Computers, thinking, and learning

178 Pages·2005·4.2 MB·English

by  David Nettelbeck

Computers
Thinking
and
Learning
Inspiring students with technology
ACER Press
David Nettelbeck
First published 2005
by ACER Press
Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd
19 Prospect Hill Road, Camberwell, Victoria, 3124
Copyright © David Nettelbeck 2005
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reference in the publication to web sites or products does not constitute endorsement of
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and services referred to.
Edited by Margaret Trudgeon
Cover and text design by Polar Design
Printed by BPA Print Group
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Nettelbeck, David Clive.
Computers, thinking and learning: inspiring students with technology.
Bibliography.
Includes index.
ISBN 0 86431 779 4.
1. Computers – Study and teaching (Secondary). 2. Electronic data processing – Study
and teaching (Secondary). 3. Information technology – Study and teaching (Secondary).
4. Thought and thinking – Study and teaching (Secondary). 5. Learning – Study and
teaching (Secondary). I. Title.
004
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Foreword
I first came across David Nettelbeck’s and influenced reading, writing, viewing,
work when I was undertaking, with a speaking and listening in various ways.
group of colleagues in the UK and New They did not, on the whole, consider
Zealand, a review of research on the that, in turn, patterns and types of
relationship between literature teaching communication might have a backwash
and information and communication effect on interface design and computer
technology (ICT). David’s was one of use itself. They did not recognise that
the few pieces of research that got to technologies and literacies develop
the heart of the link between research, alongside each other.
policy and practice on this topic, and it Whereas Haas enables us to move
did so with integrity, verve and validity. beyond the one-way vision of the
Then I met him and heard him speak effect or impact of ICT on literacy and
about the topic at the 2003 International literacies, I now think that symbiosis is
Federation of Teachers of English not the most accurate way to describe
conference in Melbourne. My initial what is going on. After discussion with
impression was confirmed: that this was biologists at the University of York, UK,
someone whose practice and reflection my hunch is that we need a model to
were cutting edge, and someone whom describe and explain the relationship
teachers, researchers and policy-makers between computers and literacies
ought to follow – just as his students that sees it as reciprocal co-evolution.
probably do! Symbiosis suggests a conservative
It is therefore an honour to be asked relationship: one in which the two
to write a foreword for Computers, parties sustain each other and want to
Thinking and Learning. My own keep it that way. Reciprocal co-evolution
thinking about the relationship between is a more accurate descriptor because
new literacies and computers has it accepts that the two parties are
moved on from the 2003 conference, continuing to develop.
much inspired by people there and by Such a dialogic vision of the way
further reading in the field. In 2003, computers and literacies interact is
and in some writing before and after entirely in concert with this book, in
the conference, I wondered whether which David explores the potential
we needed to resurrect Christine Haas’ and actualities of thinking and learning
notion that the relationship between in the classroom. The book accepts
literacy/literacies and ICT was symbiotic and promotes the idea that ICT is no
rather than causal and one-way. In other monolithic entity, but rather a range of
words, the conventional point of view different technologies, media and modes
was that most researchers seemed to of communication (the biologists will be
assume that computers had come along asking me next to write a phylogeny or
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Computers,
Thinking
and Learning
genealogy of types of ICT). Furthermore, of attention’. The question of what
the book also accepts that literacy is no we do with our and our students’
longer conceivable as a monolithic set of consciousness in the precious hours that
practices, but instead has to be seen as a are devoted to language and literary
number of different literacies or sets of studies in the school curriculum is
social, communicative practice (another ever more important in a world where
phylogeny). How these two phylogenies the demands on consciousness and
map onto each other and can inspire the channels of communication are
teachers and students to explore new increasing. From the point of view of an
ways of expression and communication economics of attention, learning in which
is the subject of this book. transformations take place will be a
In practice, the transformations that good use of time in that they will have a
this book has in mind are of the kind social life in the classroom (and perhaps
that English and humanities teachers beyond) and also a transformative effect
have been practising for a long time: on internal thinking and reflection.
the taking of a text or utterance and This book offers many approaches
transforming it in the classroom into to such transformations, and it places
something else. For example, the ICT and computers in a wider economy
reading of a short story can generate of forms and means of communication
the writing by students of a letter from which can be drawn upon as
one character to another, or the creation appropriate (or inappropriately, for
of some spoken and acted role-play. fun and subversive purposes). We have
With the added dimension of ICT, the moved beyond the first phase of the
range and nature of those pedagogic use of computers in classrooms where
transformations are multiplied. Learning futurologists were predicting (again)
and thinking in such a classroom has the end of the book and of literacy
the potential to be colourful, varied and learning as we knew it. Now that
and highly motivating. Some of the key computers are taking their place in
strategic decisions that teachers and the repertoire, we can see more clearly
students have to make are: what is the their advantages and disadvantages for
best format for what I want to say? Why particular occasions of communication.
am I using ICT in this particular context? The particular structure of this book,
What forms of hybrid text are possible? in which classroom applications are set
What am I going to learn by undertaking within learning contexts, and in which
particular transformations? Which further suggestions are offered for
are the richer and more challenging teachers to follow up in their own ways,
transformations in terms of getting me is ideal for busy teachers who need a
to think and in terms of communication guide that is authoritative, up-to-date,
with particular audiences? imaginative and inspirational. David
Answers to these and other questions Nettelbeck’s work and this book are
will be best made if we consider what exactly that.
Richard Lanham calls ‘the economics Richard Andrews
iv University of York
Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii How do we assess this kind of
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix response? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Author’s acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . .xiii What did we achieve? . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Source acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiv Establishing the characters and concepts
in a text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1 Management initiatives: Who leads the Concept mapping as a planning tool . . . . . . 24
renaissance in your school? . . . . . . . . . . . 1 What did we achieve? . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
The learning and thinking context . . . . . . . . . 2 Science, history and religious education
Classroom strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Personal organisation and planning . . . . 3
Classroom management and 4 Annotation: A focus on close reading of
expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 the text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Factors quite beyond the control of the The learning and thinking context . . . . . . . . 30
teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Classroom strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Responses to poetry tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2 The new paradigm for literacy: Practical Annotating with callout boxes . . . . . 31
consequences for the classroom . . . . . . 10 Callouts and graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
