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similar to Kahoot!

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*scooped

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World of Better Learning | Cambridge University Press

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Daiana Ramos, from Belém, Pará has been working as a teacher since 2007. She has an undergraduate degree in English language and literature, and is a specialist in teaching and learning in the English language. In this article, Daiana talks about how she enjoys utilizing technology available to her in the classroom, and shares an activity for encouraging reading through using a QR code reader.

Motivation is the keyword when I brainstorm and plan for my classes; I always try to provide fun, interactive and innovative lessons in order to create a joyful learning environment, where students feel comfortable, confident, engaged and motivated to learn and practice. I love to utilize different available technologies, whether that be the use of different websites, devices or apps.

The QR code reader app is such a nice tool to apply to different activities in class. Since I have experience with this resource, I have been using it to create tasks to promote the benefit of this practice and learning. In this activity, students play a matching game, where they have to read hints about mysteries from pieces of paper I have prepared. They scan the codes for hidden images. Once students find the picture that matches the description from the paper hint they read, they can remove the code and try the next description until all the codes have been discovered.

Introduction and Contextualization

Through my teaching experience, I have noticed that students are not always willing to undertake reading exercises. From my point of view, if the teacher does not design exciting activities, reading will still be considered a tedious moment for both the students and the teacher. This is how I discovered that a QR code is a great way to engage students in reading tasks, and it is also a nice way to integrate technology into my classroom. Students love to use their smartphones during the classes and I believe teachers have the responsibility of finding effective ways to promote mobile tools to build students’ abilities.

Activity overview

Activity Name: Mystery Codes
Needed Materials: Smartphones or tablets, QR Code reader app, internet connection, paper.
Integrated Skills: Reading and speaking, and writing as an extension project.

Activity Description:
The textbook I use has a unit called “Mystery Solved”. This unit is about mysteries, both natural and man-made. After the teacher has presented some mysteries from the textbook and students have discussed them, they go on to solve the QR code mysteries I have prepared for them. Here is the step-by-step guide for the activity:

1. The teacher decides which mysteries he/she will approach from the book and which mysteries will be extra. Type the descriptions about each mystery you chose on pieces of paper and keep them in a small container. These descriptions will be the hints for students to figure out the codes.

2. Google “free QR code generator” to find a website to create the codes. I generally use this one.
The teacher should generate the codes with pictures based on the mysteries’ descriptions pre-determined on step 1. For this specific activity, I created around 17 codes.

3. Students must download and install a free QR Code reader app onto their smartphones or tablets. I generally suggest students do it at home in advance, so we do not waste time in this process.

4. The teacher will spread the QR codes around the school. Make it tricky. Hide the codes in unexpected places, so it makes the game more fun.
Note: In my school we have an art gallery where I always perform this activity, it is an ample space and there is good Wi-Fi available for students. Teachers should always be mindful of the internet access to prevent the activity’s failure.

5. Divide the class into two teams. Tell them they will have to pick up a piece of paper inside the box, read it aloud, and guess together to solve the mystery inside. Once students solve the mystery, they scan the codes until they find the right picture to match the description. Make it clear to students, they can only take one hint at a time and all the interaction has to be done in English. Tell the students they have to remove the codes from when they are found, take them to the teacher, and pick up another piece of paper until there are no more hints.
Note: The teacher must have an answer key for the activity and support students who may have questions.

Extension of the Activity: Back in the classroom, each student can speculate about one of the mysteries presented in the game.

Conclusion, Results and Expectation

From the first moment I saw QR codes used as a learning tool, I was very stimulated, not only to create different activities from the ones that students are used to doing, but also to make reading a fun moment in class.

In my opinion, the described activity combines quite meaningful elements to make teaching and learning something really significant: reading, speaking, fun, technology, diversity, interaction, learning, practicing. Students get really involved and motivated during the activity, especially when they are competitive. During the game, students are expected to use their reading strategies to comprehend the hints, negotiate meaning, and improve their reading skills.

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Using QR codes as a reading tool: activity | Cambridge English

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Here’s a fun ESL classroom activity to encourage reading using QR codes, where students solve mysteries through scanning hidden codes.

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Alternatively, you can access the Pinterest version of this page here.

With the rapid advances in technology, the prevalence of interactive whiteboards, computers and tablet devices, as well as increasing student ownership of smartphones, schools must have an eLearning plan for integrating ICT into the teaching of English. Discover just how easily schools can implement an ICT enriched English programme using the content below.The content has been presented in two sections, both of which incorporate speaking and listening:

Click here to access the student portal/version of this page (opens in a new window).

Developing a whole school or year-level approach to the delivery and dissemination of classes and activities via interactive whiteboards, one-to-one iPad or laptop programs or even IWB alternatives can have drastic impacts on student engagement and achievement.

