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LINK project helps students learn technology skills

LINK project helps students learn technology skills (Volume 19, Issue 2, 2005)

By Helena Ablett, Jan Gould, Sue Harris, Elaine Hine and Jo Anne Pulko

(The views expressed in articles are those of the author(s) concerned and do not necessarily represent the views of ASLA.)

The LINK K–10 Continuum is a collaborative project that was started in 2002 by the teacher librarians of the Chisholm cluster of schools in the ACT’s Tuggeranong Valley. Participants were: Helena Ablett (Gowrie Primary); Elaine Hine (Chisholm Primary); Jo Anne Pulko (Fadden Primary); and Jan Gould, Sue Harris and Eddy Hoek (Caroline Chisholm High). LINK is an acronym derived from the term: Learning technologies, Information and communication technology competencies, iNformation literacy, Key competencies

Introduction

The idea for the LINK K–10 Continuum project grew out of concerns experienced at Caroline Chisholm High School that the year 7 students were coming into the school with greatly varying levels of information and communication technology competencies (ICTC). Contact was made with the teacher librarians from the feeder primary schools about possible solutions to this area of concern. After initial discussions among the group, it was agreed that since the teacher librarians were generally the people who had been given responsibility for the implementation of the ICTCs within their schools (particularly within the primary schools), we would form our own learning community in order to look at ICTCs and work on a continuum for use within our cluster group. We had numerous meetings over a two-and-a-half-year period and much discussion ensued about what was relevant as well as achievable.

Background

After their introduction in the late 1990s, ICTCs had become firmly established in ACT Government high schools with the goal being that all year 10 students would gain a certificate showing their level of ICT competency, along with their year 10 certificate. The need for high schools and their feeder primary schools to work more closely as integrated learning communities became increasingly important. As the ICTCs became fully integrated into the curriculum, it became more important that the two sectors form a closer working relationship to ensure that students from various cluster primary schools progressed into their local high school with similar ICTC skill levels. This would help smooth the transition from one level into the next, and ensure that students were not disadvantaged in an increasingly significant area of the curriculum.

As high schools have begun to incorporate ICTCs into the junior years so that students are competent in various ICTCs by the time they reach year 10, there has been an increasing awareness within the primary schools of the need to incorporate ICTCs into their own programs.

The project

Covering the continuum from kindergarten to year 10, the LINK program incorporates the information literacy process, ICTCs and key competencies. The program is set to work within current educational programs and ensures that it complements the Learning Technologies Plan for ACT Government Schools and Preschools 2004–2006: Transforming the way we teach and learn.

This is a sequential program that is spread across six developmental stages, each of about two years’ duration. Each skill builds on what is already learnt or taught, and scaffolds the learning in a logical and consistent manner. The headings for each stage are based on five ICTC headings. The program allows for and encourages various student-centred teaching and learning processes including collaborative work, creativity, inquiry-based learning, critical thinking and involvement in real-life tasks.

Students and teachers are provided with a clearly defined framework within which to work. Relevant resources can be developed, purchased and sourced to complement and support the teaching and learning process for each developmental stage.

Currently, some teachers still see ICTCs as a separate entity rather than pedagogy that should be embedded within their teaching and learning practice. This program aims to show teachers how the information literacy process, information and communication technologies (ICT) and key competencies can be readily incorporated into existing teaching and learning programs, rather than just being added on to what is already being done. As set out, it is designed to be a minimum standard for learning technologies.

Assessment and recording

Part of the intention in the development of this document was to help teachers to recognise that they already include learning technologies in their programs, allowing them to fine-tune and make more comprehensive what they already do. It is important to keep record-keeping and assessment purposeful and manageable.

Assessment within the competencies is to be meaningful and relevant. Individual schools and teachers decide on the purposes and methods of assessment consistent with their own particular approaches to programming and recording student progress. Ideally, assessment items will be embedded in meaningful activities within the key learning areas (KLAs) that are appropriate to the age and ability of the students. Numerous competencies can be measured within a single task. ICTCs, information literacy and key competencies should not be seen as specific assessment items themselves and, therefore, should not be assessed individually or in isolation. It is more important that students become competent and confident in using learning technologies that reflect meaningful, informed and involved learning.

