dreamweaver and Fireworks
Term 3
•Graded exercises covering layout, graphics,
•Quite a robust activity that engages students fully. Excellent skill
colours, fonts, naming conventions, styles,
development in “ .. evaluate the integrity of the located information based
attention to copyright and intellectual property, on its accuracy and the reliability of the web host” ( VELS level 4 ) as
provision of feedback, peer evaluation,
students gather data for inclusion on their personal web site.
disclaimer. Completion of a personal website as
a final product.
•Digital Portfolio – 6 weeks
•Recent implementation of EdCube to create
digital portfolio on any topic of choice eg my
schoo, my friends, social me, thinking me,
sporting me, healthy me, mathematical me, IT
me
•Levels 4 and 5 of VELS ICT domain requires evidence of digital portfolio
(or bank of digital evidence ) under ICT for visualising thinking and ICT for
creating
•A set of 5 graded exercises covering basic
animation skills for addition to web site as swf
files
Planning, storyboards, visualising thinking. Tasks include motion and
shape tweening, path orientation, sound, video, mask layer and more
depending on student ability and interest.
Flash Animation
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Current Year 9
Dedicated ICT subject - 1 semester only
4 x (72min) periods per 3 week cycle
Course
•Creation of a DVD
•Software/Hardware used
•Combination of Dreamweaver
and Nero Vision to create DVD
interface
Journal online (Moodle) for
reflection
Details
Comments/Rationale
•Through the use of a wide range of software
•Very engaging and exciting for students with the freedom to choose
types students create a DVD as a final product. almost any topic as the subject of their DVD.
•Research into multimedia file types and quality •Research into alternate multimedia file types, conversion options, quality
•Research classification system and proposed and size implications
content
•Research classification system and classify the DVD product
Animation with Flash and Actionscript
•High level of autonomy and ability to direct learning. Eg. Foreign
•Sound content with Acid Pro
language text inclusion, alternate designs for navigation, page
background music or manually load on clicking, file format types, data
•Image content with digital camera, scanner or gathering, team work, peer review and feedback.
internet
•Video content with video camera or internet
•Validation and testing by extracting ONLY DVD files and checking all
links on another machine
•Voice recording with audacity
•Creating interface and pages with
Dreamweaver and Fireworks
•Consideration of consistency in design and layout requirements across
pages
•Video conversion for web ready deployment
Planning, storyboards, visualising thinking for animation and web
•Photoshop for DVD label and DVD case cover interface. Peer evaluation and input. Rubrics for assessment.
•Publish DVD to active web site for testing
•Burn DVD and present to class
Based on current software DVD will only play on a computer and not a
DVD player. To play on a DVD player need to use other software
7 such as
Adobe Encore or Sony Vegas ( cost vs benefit issue )
Current Year 10
Programming Elective – 1 semester only
4 x (72min) periods per week
Course
•Flash and Actionscript
Details
• Up to 20 graded learning activities covering
layout, graphics, colours, fonts, naming
conventions, use of Actionscript 3.0:
•Refresher activities from Yr 9
•Adding sounds to movies
•Path orientation
•Drawing in Flash
•Buttons and movies
•Compositing or Nesting
•3D Effects in Flash
•A runner in Flash
•First Actionscript
•Mouse control
•Keyboard control, screen wrapping
•Collision detection
•Jigsaw puzzle ( can be Quiz type )
•Colouring car parts
•Scrolling space background
•Saving the Earth shooting game
Comments/Rationale
•Very engaging
•Students rarely off task
•Individual discussion and tailoring extension work
•Excellent skill development at VELS Level 6 as “ .. students apply a
range of techniques, equipment and procedures that minimise the cost,
effort and time of processing ICT solutions and maximise the accuracy,
clarity and completeness of the information. Their products demonstrate a
clear sense of purpose and respect for the audience”
•Aim is to gain confidence in taking on challenges rather than racing to
finish a product
•Process of learning is the focus rather than the answer to a problem
though we celebrate discovery of a solution
•Debugging competitions – first to find error gets a chocolate
•Deliberate bugs introduced as challenges bases on actual errors in class
•Web deployment aspect very attractive as choice of language to teach
•Journal online (Moodle) for
reflection and record keeping
•A choice of projects such as a
•poker machine or
•billiards game or
•car racing game or other
•Planning, storyboards, visualising thinking, reflection, self assessment
•VELS ICT Level 6 “ students compare their own solutions with others and
justify suggestions to improve quality”
•Journal required as part of the reflection
•Peer evaluation required on any improvements
after task completion
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Delivery Structure - Yr 9
MyFHC Intranet
Course Outline – Task list
Course individual tasks worksheet
Assessment – Task list with rubrics for assessment
Reporting – rubrics descriptors transfer to report and VELS level
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Review what in junior IT ??