Regardless of whether your school has interactive whiteboards, is looking into purchasing them, is researching alternative cost-effective methods or adopting a one-to-one iPad or laptop program, it is vital that year levels, coordinators and heads of school meet all together to extensively plan and create whole year-level technology and methodology rich Literacy and Mathematics unit using their collective expertise. See the following exemplar model below for further details.

Click here (opens in a new window) to read all about an outstanding example of a school in England who does so and how such an approach can have many planned and unexpected positive impacts on schools, teachers and students.

When students are exploring genre writing, to ensure that ICT and Web 2.0 tools are incorporated into this process, classes should initially brainstorm all of the examples of both traditionally hand-written and digital (ICT & Web 2.0) texts that belong to each genre (as depicted below). Teachers should then plan to provide opportunities for students to explore traditionally hand-written texts (e.g. recounts that can then be digitised) and digital-only texts (e.g. blogs and wikis; including Twitter tweets & Facebook posts, websites, create Yahoo answers, fictional eBay ads, etc.).

If your school, teachers or students have iPads, Android tablets or Macs, long gone should be the days of students publishing their writing by hand or by using the Microsoft Office Suite.

Read below to see why and how students should be publishing their writing in the form of eBooks.

Accessibility
eBooks (or electronic books) are the perfect strategy for publishing/disseminating student work (in .epub or .pdf) as reproduction and publishing is instantaneous. eBooks can be opened on a myriad of devices (i.e. phones, tablets, eBook readers, PC, etc.), allowing them to be readily shared across a classroom, school, and between friends and extended families as eBooks can also be uploaded onto school websites/blogs and/or distributed via email.

eBooks can also be used to form part of a student's Interactive ePortfolio. Download an eBook of a student's narrative (open in iBooks on IOS devices, BookReader on Mac, Moon+Reader on Android or Adobe Digital Editions Windows/Mac).

Downloadable eBooks: A biography written about a student's grandmother (eBook link removed for privacy reasons).

eBooks can also be more interactive than the standard paperback format. Watch the video below to learn more:

Users can interact with eBooks and iBooks via:

1.3: Adding Audio Na﻿ ﻿rration﻿ ﻿ and Bi-Lingual Tracks
On her blog, Silvia Rosenthal Tosilano discusses that eBooks are highly innovative as:

students can record additional audio tracks (e.g. English & Italian) promoting the use of LOTE and are great for bilingual students with non-English speaking parents

eBooks (ePub and PDF files) and audio eBooks (check out Podcasts @ Berwick Lodge PS - iTunes | Website) can be uploaded to a School iTunes account, allowing for the school to collate a collection of student work

students can record also audio tracks to allow tracking of a student's oral language skills, which can then be stored in interactive ePortfolios or on a school's network.

Navigate the slideshow above to learn how to subscribe to Podcasts using iTunes

1.4 Adding Sound Effects and Musical Scores
Some eBook creation tools enable authors to upload sound effects and music scores to bring the action on each page come alive.

1.5 Adding Motion & Touch Interactivity
Some eBook creation tools enable authors to use a smartphone or tablet's gyroscope, accelerometer and touch screen hardware to allow users to interact with an eBook's content

1.6: Modern World Publishing Skills
Schools must prepare students with the skills, knowledge and abilities to be able to interact successfully in their current and future environments. Thus both the present and future trends in publishing must be taught to students. Therefore, before giving students the opportunity to publish their work in the form of an eBook, schools should have plans in place to teach students about:

eBooks and their features

the eBook market (how to purchase eBooks or download eBooks in the public domain for free)

apps and websites to create eBooks

eBook reading devices (e.g. iOS and Android tablets and smartphones, Kobo Readers, Amazon Kindle, etc.)

where the future of publishing lies.

See the eBook creating apps below to find a solution that meets your needs.

Creative Book Builder
Price: $4.49
Description: Perfect for creating eBooks with multiple chapters. Easily insert images and headings. For lengthy texts, it is best to type the work using Windows or Mac, email it to oneself, open the email on the IOS device and paste into CBB.
Watch the official CBB video tutorials here.

Book Creator One
Price: Free or upgrade for $5.49 (Book Creator is available with a 50% discount for bulk purchases under Apple's Volume Purchase Program).
Description: One of the free eBook creators that can be trialled and then be upgraded to the full version if users find it useful. Learn more here.

TinyTap
Price: Free
Description: Easily create interactive ebooks, games and personalized learning apps and playing others created daily by superstar educators, experts, and publishers worldwide! Watch the video below to see TinyTap in action:

Price: Free
Description: Create interactive eBooks for reading on Mac and iPads! Place image windows/galleries, videos and hyperlinked content alongside of text. Watch the official video here.

