4. Most professional learning she has encountered has been ICT skills-focussed & aimed at the technology rather than the pedagogy. She’s particularly interested in game-based learning for new topics in the Australian science curriculum & opportunities for collaboration with teachers who have been using GBL to promote student engagement and creativity. .
Vision statement: PLANE will challenge and engage every teacher to contribute, learn and share experiences with a network of committed educators whose goal is to empower students to be 21st century learners.Funded under the Digital Education Revolution’s. ICT Innovation Fund: Digital Strategy for Teachers which is a national approach for teachers and school leaders across Australia to provide access to rich online learning resources, world class technology, and curriculum and ICT professional development.
Alice is a Science Head Teacher and the Technology Coordinator in a South Western Sydney school. She has been teaching for 5 years and is confident with integrating technology into teaching and learningShe is often the ‘go to’ person at her school for ICT knowledge. Alice promotes student centred learning through the integration of social media, game based learning to extend students through the productive use of ICT.(click) Alice mentors Bob – a practicum student from UWS and includes him in her own professional learning journeyAlice has recently completed peer coaching training and would like to coach colleagues online.
Alice has recently completed peer coaching training and would like to coach colleagues online.
Alice logs into PLANE to explore learning opportunities and to see if there is anything that can help her on her professional quest. She does a search on “game based learning” and finds other people with a similar interest and invites them to join her on a learning journey to implement GBL into teaching & learning.
Alice finds a network of teachers who have uploaded samples of student developed games in a range of subject areas. Alice contributes to the comments on one or two of them. In PLANE she receives reputation points for her input. Through the network she finds out about Machinima (Masheenuma) - an animated 3D story used in a game or movie format. Alice investigates the use of Machinima in teaching and learning and considers how she can integrate it into her student learning programs.
In PLANE, Alice collaborates with science teachers to create an action learning project involving the design and implementation of a science unit of work utilising game based learning. She uses her recently acquired peer coaching skills to coach others thorough this process online.The network includes a teacher in a Catholic school in Tweed Heads, one in an independent school in Bathurst, another in a state school in Lismore as well as Bob, (the pre-service teacher) who is about to commence a practicum to teach the chosen topic.
All of the teachers and the pre-service teacher implement the unit. Alice tweets about the engagement of her students. They like the competition aspect and she even has a group of boys (usually disengaged) submitting their results at 10pm at night so that they can to top the leaderboard for class the next day.
The teachers and Bob conduct an evaluation. They go to PLANE to share & reflect with other teachers about the impact on student learning outcomes.(100% response from the class involved i.e. not just a couple of students)
Other teachers in PLANE follow the implementation of this GBL lesson sequence and contribute to discussions and blog posts. Alice gains further reputation and leadership points for her collaboration and mentoring others through the action learning project.Other teachers in the network volunteer to act as on-line mentors through PLANE to assist others wishing to gamify their pedagogy in this way. Each gain further points for this.
Alice has reached a reputation points threshold in PLANE and her status now shows here as an expert facilitator of game-based learning. Alice is now prepared to lead a professional learning program with other teachers in her network to share their school implementation with a wider network of educators through PLANE.
Alice decides to apply for accreditation with the NSWIT at Professional Leadership levelAlice use the e-portfolio functionality within PLANE to document her learning journey against professional teaching standardsAlice gives her school principal Kevin access to the relevant view of her portfolio so that he is able to view evidence of her learning prior to recommending accreditation
Kevin has been working closely with Alice to build successfulstrategies to increase the use of ICT in pedagogy in his schoolHe encourages his deputy principals and Alice to join the network and together they form a technology in learning committee and lead the change in their schoolKevin joins a network of school leaders on PLANE where he shares their progress, successes and failures in whole school implementation ICT integration strategies.