New College Strategic Plan 2010 - 2012
Develop a whole school
understanding of key
learning attributes that
identify all students at
Forest Hill College
Expansion of
enhancement activities
Students given opportunity
to do individual work
Catering for
differentiated learning
with tracking and
monitoring of individual
progress
Agreed pedagogical
approaches including
teaching literacy across
the curriculum
The use of ICT in
teaching, learning,
assessment and planning
More challenge
Better assessment practices
Higher order thinking *
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What is higher order thinking ?
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Higher-order thinking requires students to manipulate
information and ideas in ways that transform their meaning and
implications. This transformation occurs when students
combine facts and ideas in order to synthesize, generalize,
explain, hypothesize or arrive at some conclusion or
interpretation
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Evaluation - Judging the outcome
Synthesis - Putting together
Analysis - Taking apart
Application - Making use of knowledge
Comprehension - Confirming or understanding
Knowledge - Gathering Information
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Manipulating information and ideas through these processes
allows students to solve problems and discover new (for them)
meanings and understandings. When students engage in the
construction of knowledge, an element of uncertainty is
introduced into the instructional process and makes
instructional outcomes not always predictable; i.e., the teacher
is not certain what will be produced by students. In helping
students become producers of knowledge, the teacher's main
instructional task is to create activities or environments
that allow them opportunities to engage in higher-order
thinking.
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What is lower order thinking ?
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Lower-order thinking occurs when students are asked to receive or recite factual
information or to employ rules and algorithms through repetitive routines.
Students are given pre-specified knowledge ranging from simple facts and information to
more complex concepts. Such knowledge is conveyed to students through a reading, work
sheet, lecture or other direct instructional medium.
The instructional process is to simply transmit knowledge or to practise procedural routines.
Students are in a similar role when they are reciting previously acquired knowledge; i.e.,
responding to test-type questions that require recall of pre-specified knowledge.
More complex activities still may involve reproducing knowledge when students only
need to follow pre-specified steps and routines or employ algorithms in a rote fashion.
“Technology alone cannot move learners to higher order thinking skills, but some
applications are more suited for this task than others” (Burns, 2006). Burns classifies
applications into “Lower-Order and Higher-Order Applications”.
How an application is used by an educator determines whether it is a lower or higher order
application. An example of this is the use of the Internet. If used as an electronic textbook
it would be a lower order application as only lower order skills are used if the learner does
not validate, question, or evaluate, the information obtained. When learners engage in
online collaboration they would be using higher order thinking skills and therefore the
Internet would be used as a higher order application (Burns, 2006).
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Review what in junior IT ??
Focus on the Thinking Curriculum
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Learning centred vs teacher ( teaching ) centred
Process driven vs content driven
Students setting own questions vs students answering only others questions
Shared experiences and learning vs private thought processes
Developing independent, critical, creative and caring learners
More ‘just in time’ vs ‘just in case’ learning
Mistakes to be learned from vs mistakes to be avoided or feared
Teacher fellow learner/collaborator vs expert
source http://www.thinkingcurriculum.com/TradvsTOC.asp
Focus on the ‘constructionists’ model – students learn by creating
• more meaningful and transferable learning will result when students are given opportunities to
construct knowledge from their own point of view
•Different options for selecting project topics
•Training students
•Collecting information
•Scaffolding process
•Organising
•Evaluation
•Synthesis ( one group’s project linked to another group’s project )
•Assessment
source http://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/models/powerpoint/constructionism.pdf
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Review what in junior IT ??
