Education Commons^™

New Technologies To Support Language Learning, Lisa K. Kervin, Beverly M. Derewianka

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Language classrooms have always used technologies of various kinds, from the blackboard through to the language laboratory. In recent decades, however, there has been an explosion in the resources available to teachers, to the point where many feel overwhelmed. This chapter therefore, does not attempt to provide a comprehensive review of 'state of the art' technologies - primarily because the ground is shifting so rapidly that any such endeavour would soon be out of date. Rather, we have kept in mind an audience who are not necessarily interested in the finer points of technological innovations but who are seeking some …

Investigating Lecturers' Use Of Learning Designs To Support Technology Enhanced Course Design, Jennifer Jones, Susan J. Bennett, Lori Lockyer

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The effective integration of technology into teaching and learning has been a focus of universities and governments for the past decade. Yet progress towards this goal has been limited to date. Knowledge of how to integrate technology has become a necessity for university lecturers and effective models of support are needed to facilitate this often challenging process. However, little is known about how the individual lecturer designs and what methods of support might best help his or her knowledge of how to integrate technology. One reason that this area has been under-researched may be the inherent challenges in investigating design …

Ipods And Podcasting Technologies To Support Talking And Listening Experiences Of Grade 4 Students, Jeff Vardy, Lisa K. Kervin, Doug Reid

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Traditional primary classrooms (Kindergarten to Grade 6) have been characterised with chalkboards, books, pencils and pens for decades. However, the range of technology available for use is ever increasing across educational sectors; including primary classrooms. Teachers are under increasing pressure to include new technologies into learning experiences and to also consider ways to present curricula content. In 2006 12 x 30GB 5th Generation Video iPods were provided for use in a Grade 4 classroom. This paper explores how one primary teacher integrated iPods and podcasting into learning experiences with emphasis on the Talking and Listening strand of the New South …

Use Of Visualisation Software To Support Understanding Of Chemical Equilibrium: The Importance Of Appropriate Teaching Strategies, Anula Weerawardhana, Brian Ferry, Christine A. Brown

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes the results of a study in which a group of science pre-service teachers used computer-based visualisation software resources to develop teaching strategies and lessons that would support the development of students’ conceptual understanding of chemical equilibrium. They used SMV: CHEM, VisChem and chemistry software packaged with textbooks. The goal was to assist science/chemistry teachers to design lessons that would overcome known difficulties in developing students’ understanding. Four teaching strategies of one teaching team are described in detail to illustrate the multifaceted nature of the way in which the software resources were used in lessons. Such a process …

Students Talking About Home-School Communication: Can Technology Support This Process?, Lisa K. Kervin

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper explores the use of technology to support communication about student learning and classroom experiences between home and school contexts. An examination of literature addressing home-school partnerships along with current thinking about the integration of this with Learning Technologies is presented. Research centred on the use of a mobile telephone as a tool to facilitate this process will be discussed. The power this ‘new’ technology brings to the students is discussed with reference to subsequent constraints. However, it is argued that students overwhelmingly perceive this tool as a valuable resource in stimulating and encouraging dialogue between the contexts and …

Learning Designs To Support Educationally Effective E-Learning Using Learning Objects, Barry M. Harper, Susan J. Bennett, Jason Lukasiak, Lori Lockyer

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes a design approach for integrating learning objects based on a strong pedagogical framework, the Smart Learning Design Framework (SLDF). The framework is based on the assumptions that good learning settings focus on pedagogically sound design and that reusable learning objects can be effectively located and incorporated into learning settings. This paper describes a tool developed to illustrate the framework through metadata tagging of learning objects using an application profile which incorporates a pedagogical vocabulary, and development of units of study based on high quality learning designs and the inclusion of learning objects.

Online Support For Collaborative Authentic Activities, Susan J. Bennett

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Embedded Tools And Support Materials Within A Classroom Simulation To Support Quality Teaching, Janice B. Turbill, Lisa K. Kervin, Brian Ferry, Brian L. Cambourne, John Hedberg, David Jonassen, Sarah Puglisi

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper focuses on the use of embedded tools and support materials within a web-based simulated classroom environment. The developed simulation prototype allows the user to adopt the role of a Kindergarten teacher where they have to “teach” a typical literacy episode that we have called “days of the week”. During this episode the user is asked to make decisions about the organisation of the classroom, management of the classroom, and the teaching and learning experiences to be offered.

A key component of this on-line simulation is the incorporation of an embedded tool, referred to as a thinking space, at …