Price: $3.79
Description: Perfect for creating eBooks with multiple chapters. Easily insert images and headings. For lengthy texts, it is best to type the work using Windows or Mac, email it to oneself, open the email on the IOS device and paste into CBB. Watch the official CBB video tutorials here.

Teachers must prepare their students to be able to adapt and embrace current and future technological changes, particularly when the products that will appear in the future marketplace are unknown.

One such company that has demonstrated the ability to keep their market share with their existing products, modify or augment existing products to embrace technological change and create new products for the marketplace is Marvel. The two videos below demonstrate how Marvel is turning their paper-based comics into augmented texts, providing their traditional readers and collectors of paper-based comic with more interaction with their beloved medium. Such a business strategy is a great example to show students, as they can learn how to breathe more life into an existing product line (maintaining and/or increasing market share) whilst also complementing another product line; their digital-based comics market (e.g. eComics).

Watch the videos below to see AR texts in action:

Educators and students can also seek to emulate such an excellent example by augmenting their existing text-based approaches via using a combination of the avatars, videos and still images discussed here, turning their paper-based texts (e.g. narratives or inquiry projects) into multi-modal augmented texts.

Whilst students should be publishing their work in the form of eBooks, they should also:

1. Be reading a variety of eBooks, augmented & digital texts during reading scenarios (I.e whole class lessons, small group: Reciprocal Reading & Literature Circles, silent reading and pair reading activities)

2. Have access to eBooks, augmented & digital texts in the school library (with a set time frame given for when the link to the online eBook expires as per borrowing and licensing rules)

Teachers in all year levels should be using eBooks with their students, including:

Each of these scenarios is discussed in detail below. Literacy coordinators and teachers should use the following information to design an ICT rich, balanced approach towards using digital texts throughout their school/classroom(s).

Method 1: Digital Story Telling Apps, Software & Websites

There are hundreds of free and paid apps that contain either animated stories, picture books with attached narration or even interactive stories.

1.1.1 Interactive Stories
Interactive stories use a smartphone or tablet's gyroscope, accelerometer and touch screen hardware to allow users to interact with an eBook's content whilst also using musical scores and sound effects to entertain the reader.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore was a wonderful app (which is no longer available) that blurred the line between a picture book and animated film. It contained an interactive story where the reader/viewer could interact with the digital content within the story. Watch the overview video below to see how users could interact with the characters, objects and settings within the story using the companion iPad app (which is no longer available)/

Watch the full animated story (below) that inspired the interactive eBook:

Another interactive eBook is The Alice App (iOS - Paid), an interactive version of Alice in Wonderland. Watch the video below to see the interactive eBook in action:

Storypanda provided iOS users with books they could read, create (tap, drag, and swipe to change characters, backgrounds, text and more to make a new story), and share (with friends and family). Watch the video below to see one of the titles:

If schools are to expose their students to current and future literacy trends then educators should also consider purchasing some augmented texts.

Augmented texts are paper-based texts that become interactive when combined with the use of an iPad augmented reality app. Authors and publishing companies are using augmented reality to make the plain old paperback book into an interactive paperback book!

1.1.4. Digital Comics & Graphic Novels
There are a wide variety of online providers of digital comics and graphic novels. Each of these providers require the creation of an account to purchase or download free comics and novels.

Educators may need to screen each comic for adult themes.

Providers include:

Madefire released a series of Motion BooksTM and comics ( Android) where panels can unfold, movies play, captions fly in and illustrated effects bring stories to life. Due to some adult content, educators should pre-screen each title before allowing students access. Watch the video below to see Motion BooksTM in action:

1.1.5. iOS & Android eBook Apps
Epic is a brilliant app and website with over 40,000 eBooks and read aloud books. It is free for use for schools during school hours, and has a paid component if parents would like to use it outside of school hours.

Pictured below are various other eBook story apps for iOS devices. Right-click on either image to download and view the names of the various apps.

There are thousands of short movies/digital stories available freely available on YouTube that can be used as a reading rotation activity (with a digital story review follow-up activity) or as a once a week option during silent reading times.

There are plenty of free and subscription websites that provide teachers and students with animated stories or picture books with attached narration.

Oxford Owl provides a selection of leveled classic tales read by professional storytellers for free.

Each story comes with Storyteller notes designed for parents and teachers, explaining the literary devices contained within each story and providing handy tips on how the story could be read using various oral speaking skills.

Storytime Online (provided by the Screen Actor's Guild Foundation) provides free videos of famous books read aloud by actors, with added music tracks and sounds! Activity guides can also be downloaded for each book.