The changing literacy framework . . . . . . . . . 11 Use yellow sticky notes or Insert/
Impact of computer technologies . . . . . . . . . 12 Comment function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Centrality of teacher’s role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Use a table from the Word/Insert Table
Taking advantage of flexibility . . . . . . . . . . . 14 function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Respond with graphics . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3 Concept mapping: ICT as a learning and Close reading of Shakespeare . . . . . . . . 40
thinking tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Close reading of a novel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
The learning and thinking context . . . . . . . . 18 Responding to newspaper issues . . . . . . 43
Classroom strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Annotation of cartoons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Concept mapping task – a Year 11 online Wider applications and suggested
examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
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Comparison of newspaper coverage . . 48 Wider applications and suggested
Teaching history research methods . . . . 48 activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Annotation in geography . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5 Oral language: Avoiding death by A chat-room model for biology or
PowerPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
The learning and thinking context . . . . . . . . 51 A chat-room model for art and art
Classroom strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
A single PowerPoint slide as an aid to Discussion groups using a front-end
an oral presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 intranet organiser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
PowerPoint for formal assessment . . . . 53 Discussion group with colleagues . . . . . 75
Using PowerPoint to present a ‘choose
your own adventure’ story . . . . . . . . . . . 55 7 Hypertext: A writing tool for lateral
Using an Excel graph to promote class thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 The learning and thinking context . . . . . . . . 78
Use of organisational charts to Classroom strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
summarise group discussion . . . . . . . . . 57 Student familiarity with hypertext . . . . . 80
A poetry example – defending the Instructional writing using hypertext . . . 81
indefensible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 A sporting hyperlink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Wider applications and suggested Italian holiday hyperlink . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Informative writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Peer evaluation of an oral book report . . 61 Hyperlinks in a Shakespeare text
Planning a three-day excursion . . . . . . . 62 response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Summarising arguments for a debate . . 62 How do we assess this kind of
writing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6 Online discussion: A challenge for Wider applications and suggested
thinking skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
The learning and thinking context . . . . . . . . 65 Experimenting with hyperlinks . . . . . . . . 88
Classroom strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 History hyperlink example . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Senior English text discussion online . . 67 Geography fact sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Middle school discussion as an extension
activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 8 Visual literacies: Moving on from
Discussion across the world – the predominantly text-based learning . . . . 91
classroom without walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 The learning and thinking context . . . . . . . . 92
vi
Classroom strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Wider applications and suggested
Accessing the immediate . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
The challenge of cartoon analysis . . . . . 96 Open-ended learning modules . . . . . . . .119
The study of a still from a movie . . . . . . 98 Write a poem with a poetry slide
Other text study incorporating visual show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
responses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Linking the visual to the verbal . . . . . . . 102 10 Responding to student work: Can
Visual responses to poetry . . . . . . . . . . 103 computers help? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Wider applications and suggested The learning and thinking context . . . . . . . 122
activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Classroom strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
A novel path to political, geographical Keep your eye on the big picture . . . . . 124
and cultural research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Play down the routine tasks . . . . . . . . . 125
Using online resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Plan the method of submission when
Designing a memorial . . . . . . . . . . . 107 you plan the task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Virtual museum of history . . . . . . . . 108 Computers as a personal workspace . . 127
Aboriginal history or Australian Classroom management . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
studies exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Wider applications and suggested
activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
9 Critical use of the World Wide Web . . . . 110 Experiment with e-correction . . . . . . . . 129
The learning and thinking context . . . . . . . .111
Classroom strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 11 Whole brain learning, whole brain
Teaching good analysis skills . . . . . . . . 112 assessment: Exemplar units for English
Coping with frustration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 and History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Practical tips for productive Web The learning and thinking context . . . . . . . 133
searching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Classroom strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Web sites – resources for thinking . . . . 114 The novel Holes – a Year 8 or 9 text
Sites for pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Newspapers online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 An open-ended research task . . . . . 135
Shakespeare online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Theme study and oral – a wide
Online resources for English . . . . . . . . . 116 choice of response options . . . . . . . 136
Web sites for poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Character analysis using concept-
Web sites for fiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 mapping software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
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Computers,
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Vocabulary and word study task . . . 137 The starting point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Creating writing – a traditional Other picture story books . . . . . . . . 144
essay enhanced by pictures or Other print resources . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
hyperlinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 History texts and Web resources . . . 145
Wide reading response . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Report writing activities . . . . . . . . . . 146
Senior literature text study: The Lost Salt Extensions and thinking activities
Gift of Blood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 – ways of commemoration . . . . . . . 146
Research report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Final task – prepare a narrative on
Oral response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 World War I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Annotation of a passage from the What did we achieve? . . . . . . . . . . . 148
text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Concept map on the themes of the Final reflections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Essay response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Middle school History unit on Appendix 1 Linking student tasks with
World War II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 curriculum objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Flanders Fields – a multidisciplinary unit Appendix 2 Software packages . . . . . . . 157
for Years 8 or 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
The learning goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
viii