Ensuring young learners engage with technology in a meaningful way will be one of the biggest challenges for educators in the future. Students in the modern workforce will increasingly need information and communication technology (ICT) skills to successfully find employment and interact with society (Bybee & Starkweather, 2006). To assist my students in Year 10 Business Computer Studies (10 BCS) I have undertaken to design and implement a series of lessons where the learning outcomes were determined by the successful use of ICT’s. Understanding what my students already knew was my first step.
Year 10 BCS is comprised of 13 students (10 girls and 3 boys) who have prior knowledge of some of the various literacies of this subject. The topic of study this term was occupational health and safety or OHS. Students already have had an overview of workplace safety and the relevant governmental regulation. Life experience as well, has given many of the students an appreciation of why a safe workplace is important.
Students in 10 BCS all have experience with computers; the course is after all, business and computer studies. The first term dealt with computers and basic workplace communication. Additionally, all year ten students are issued tablet computers that are used in many of their classes. These students use computers throughout their day and according to many, use their smart phones evenings and weekends. Ryberg and Dirckinck-Holmfeld (2008) would describe these students as ‘digital natives’ in that they have largely grown up with computers.
Understanding what the students needed to know was the next step to designing a lesson that would engage and challenge my learners. Decarie (2010) refers to three sets of skills needed by todays business students:
1. Fundamental skills like reading and an ability to write business communication and reports.
2. Personal management skills including responsibility and the willingness to learn.
3. Teamwork and group related skills.
This need for multiple literacies for business students was echoed by O’Hara (2007) who recognized the need for case based studies that emphasised group dynamics. Students will also need to meet competency requirements necessary to earn their Certificate I in Business. This will include entries into their competency portfolio documenting their participation in OHS Processes. There are also requirements from the Queensland Studies Authority (QSA, 2010) covering the year 10 business guidelines:
· Knowledge and understanding: Work Environments; Australian workplaces are dynamic environments and operate through an interconnection of stakeholders, external forces and processes
· Ways of Working: Identify, apply, and justify workplace health and safety practices.
Students should also gain skills related to ICT’s that are relevant to a workplace setting. A recent study (Littlejohn, Margaryan & Vojt, 2010) documented that students ICT use in a personal and social environment do not necessarily transfer to useable ICT ability relevant to employment. Developing lessons that lead to better aptitude related to the business environment will better serve my learners.
Understanding how my students best learned was my third task. I chose to administer a visual, auditory and kinesthetic test developed to assess a persons learning style (Clark, 2010). The results showed that a majority of my students had a kinesthetic learning preference. For kinesthetic learners the ability to interact with and use technology would be important. Three learners were auditory and three were verbal, although, even these still had high marks in kinesthetic learning. A current study (McWilliam, Poronnik & Taylor, 2008) revealed that active tasks help students learn technology better than passive tasks. Having my learners actively engage with the material will help the students achieve the intended learning outcomes. Ideally though, my lessons should include elements of all learning styles to truly cater to all students.
Once I had an understanding of what my learners knew, what they needed to know and how they best learn, I examined how this might relate to higher order skills. I believe teaching students higher order thinking is vital to creating lifelong learners who are ready for the jobs of the modern world. Using constructivist learning theory based on the writings of Piaget and Vygotsky, which posits that individuals learn through a personal construction of meaning (Powell and Kalina, 2009), I will need to design lessons that help individuals find opportunities to construct meaning for themselves. Activities that are structured with solid scaffolding would help my students interact with the technology and create meaning.
Designing lessons that actively engage the students in a group project will benefit the learners. According to a study by McWilliams, Poronnik, and Taylor (2008) students learn better when they are engaged in active, not passive, tasks with groups to co-create real outcomes. Not all lessons can be active all the time, but the more opportunities I can find to have students actively engaging with the material I am teaching, the better chance they will have of understanding the concepts being taught. Using group work may also create an opportunity for connectivism, whereby the students will connect with each other and discover the talents their classmates possess.
Learning sequence
Overview
The unit covered this term in BCS is occupational health and safety (OHS). This unit designed to have the students participate in the OHS process to demonstrate competency towards their Certificate 1 in Business. Students will develop a portfolio of work that meets the requirements of this VET based certificate. I was tasked to design a unit that demonstrated the student’s competency with the policies and procedures regarding incidents and incident reports. Students would need to understand an incident report and how to complete one. This includes the investigation and corrective measures. I was allocated 7 lessons for the students to understand incident reports and produce something to demonstrate their competence.
Lesson 1 & 2 (this was a double lesson)
To lay the foundation for incidents the first step was to examine incidents themselves and see what sort of precursors might trigger an incident in an office environment. Prior to the students arrival I staged the room with various hazards in place (cords across the aisle, books stacked high on cabinets, fire door blocked, etc). The students needed to inspect the room as safety officers. A copy of an incident report form was brought up on the data projector as well as students’ individual computers to examine the parts of the form.
Lesson 3
For this lesson the students were told they were going to make a video of a mock accident. The students would create the script and film the video based on the hazards they had identified in the previous lesson. Linking back to the incident report form, the students would need to deconstruct the form and use backwards design to determine what scenes would need to be made in order for the form to be completed solely by watching the video. Students settled on a chain-reaction accident that would have three victims and two witnesses.