If your school has blocked students from accessing YouTube, they can click the "Select Player" button on the top-left of the screen and select either My VR Spot or SchoolTube, then all your videos will be played on the player you select.

Check out Betty White reading 'Harry the Dirty Dog' by Gene Zion!

1.3.3: Graphic Novels
Canadian author Liam O'Donnell and illustrator Mike Deas provide a series of graphic novel that can be accessed online and also ordered in paperback. Click on the images below to access the stories:

Another resource is ABC's Reading Eggs which contains a wide variety of leveled lessons for the junior years classroom, focusing on the learning of phonics, sight-words and comprehension skills. Check out the sample lessons here.

Once parents subscribe, students can access Reading Eggs lessons via Windows/Mac/iPad or Android devices.

Schools whose students have access to tablets or smartphones should also make use of QR Codes in the classroom to provide quick links to digital storytelling websites.

QR Codes can be easily generated and printed to provide students with weblinks/QR codes that can be scanned using a QR Code reader to instantaneously open up school and/or teacher approved digital storytelling websites.

Download two such classroom posters ( 1 | 2) and then scan the relevant QR code with a QR Code reader to access various digital storytelling websites.

There are hundreds of professional reading packages (particularly in the junior years) that many schools already own, including Fitzroy Readers.

Gone are the days of not having enough books or students not being able to do their reading as they "left their book at school/home" as there are hundreds of online resellers of junior fiction eBooks. eBooks also have many advantages over traditional paper back novels, which will be discussed in the following Literature Circles scenario.

Before teachers commence purchasing eBooks, there are a number of considerations that must be made:

Schools should consider which devices they will use/need to read eBooks. Some eBooks purchased from an online store can be used on multiple devices such as PC, phone or tablet (e.g. Angus & Robertson, Google Play Books or iTunes) or be linked to a specific device such an eBook reader (e.g. Kobo Reader or Kindle by Amazon).

All eBook purchases are now digitally protected (see Adobe Digital Editions). As a rule of thumb, eBooks can only be generally opened/registered to one-to five computers/devices. Therefore records should also be kept to track the number of registered devices for each eBook so teachers and students can access the eBook when needed

As a matter of good practice, Principals and ICT Coordinators should set up eBook purchasing arrangements for teachers and have trained staff as to how to use agreed upon online eBook resellers to make purchases using a school or year-level eBook account

Once eBooks have been purchased under agreed school accounts, Literacy or ICT Coordinators must ensure that the eBooks remain the property of the school. Therefore, all eBooks purchases should be downloaded into an agreed network directory, for access by multiple teachers over multiple years. Devices that teachers have opened the eBook on (which been authorised) should be tracked as if a teacher uses their own laptop or if a laptop is being upgraded, that those devices are unauthorised either locally (on laptop x) or at an account level (e.g. online account deactivation)

A sound approach to implementing the use of eBooks in reading group scenarios must planned (see below for an example).

The eBook of Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo, is ideal for introducing to a cohort of Year 4-6 students (ages 10-12) to be used during Literature Circles.

Explain to the students the modified Literature Circle roles (adapted to meet the demands of the new Australian / Victorian Curriculum and to be fully-digitised) and organise the groups into their role rotations for the first five chapters.

The students will need to have access to the following hardware and software:

with (i) a copy of the eBook and (ii) the following free apps: Flick., FileExplorer Free, Wireless Remote Mouse and the optional apps of Keynote or Pages

1 TV with either an Apple TV (to mirror their work from their iPad screen) or a laptop with AirServer installed (to mirror an iPad's display & sound onto a Windows PC/Laptop/IWB)

1x IWB/projector/TV.

The students I have worked with have quickly adopted many different approaches to integrating the use of ICT when preparing and presenting their Lit Circle responses:

Discussion Managers (DMs):

Preparation: Using the question stems to ensure that they were creating/asking seven different question types (inferring, locating information, main idea, making connections, paraphrasing & synonyms, referencing and sequencing), the DMs used a combination of their knowledge of the read chapter to create questions and iBooks to open the eBook when necessary (e.g. to create a referencing question)

The DMs typed up their work (or scanned their work using the classroom scanner if they ran out of time), placed the questions up on the IWB/projector via the laptop (an opened word document or jpeg scan) so that each member of the group could both hear and see the question. When none of the students knew the answer or if the question was a referencing question, using AirServer and iBooks to display the eBook onto the projected surface so that the group could locate the word or phrase in question and see its context.

Summarisers:

Preparation: The summarisers used the eBook to skim and scan to locate relevant details so that they could create a thorough sequenced summary of the main events, characterisation, settings and share their opinion about the read text

Presentation: They did not need any technology as they read aloud their summations to the group.