Included within the document are sample units of work for each year level, from kindergarten through to year 10. All included samples of work have been trialled with classes. One unit, which is included for year 8 English, shows how already existing units of work can be readily adapted for use with ICTCs.

Record-keeping will allow teachers to:

  • ensure the inclusion of appropriate learning technologies in their programs across the KLAs
  • review individual students’ coverage of ICTCs, information literacy and key competencies.

A single-page form such as the Teacher Reference Sheet for Planning and Implementation of ICTCs allows the teacher to see at a glance that ICTCs that still have to be included in their programming. The ICT and Information Literacy Integration Record may be used in conjunction with particular units of work to give an overview of the specific activities within the various KLAs that integrate the learning technologies. Sample forms for recording individual student’s coverage of ICTCs are also included. In order to ensure that the documents are as user-friendly as possible, and being mindful of the average teacher’s workload, templates for each type of document have been included for each developmental stage.

Teachers of students at stage six will be guided by the assessment and recording requirements for ICTC certification. The ICTC certificate is granted at the end of year 10, upon the successful completion of all five competency items during years 9 and 10.

Chisholm Primary
At Chisholm Primary School, the learning community has adopted the LINK K–10 Continuum as the school’s ICT document, and the document that informs planning decisions when developing the school’s inquiry-based curriculum (K–6).

It is a document that helps staff members to make explicit their educational goals in the area of ICT. It also helps staff assess student learning outcomes and, equally importantly, to encourage students to be aware of their own skill development.

One of the school priorities for 2005 is to further enhance literacy education by effectively integrating ICTs into literacy programs and classroom activities. The LINK K–10 Continuum also helps in this matter and forms an important part of our school’s literacy plan.

Chisholm staff use the assessment templates from the continuum to track student skill development throughout the year. The single-page Teacher Reference Sheet is used to give an overview of the whole year, and to see which ICTs still have to be included in programming. The ICT and Information Literacy Integration Record is used when planning a specific activity within a unit of work, to provide a more detailed overview of the specific activities that integrate the learning technologies. Finally, the Student Assessment Record sheets allow staff to track the achievements of individual students. The ICT competencies for each student can be quickly checked off as they are achieved.

Through the use of this template, staff can see, at a glance, any gaps that exist or need to be revisited for individual students.

Gowrie Primary
After ratification by the Gowrie Primary School board in 2004, the LINK K–10 Continuum, with its focus on information literacy and associated technologies, was incorporated into the school’s literacy plan. The school’s learning community has embraced the project, with staff incorporating the continuum into their Professional Pathways for 2005. All staff have access to the document via the school’s intranet.

The teacher librarian maintains a proactive role including mentoring and assisting teachers in the planning and developing of units of work and ensuring information literacy, key competencies and ICTCs are factored into their programming. Staff have found that the single-page Teacher Reference Sheet and the ICT and Information Literacy Integration Record allows for ease of programming, as it gives an overview for the whole year.

Units of work can be integrated easily into all KLAs or core learning areas. Pedagogical models, including inquiry-based learning and the multiliteracies framework, together with teaching strategies such as co-operative learning and De Bono’s thinking hats sit well with the continuum. The Student Assessment Record allows staff to map individual student achievement and fine-tune any areas that may need it.

Currently, teachers in the lower primary area are focusing on De Bono’s teachings and Kath Murdoch’s inquiry-based learning model when developing their units of work on Me and My Family. Collegially, areas are identified where ICTCs can be used to enhance teaching and learning, such as information literacy, concept mapping, authoring software and visual display processes.

Teachers in the middle to upper primary sector are intending to upload their developed units of work on to the Myclasses site for student access. As well as incorporating the outcomes strands from the continuum, close attention is being paid to also using some of the government’s Embedding Learning Technology modules and including such technologies as the Internet, multimedia, concept mapping and learning objects modules. As almost all of the students have access to home computers and the Internet, the use of Myclasses allows students to work independently at home and across various school settings.

