i-support
Engaging and broadening
horizons for at
risk students
Presented by Marilyn Pemberton and Zoe Wilkins
28 September 2005
Design Brief
i-support seeks to use ICTs and excellence and
innovation in learning and teaching to engage and
broaden the horizons for at risk students and/or
students in rural and remote locations.
i-support does not replace existing services, rather it
offers additional opportunities and resources for
schools seeking to support students most at risk of
disengaging from learning and not completing 12
years of schooling. i-support hopes to promote
‘capacity building’ in schools and to promote the
use of ICTs for education service delivery.
STRUCTURAL FOUNDATIONS
The two current components of i-support
are:
Ollie Up for middle schooling students
targeting literacy, numeracy and social
skills
Stepping Stones for secondary students
targeting careers education and school-towork transition.
Exemplary and innovative use of
technology
Teacher
Learning
Study coach
Synchronous lessons
• Blackboard™
• Voice conference
• Data conference
•Video conference
• Other supporting tools and materials
(Chat and forum facilities, collaborative
online project tools, blogs, web cams, digital
cameras, multimedia packages etc)
Student
Asynchronous lessons
• Blackboard™ and other tools
mentioned
•Work submitted via email, online
digital drop box, ftp site etc
Ollie-Up
• Schools choose students and the ‘at risk factor’
(majority selected are boys with behaviour
problems).
• The ‘norm’ has not worked for these students.
• Students work in small online groups.
• Focus on self esteem building and putting the ‘fun’
back into learning.
• Units developed out of student interest.
• Students used as peer tutors in their own
classrooms.
Stepping Stones
Units of competency have been developed to allow students to gain
a nationally accredited Certificate l in Work Education.
The core units of competency for the Certificate 1 in Work Education
cover the following topics:
• Developing a personal plan
• Self esteem
• Occupational Health and Safety
• Industrial and Workplace Relations
• Job search and interview skills
• Structured workplace learning
• Enterprise education
This innovative arts-based project enables students to tell stories
about life in their town, to other students in the form of media
presentations, costume design, dance, music and song. Students
work and collaborate in online groups to produce an arts
performance. The culminating activity for this project includes a
physical as well as an online event. Groups and schools involved
in this project include:
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Dance (VSS students from Heatley and Gayndah)
Music (The Band Thing program students from Glenala)
Multimedia backdrop (Ollie Up students from Clermont and
Baralaba)
DVD group (Ollie Up students from Emerald and Springsure)
Event management (Stepping Stones students from Bowen)
Each group has specific responsibilities particular to their role in the
project.
Nurturing the i-support
community
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Monthly newsletter sent to all schools.
Email discussion list for facilitators.
Fortnightly teleconference with facilitators.
Facilitator’s Blackboard™ space to share resources.
Facilitator’s conference.
Community website (http://education.qld.gov.au/learningplace/isupport/)
for communication, information and resource sharing.
Use of Wink and similar software to create how to demos for schools
setting up etc.
Online and face to face workshops for teachers
Travel buddy for students
The outcomes
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Proactive way to re-engage students.
Increase in ICT skills for all involved in the program- student,
student's class peers and teacher, study coach and facilitators.
Provides community study coaches with ICT accreditation for
being in the program.
Provides others in the school with rich and innovative examples of
how to integrate ICTs into the curriculum.
Mode of delivery ideal for rural and remote schools.
Provides itinerate specialist staff with an example of a mode of
delivery to maximize time spent with students and minimize
travelling time.
All materials produced are shared through the curriculum
exchange and therefore available to all teaching professionals.
Future direction of the program guided by data gathered through
action research.
For more information
Visit our website
http://education.qld.gov.au/isupport
Or contact
Marilyn Pemberton
07 3421 6587
mpemb1@eq.edu.au
Zoe Wilkins
07 3421 6592
zwilk1@eq.edu.au