Code-Breakers (CBs):

Preparation: The CBs interviewed each member of their group to determine the words that each person found difficult. They then scanned through the ebook to find further examples if they felt that they did not gather enough responses

using Presentation: They discussed one word at a time, (i) writing the word on the board, (ii) asking the group if anyone could pronounce the word, (iii) AirServer to mirror their iPad onto the IWB/PC and using the search function within iBooks to show the word in a context and then read the sentence aloud (iv) asking the group why the world may have needed code-breaking, (v) asked for a and who knew the meaning of the word, (vi) using the definition feature within iBooks to show a definition of the world (which they had already written in their books).

Investigators:

Preparation: The investigators either used Keynote or Pages on the iPad or used a class computer to create a presentations in PowerPoint or Word to display the results of their investigations (e.g. What are Kimonos? What happened in Nagasaki & Hiroshima?).

Presentation: To display their investigations, the students used either just AirServer, or (i) the FileExplorer Free app to connect to the school network to access their Word/PowerPoint file and then display the file onto the IWB/projector via AirServer or (ii) the Wireless Remote Mouse app to remotely control the laptop to open the presentation from the network drive.

Device Detectives (DDs):

Preparation: The DDs opened the Word document 'Analysing A Read Chapter' and skimmed and scanned the eBook to locate, copy and paste various literacy devices used throughout the chapter into the document.

Presentation: To display the 'Analysing A Read Chapter' Word document, the students used the FileExplorer Free app to connect to the school network to access the file and then display the file onto the IWB/projector via AirServer, and then used the pinch and zoom gesture on the iPad to zoom into each device's box.

Teacher Feedback:
Whilst teachers generally don't listen to each Lit Circle present, a teacher's presence is rather valuable as they can:

1. Provide input into the discussion when no-one in the group knows the answer to the question.

2. Monitor the quality of the work that has been created during the preparation phase.

3. Monitor student use of oral language, turn-taking, and discussion of literature in a less formal setting than a Reciprocal Reading session.

4. Provide rich and instantaneous feedback: Whilst listening to each Lit Circle present and discuss their analysis of each chapter, I used the iOS Flick app to type 'Post-its' on the teacher's iPad.

During their presentations, students need to keep the Flick app open and keep an eye on their iPad screen as the teacher should sometimes "flick" short messages off to student pairs to give them instant on-the-fly advice or to ask them to pay more attention!

At the end of the Lit Circle presentation, the teacher should mirror/display the individual and group feedback (see left) on an IWB/projector/TV.

The Lit Circles discussed above are a successful example of introducing the use of eBooks into a senior years classroom for the first time and a perfect example on how using a myriad of other technologies (also for the first time) to support the students in their preparation and presentations of each rich Lit Circle can engage the students in taking Lit Circles to a whole new level.

Method 3: Using iPads to Read Digital Texts During Whole Class or Small Group Scenarios

The biggest gripe people have against iPads and Android devices is that they say they can't access files from their computer or network, and instead have to use cloud solutions like Dropbox or Google Drive. This is simply no longer true. It is still amazing to see schools who have spent thousands of dollars on iPads or Android devices who do not know about the following apps.

These three apps below allow teachers and students alike to access and open files on a connected wi-fi network. They are ideal as students and teachers can readily open network files (e.g. digital texts for reading groups) in a matter of seconds without help.

NOTE: If your school or work has proxy authentication, when using these apps users will be prompted to enter their normal Windows/Mac/Linux log-on username and password to access the files. Whilst various hidden network folders may be visible when using these apps (network administrators can set up drives to hide any folders if that is their desired option), the normal Windows log-on security procedures will still prevent students and teachers from opening files that their log-on does not permit.

Price: Free
Description: Allows users to access files from any connected wi-fi network (including authenticated proxies) and networked devices (e.g. Windows Server, PCs connected to the same network or a hard drive shared via a router), Google Drive or Dropbox. Great for opening lessons and activities from network servers.

Price: $2.99
Description: Allows users to access files from any connected wi-fi network or networked device. Pro allows files to be copied from the network onto the iPad's camera roll and copy files wirelessly from an iPad onto a network.

Price: Free
Description: Allows users to access and modify local (android) and remote files (on a computer, network drive and network devices) via any connected wi-fi network (including authenticated proxies). Great for opening lessons and activities from network servers. Get permission from your school's IT Administrator before using this app. Click here to watch a video tutorial to learn more.
Screenshot ($ denotes hidden system folders which are visable but NOT accessible without the correct authentication logon)
Connecting FileExplorer to a School/Home Network
Simply follow these steps:

1. Press + to add a network drive.

2. Choose your platform (Mac OS X | Windows | Linux / Unix).

3. Scroll down to Network Neighborhood to view all of the network drives and connected computers on your school's network.