Staff are finding the LINK K–10 Continuum is a total package with an easy-to-use, clearly defined framework that readily lends itself to incorporation into existing teaching and learning programs.

Fadden Primary
At Fadden Primary School, the LINK K–10 Continuum is now included as part of the school’s suite of key curriculum support documents. It is acknowledged that ICT and information literacy skills are applicable across the curriculum and that they are best developed in this context. The document is used to inform the planning and delivery of programs in curriculum areas by library and ICT specialists and general classroom teachers. Almost all of the students at Fadden have access to home computers and the Internet. Typically, many are able to work confidently beyond the levels specified in some areas but will demonstrate gaps in their skills and understandings in other areas. The value of the continuum document is that it outlines a comprehensive set of skills and, while teachers can sometimes have their students working ahead, they can also ensure there are no gaps in the programs they offer.

Caroline Chisholm High
The LINK K–10 Continuum complements the Four-Year Plan that operates at Caroline Chisholm High School and helps staff incorporate ICTCs into their units of work. The record-keeping documents, which are included in the program, make it easier for teachers to keep track of each student’s progress as well as the whole class. The continuum is currently being considered for wider integration throughout the school.

Conclusion

Our aim with this project was to help smooth the transition of our students from primary school into high school where ICTCs were concerned. We wanted to ensure that the essential learning outlined in the document would provide meaningful outcomes for all students. We also wanted to help the staff of our various schools feel more comfortable with the integration of ICTCs into their curriculums and specific units of work. We were very aware of the amount of work involved in trying to implement new ideas and to refine already existing ideas and work habits. Therefore, we designed and developed the necessary assessment and reporting documents for inclusion in the project so that these were available immediately and would not have to be developed. Our aim was to make the LINK K–10 Continuum available to staff on CD-ROM. It is practical, adaptable and easy to use. The CD-ROM can be loaded on to any school’s network and made accessible to teachers through their home drives.

Our hope is that the continuum project will become widely available, as we have found it useful within our own learning communities and would like to see the project disseminated further. We are now in the process (as we have been for some time) of trying to find a way to make this project available. This has been a very valuable learning experience for all of us, as well as helping us to develop professionally.

Jan Gould is the teacher librarian at Caroline Chisholm High School in the ACT.  Before this position, she worked as a librarian in an Australian Government department and subsequently as a teacher librarian in a number of secondary colleges and high schools.  Her current role as a secondary school teacher librarian includes helping students acquire the necessary information literacy and information communication and technology (ICT) skills needed to gain the year 10 ICTC certificate.

Helena Ablett’s classroom teaching experience spans primary and secondary sectors.  She has taught at schools in Tasmania, the Northern Territory, the ACT, and overseas.  Her specialist areas are literacy, ICTs, inquiry-based learning and integrated curriculum.  Currently, she is the teacher librarian/information technology co-ordinator at Gowrie Primary School.

Elaine Hine is the teacher librarian at Chisholm Primary School.  She has been a teacher librarian working in Tasmania and the ACT for nearly 20 years.  Her professional background also includes teaching English and French in secondary schools.  She has served on the Australian School Library Association (ACT) committee as newsletter editor and as a member of the program committee, and in 1999 was awarded the ASLA (ACT) Rosemary Stuckey Memorial Award for outstanding achievement and excellence in teacher librarianship.

Sue Harris is the teacher librarian at Melba High School, having spent the preceding three years at Caroline Chisholm High.  She also teaches English, SOSE and IT, and has been teaching for 25 years.  She is also studying information technology at Canberra Institute of Technology to further enhance her IT skills and qualifications.

Jo Ann Pulko is in her fourth year as the teacher librarian at Fadden Primary School.  She became a general classroom teacher after a short career in the public service.  With her background as a classroom teacher, she strongly supports the integration of information literacy across the school community.