Teaching to, and awareness of, multiple intelligences
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Linguistic intelligence ("word smart") -- eg. Succinct instructions for games interface
Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart") -- eg. Trigonometry in games programming
Spatial intelligence (“picture smart") – eg. adding artistic, aesthetic elements to programming tasks
Musical intelligence (“music smart") -- eg. adding self composed music to project
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart") -- eg. reflect on human reaction times in games
Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart") -- eg. allow for multiple players in games, feedback
Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart") -- eg. allow for a player to track performance over time
Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart") -- eg.adding nature based components (plants, animals) to projec
source http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm
Enhancing cross-curricular learning, content and coordination
• Why teach something twice if once will serve your purpose ?
• Learning in Science with the “enquiry based approach” no different to learning in and with ICT
• aligning teaching Excel skills with Maths Petrol vs LPG vs Diesel consumption project
• aligning DVD production in ICT with Media
• aligning Oral presentation in English with presentation in ICT
• aligning LOTE with Gamemaker allowing other language instructions
• aligning Heart Rate monitor use in HPE with uploading and analysing in Excel
• Use of a database for the creation of a dating game perhaps in Human Development
• Use of research skills to locate and verify Australian Standards in Technology
• Kahootz type environments in ICT and Arts cross teaching and collaboration
• Kahootz and animated LOTE story books
• Music and sound editing in DVD production
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Review what in junior IT ??
Dedicated junior ICT vs non dedicated junior ICT classes
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Local solutions will vary across the spectrum from one end to the other
At Forest Hill in mid 90s all junior ICT removed and then replaced 5 years later
Data on school models would be interesting and informative
Problem of non ICT qualified teachers assessing ICT skills, knowledge and content ??
At University of Washington efforts underway to make Computer Science a compulsory
component of any Science degree
Content and options and new directions
•Not necessarily cramming more into less space and time
•Why all of Word, Powerpoint, Publisher, Web authoring in depth ? Can we focus on one here and create time/space if we
are using WYSIWYG ?
•XNA Game Studio 3.1 – Programming with Visual C# both for the PC and the Xbox - Email: P.Taylor@LaTrobe.edu.au
•Alice - 3D programming www.alice.org
•Blender – 3D animation and programming with Python www.blender.org
•Scratch – programming scratch.mit.edu
•Programming using mobile devices or PDAs - Flash Lite to play Flash games on Mobile Phones
•Quicktime VR - Virtual reality programming
•Robotics - Does it have a place in junior IT , even at a simple level ?
•Data Visualisation links -- http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/08/02/data-visualization-modern-approaches/
•Teacher Tube with extensive tutorials
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Review what in junior IT ??
Stronger links with the feeder Primary schools
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Can we work with the Primary schools and define a minimum skill set to achieve by Grade 6?
Can some of these skills be taught as visits beyond the annual 45 mins Grade 5 orientation ?
Consider an ICT skills audit for new Year 7s
Support Primary teachers in delivery of ICT skills . Can we build bridges and collaborate ?
Projects eg. Kahootz learning activity for Grade 4 or 5 prepared by Year 7, 8 ?
Stronger links with VCE ICT
• Any vertical streaming ? Can a Yr 10 do a VCE subject ? What about a Year 9 ?
• Why not insist on a minimum skill set before a student can do Yr 11 or 12 IT ?
• Consider closer links between junior and VCE ICT teachers
• Consider clearly communicating pathways for junior IT students towards VCE . Eg. How many of
you would do Yr 10 programming and then Yr 11 IT if it had the following content …… ?
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Rethinking Junior IT
where to now ?
•To imagine the possibilities, to excite the staff and students
•To join the journey of discovery and share the rewards of achievement and
learning
•I will be working on Programming with Scratch, Xbox XNA Game Studio 3.1, Alice
and Blender for inclusion in junior IT for 2010 and 2011.
•Join me and others on this and similar journeys on the online communities
Invitation to join and participate on mailing lists
Specific Junior IT online community has colleagues and resources for
sharing. Many ideas in this presentation came from this and related
online communities http://www.edulists.com.au
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