4. Find the network drive/IP address that is your student or staff network drive (if you cannot readily identify that yourself ask your ICT Coordinator or IT Administrator).

5. Select the relevant network drive.

6. You will be prompted to 'Connect as..' - Select Registered User.

7. Enter the username and password you normally use to log onto a school/home computer (e.g. teacher or student log on).

8. You will now be able to see your network's files and folders.

9. Users will only ever need to repeat steps 7-11 to open future files.

Alternatively, instead of installing File Explorer, schools can upload lesson content to an online storage account (e.g. Google Drive or DropBox) however these methods are inefficient as if educators have to constantly log in and upload files to the online solutions rather than just copy/save them into a designated folder on a student network drive.

Conference Pad allows users to control a presentation on up to fifteen iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches from your device, simultaneously and wirelessly over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi as well as on one or more external screens or projectors attached to iPads and iPhones.

These features can be used in small or large group reading scenarios when teachers need to control the pace of the students reading.

Smoothboard Air allows teachers to broadcast a Windows PC screen onto student tablets, smartphones, laptops or PCs to allow them to view and interact with lesson materials on their own personal screen. Watch the video below to learn more:

To get Smoothboard air up and running:

1. Install the Smoothboard Air Server on the Windows PC.

2. Run Smoothboard on the Windows PC.

3. Scan the QR Code on the PC's monitor/Projector using a QR Code Reader app is installed on any iOS or Android device.

Nearpod is brilliant for use during reading groups as it allows teachers to:

upload a reading lesson/digital text online

disseminate the lesson/text to students who can access it via the Nearpod app (on iOS or Android devices) once they are given the PIN

control the pace of the lesson/digital text or let students browse at their own pace

integrate quizzes, videos and polls into the reading lesson/digital text. Student responses are then automatically collected and collated when students access the lesson via the Nearpod app, allowing teachers to monitor the levels of student learning

access a wide-variety of lessons/digital texts created by the Nearpod community.

Simply:

1. Register for a free account at the Nearpod website.

2. Login to your Nearpod account using either a Windows/Mac/iPad/Android device.

3. Create or upload the lesson/text.

4. Add interactive polls, quizzes, videos, etc.

5. Download the Nearpod app on any iOS or Android device.

6. Open the Nearpod app.

7. Teachers sign into the app using their Nearpod username and password and tap on the 'Launch' button to share/broadcast the material

8. Students enter in the PIN given to them by their teacher to access the material. Each student who signs in is added to a class list on the teacher's account.

AirServer, for Windows 7/8 & Mac, allows users to mirror and stream content from an iPad or iPhone onto Windows or Mac. Users can also record the iOS screen. It is particularly handy for:

teaching the whole class or a small group using an app on the iPad

working as a large group to analyse, discuss, annotate and search through an eBook (e.g. During Lit Circles)

displaying student work opened on an iPad onto an IWB/projector (e.g. During Lit Circles, the Investigators present an investigation opened on their iPad without needing leaving their table)

navigating through digital documents or websites on an iPad whilst students watch on a projector (if your school does not have IWBs)

taking a photo of a student's work and immediately displaying/mirroring it onto the IWB/projector for the class to see

See the video below for further details.

Installation instructions:

1. Install a copy of AirServer onto Windows/Mac. Educational Licensing is available. AirServer costs $US14.99 for 3 licenses. Click here to buy or download a free 7 day trial.

2. Double click the circle button any iPad.

3. Touch the AirPlay button.

4. Move 'Mirroring' to 'On'.

5. Select the name of your Windows/Mac.

Educational Licensing is Reflector (for Windows XP/7/8 & Mac) allows users to mirror and stream content from an iPad or iPhone onto Windows or Mac. Users can also record the iOS screen and can simultaneously display multiple iOS devices on the one Windows/Mac screen.

not available. 1 licenses costs $US12.99 and a 5 seat license costs $US54.99. Download a trial ( 32-bit or 64 bit) or click here to purchase and download Reflector.

eBook borrowing is widely available at public libraries (patrons can even borrow without leaving the house!). If your school library has not already taken a step into the 21st century and made eBooks available to staff and students for 'borrowing', it should be!

The same copyright principle applies when borrowing a hard copy of a book or an eBook: an eBook can only be borrowed by one person at a time.

eBook borrowing consists of using an app on a phone or computer to connect to a designed system to borrow and return an eBook. If an eBook has been borrowed the system will indicate this so that the same book cannot be borrowed twice.