Lesson 4
For this lesson the students decided on who would do what, cast and crew, for the video, with everyone having something to do. The cast and crew were placed into groups to create dialogue and scene schedules on the class computers. There would not be enough time to do all of this in one lesson so the students were required to collaborate by email to complete their parts. The final products would get emailed to me for approval.
Lesson 5 & 6 (this was a double lesson)
Students would spend this double period taping the video. A shooting schedule was produced that would allow enough time to film all the required scenes. Students would direct, act, and tape the project.
Lesson 7
Having created a complete video case study the students would be given a sample copy of the schools incident report. The students would watch the video and use the information it contained to complete the incident report. The format of this report was slightly different than the sample used in class so the students would need to apply their knowledge of reports to this form.
Assessment of student learning
There would be several opportunities to assess, formally and informally, student understanding of the material. During the lessons observation could be used to informally determine if the students understood the incident report form. If the learners omitted information necessary to complete the form it would indicate a lack of understanding. The formal assessment would be the completion of the school incident report form.
Project summary
The student engagement with this project was very good. Many of the activities in this class have the students read case studies and then complete worksheets to demonstrate competency. Having active tasks really appealed to the students and I believe they achieved an authentic understanding of the material. Using active engagement combined with collaboration came closer to the conditions students might encounter in a business environment.
Lesson one and two had them take on the role of an OHS representative as they completed a safety audit. This practical task provided the basis for the project and created an opportunity for authentic learning. It was also the lesson where an in-depth analysis of the incident report form occurred. Lesson three introduced the video project. The students were very excited about making the video. The only problem was keeping the project to a realistic scale. If the students had their way the film would have been feature length with incredible special effects. The students were very quick to understand all of the scenes that would be needed and quickly came up with:
1. Initial tripping accident and first victim
2. Second victim was hit by falling 1st victim
3. Third victim hit by falling books triggered by victim two.
4. OHS Rep interviews victim one
5. OHS Rep interviews victim two
6. Manager interviews victim three
7. Manager & OHS interview witness one
8. Manager interviews witness two
9. OHS Rep Interviews manager
10. Manager interviews maintenance mgr.
11. OHS Rep and Manager discuss the incident
This was a lot to film but most scenes would only be 30 seconds to a minute. The students were self cast and grouped into actors or crew for lesson four. Actors worked on dialogue while crew looked at scenes, angles, props, and anything else needed to make the project work. Doing all of this would not be practical in one lesson so the students were required to collaborate via email to finish the script and scene requirements. All emails were then forwarded to myself to review. I then put everything together and sent a script and shooting schedule to the students via email. The tight time deadlines meant the only way this could have been done was with email.
Taping the project was accomplished during a double class. The students, for the most part, ran the show. The collaborative effort they put in was remarkable and they truly felt ownership with this project. The only thing I would have changed was to add a second camera, which would have allowed more involvement throughout the lesson for everyone. The students had not memorised the script, but they were conscious of the information that would be needed and made sure it was included. My original plan was to have the students edit the video. However, this was not possible on the schools server. It would have had to be done outside class time and I knew of no way to restrict access or insure the material could not be copied.
For the final lesson the students watched the video and filled out the schools accident report form on their computers and emailed a copy to me. I was impressed with the answers they provided. All of the students were able to accurately complete this particular form they had not viewed before. I made sure the students copies of this form were watermarked with the word sample and were locked from changes. The students were very pleased with the final result and this could be used for other classes as a visual case study. Although, my mentor teacher has said she may have all classes from now on make their own videos.
I was unable to include any actual material from this project on this site. I am well aware of the legal and ethical obligations I have towards the students and the school. Placing the video or even the schools incident report form, on this public website is not an option. However, trust me, this was a great project.
References
Bybee, R. W., & Starkweather, K. N., (2006). The twenty-first century workforce: A contemporary challenge for technology education. The Technology Teacher, May/June, 27-32.
Clark, D. R. (2010). Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains, Retrieved March 8, 2011 from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html#cognitive
Decarie, C (2010). Literacy and informational interviews. Business Communication Quarterly, 73(3), 306-317.
Littlejohn, A., Margaryan, A., & Vojt, G. (2010). Exploring Students’ use of ICT and Expectations of Learning Methods. Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 8(1), 13 – 20.
McWilliam, E., Poronnik, P., & Taylor, P. G. (2008). Re-designing science pedagogy: reversing the flight from science. Journal of Science Education Technology, 17, 226-235.
O’Hara, M., (2007). Strangers in a strange land: Knowing, learning and education for the global knowledge society. Futures, 39, 930-941.
Powell, K. C., & Kalina, C. J. (2009). Cognitive and social constructivism: developing tools for an effective classroom. Education, 130(2), 241-250.
Queensland Studies Authority (QSA). (2010). Business lower secondary subject area guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/12327.html
Ryberg, T., & Dirckinck-Holmfeld, L. (2008) Power Users and patchworking – An analytical approach to critical studies of young people’s learning with digital media. Educational Media International, 45(3), 143–156.
