Four years down the line:
Experiences beyond Intel
Teach to the Future (ITTF)
Mary Reynolds
St Stithians Boys’ College
Paper presented to the Intel Conference, Bloemfontein,
July 2007
Introduction
 Context:
Independent boys’ high school
 Very good ICT infrastructure
 2003 in-house course
 5 Intel-trained teacher’s remain
 ITTF format → learning design
How has this happened?
curriculum (GETC → FET)
 Resource-based learning (electronic &
print)
 Help with learning design
 ITTF format:
 New



Emphasis on outcomes
Question-based approach
Self-evident & intuitive
How do we use ITTF?
 Saved
as word doc c.f. form
 Acknowledging its origin
 Focus on essential questions → unit
questions
 Encourages creative approach
How does it work?
 Essential



Avoids copy-&-paste
Avoids plagiarism
Emphasises learning process
 Provides


question-based approach
the learner with:
Active role
Personalised learning
 Process
is scaffolded
 Content is still covered
What does it depend on?
 Good


imagination
‘Real world’ situation (adult/child view?)
Multi-media adds value
 Effective



resourcing
Core collection Afro-centric
Detailed indexing → easy access
Global Resource Centre links
 Collaboration

with colleagues
Co-design and co-teaching
What do the units look like?
Grade
Content area
Essential Question
Student role
Task
8
Geography:
Wetlands
Why are wetlands
important?
Project manager
Argue as project manager for the
destruction or preservation of any SA
wetland
8
LO: Religious
leader
How do values and
beliefs
influence a
person’s
choice of
religion?
Invite a speaker
to address
the school
Introduce your chosen speaker justifying
why this person has influence
generally and on your life
8
History: WWI
What effect did the
Industrial
Revolution
have on the
course of
history?
Report orally on
an event
Prepare a poster, OHP transparencies, a
model or other form of VISUAL
presentation.
9
Geography:
Natural
disasters
How do we keep the
balance
between man
and
environment?
Role play of UN
advisor
needing to
influence
decisions
A natural disaster has occurred. You have
been sent as a special envoy of the
United Nations to compile a report on
the situation in order for the UN to
organize aid.
What have we learned?
 ITTF
easy to use and adaptable
 Focus on learner & learning process
 Designing to avoid plagiarism
Where are the teachers now?
3
collaborators → ‘pedagogical inventors’
(Sandholz, Ringstaff & Dwyer 1991)
→
informal collaboration
 Need to support learning process at
system level


Learning management system
Flexibility in ‘grammar of schooling’ (Tyack &
Tobin: 1994)

Emphysema unit example
How have we used ICTs?
 Firstly
to encourage ICT use
 → Rethinking curriculum
 Integration of:



Information skills
Thinking skills
21st Century skills
→
improved learning design
 Focus: ICTs → pedagogy
How have we used ICTs?






OPAC database
Internet (sometimes unsupported)
Combes research
Access problems
Plan for power failures
→ Solutions:



LMS
Mobile technology
Overall support for curriculum
Conclusion
 Community
of practice
 Resourcing curriculum
 Scaling up from ITTF
 → Improved curriculum delivery
 → Teacher professionalism