The genius behind an eBook borrowing system is that at the end of the borrowing period, the book is automatically deleted from the borrower's app/computer eBook library, so users don't even need to 'return' ebooks!

There are a wide variety of companies offering eBook library platforms for schools, including:

The Greek philosopher Aristotle divided the means of persuasive appeals, into three categories: e thos, pathos and logos. Therefore when teaching students to write persuasive texts, it is important to teach them about these categories (English curriculum documents also often require students to learn about ethos, pathos and logos).

However, teaching the concepts of pathos, logos and ethos to any student can be tough as one must ask as to when was the last time anyone used the phrases logos, ethos or logos in their everyday vernacular?

Never fear, the Twitter hashtag (#) is here!
The modern phenomena of people using a simple hashtag to comment on everyday life events and observations (e.g. #howbrilliantisthisidea) is here to stay. Therefore, i f teachers are needing to both reach and empower their students with skills for the modern and future worlds, the humble hashtag should be used within classes. This is where the idea of using a hashtag to teach students how to remember and use the terms of ethos, logos and pathos was mostly likely born. Read below to find out how!

Ethos is a Greek word meaning "character". It is often used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology.

In persuasive writing, e thos (credibility) or ethical appeal focuses on persuading others by giving an impression to the reader that you or others are someone worth listening to (in other words making yourself as an author into an authority on the subject/topic).

As pictured left, persuading using ethos can be used in the form of anecdotal evidence, statistics or by citing expert opinion(s).

Using the notion of Twitter hashtag can help students remember the concept of ethos. Pictured below is a student's use of #ethos with what they perceive to be credible, Michael Jackson fans:

Pathos is a Greek word meaning "suffering".

In persuasive writing, pathos (emotional) focuses on persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions.
We all know that an author's choice of language can profoundly affect the audience's emotional response, therefore an emotional appeal can effectively be used to enhance an argument. Pathos is student-written texts most often appears n the form of rhetorical questions.

Using the notion of Twitter hashtag can help students remember the concept of pathos. Pictured below is a student's use of #pathos using strong opinionative language to appeal to the audience:

Logos is a Greek word meaning "word", "a plea" or "an opinion".

In persuasive writing, The notion behind logos (logical) focuses on persuading by the use of reasoning/logic.
logos is that giving the reader reasons why they should or should not think x, y or z should form the heart of argument.

Logos can be shown in three ways:

1. The clarity of the claim,

2. The logic of its reasons, and

3. The effectiveness of its supporting evidence (facts and statistics).

Using the notion of Twitter hashtag can help students remember the concept of logos. Pictured below is a student's use of #logos using simple logic:

Ever seen those cartoon videos that explain how something works and wondered if you could make them for free? Well know you can with two easy-to-use online services:.

1. PowToons
Watch the video below to learn more:

Want to use PowToons with your students? Click here to register for free!

Watch the video below to learn more:

Want to use Moovly with your students? Click here to register for free!

1. Ensure that Microsoft Silverlight is installed on the PC (Windows or Mac).

2. Under the 'Options Menu' click on the arrow next to the word 'Shape' to (i) select from a variety of given shape layouts or (ii) to browse the computer for an object/shape by clicking on 'Add Image'.

3. At the top of the Tagxedo window click 'Load...' to type or paste in the desired vocabulary.

4. Save the word cloud by clicking 'Save | Share ...' and selecting the desired option.

All student reading experiences expose students to rich vocabulary. Therefore teachers should require their students to record either rich vocabulary used by the author or difficult vocabulary they encounter whilst reading texts and display these words in the classroom.

Tagxedo can be particularly useful when students wish to display the author's use of vocabulary in the form of a shape or object related to the characters, settings, themes or events contained within a book.

Either during or post reading, students should monitor and collect examples of words that are either related to the characters, settings, themes or events or that are excellent uses of descriptive writing. They should then follow the steps below to create a shaped word cloud using Tagxedo:

With the launch of a narrative unit due to be introduced to my senior years class only a few weeks later, the article was a perfect introduction of key narrative vocabulary, particularly the term 'protagonist'. Read during Reciprocal Reading, the article was something that all members of the class could connect to, particularly the girls. In the article, Kristine discusses her memory of video games growing up as a child of the 80s and how she noticed the lack of proper female protagonists and how the damsel in distress plot device was prevalent throughout most games.
The article lead to a flurry of student discussion based around:

the video games they had played

which of those video games were those where the protagonist was always a male (and how the protagonist in the Legend of Zelda series was not actually the female Princess Zelda but the male character Link)

the lack of video games with female protagonists (e.g. Princess Peach on the DS - see below and Lara Croft in the Tomb Raiser Series - but due to the adult themes and violence contained within the series, particularly in the narration contained at the start of its latest installment, I instructed the group that they were not to discuss it in detail)

the video games that give players a choice as to whether they can select either a female or male character (i.e. Pokemon).

