Planning my first assignment - MindLab

Scary.. especially when you read the marking schedule. Linking to relevant research, etc. But it has to be done..... AND soon!!! Argh.... and I won't even mention the video part.. not yet anyway

Ok.. So, taking Microsoft's Innovative Teaching and Learning (ITL) research, what am I going to focus on?

There are six rubrics of 21st century learning, each of which represents an important skill for students for develop:

• collaboration 
• knowledge construction 
• self-regulation 
• real-world problem-solving and innovation 
• the use of ICT for learning 
• skilled communication 

I have a group of Year 7 students who are lucky enough to use a digital context for their learning. We have used Learnz a lot this year and we have completed a lot of Learnz virtual field trips all based on the topic of Sustainability. The students have learned a lot about the topic of sustainability in real world contexts. Learning has also been quite different for each of the students who have used their learning journal in Google Docs to demonstrate their learning. Through small group discussions students have also been able to discuss the ideas covered and link these to a wider context, which is not always shown in their learning journal - something which still requires work.

So the plan (I think) is to then plan and construct a resource for next years year 7 students which covers the topic of sustainability on a topic of their choice. It would be interesting to see if the students choose to work individually or in pairs or small groups. I am concerned that if they work in small groups that the participation from each would become unequal. The outcome would need to be an online resource, that used constructed knowledge from the wider world. I can see students talking to people about their topic, thus learning in real time about their topic and using that information to make a resource. I would have to ensure students take ownership, by taking images and videos themselves and planning how they were going to collect information. It has to be more than reading something somewhere and rephrasing that information. Which I believe will be a challenge for both me and them...


More thought needs to go into this I think....


Thus far looking at the Use of ICT for Learning: Rubric pages 29/30


Or I could look at the self regulation......... As planning will be an important part of this project and it can't be done overnight.