One of the first female protagonist games from Nintendo: Super Princess Peach

With the prevalence of new vocabulary (e.g. protagonist, trope, 'damsel in distress', scantily clad), the article also kept the students accountable for decoding and asking the group for assistance with comprehending the meaning of unfamiliar words.

At the end of reading the article, a few of the students asked why there was a tiny picture of Bowser kidnapping Princess Peach in a huge white gap, where clearly the picture did not belong. I mentioned that there originally was a different picture there, and that after consulting the school Principal, we decided that it would be best in a primary school setting if the picture as removed. The children looked bemused, so I then asked them what new vocabulary had they learned and which one made them giggle or feel a little uncomfortable. The students then all nodded in agreement and said, 'Scantily clad women'. As we were also learning about the human body through our Integrated Studies, we then discussed the various video games they had encountered scantily clad female or male characters and the male and female characters whose body image did not portray that of themselves and the members of their families. I then discussed that there was a picture of a scantily clad female character from a video game and that it would have been inappropriate to have the image alongside the article.

After reading the article and writing a paragraph reflecting on what they had learned whilst reading the article (including the defining of new vocabulary - e.g. protagonist, trope, 'damsel in distress', scantily clad) the students completed three follow-up activities:

Research five modern day games where the female is the protagonist and note:

Research five modern day games where the male is the protagonist and who the male has to "save" (if anyone) and note:

Follow-Up Activity 3: (Which can be completed during morning admin time and eating time at recess or lunch)
Using your teacher's collection of old consoles and games (see below):

1. Create a new game

2. Watch the opening scenes/story

3. Complete the first level of each of game

4. Then write a paragraph commenting on:

platform (e.g. Wii, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Gamecube, DS, etc.)

game type: (e.g. RPG, 1st person shooter, side-action scroller)

role of the protagonist

settings and how the settings impact upon the mood of the storyline/game.

The games include (to be played in this order):

Nintendo (NES) - Super Mario Bros 1, 2 & 3

Super Nintendo (SNES) - Super Mario World

Nintendo 64 - Super Mario 64, Paper Mario and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Gamecube - Super Mario Sunshine and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Wii - Super Mario Bros Wii and Super Paper Mario

DS - Super Princess Peach.

The students absolutely loved this activity (especially when they realised their teacher knew the location of all of the hidden mushrooms) and completed their research work quickly so that they could then play the video games! Having read the article in small groups, a buzz was created around the classroom as soon as the students realised that only the groups who had read the article with me and then conducted the follow research, could play the games. Over the coming days, each Reciprocal Reading group read the article and completed the activities.
The low cost of using online companies to publish photo books and posters really gives schools, students and parents the opportunity step up to the publishing plate. This type of publishing is also highly valuable in promoting schools to prospective parents.

Costs can be covered by giving parents the option to purchase the published work (e.g. preview online and then place their order) or in the case of the Prep/Foundation Orientation Day idea below, through school budgets.

See the various ideas below for more details.

Prep Orientation
Designed prior to or during Preparatory / Foundation Orientation Day, teachers can create and publish a photo book (using SnapFish.com.au) which can be placed into an orientation 'show bag'. Therefore prospective students can read the book at home with a parent(s) over the orientation period (e.g. This is my teacher. This is my classroom. This is where I put my bag. My buddy is... etc.).

Excursions/Experiences
Students can teachers in the junior years classroom can easily create excursion (e.g. 'Our Trip to the Zoo') or language experience (e.g. 'Cooking Pancakes') photo books (using SnapFish.com.au).

A language experience photo book: "Fynn loves cars, planes & trains!"

Particularly useful during study units involving persuasion (e.g. advertising or propaganda) infographics or memes, students can professionally publish their digital work(s) in the form of very large, high quality, glossy posters (see SnapFish.com.au) that a school colour photocopier or printer could not simply match.

The process is as easy as uploading a student designed image (created using the MS Office Suite or various image programs) and placing the order!

Schools should be embracing the new technologies available to film, share and broadcast news reports without needing to possess expensive filming suites. Use the following apps/app flow to create professionally filmed news reports.

i-Prompt Pro is a free teleprompter app for iOS & Android designed to assist students to practice the real-life skills of reading the news whilst looking at the camera.

Once students have typed in their account/news script into the app, they can increase or decrease the speed of the teleprompter to assist them with developing a suitable pace of speech. They should also combine the use of a teleprompter with some paper-based notes to replicate the experiences of a real television news studio.

When students are prepared to film, one student should film using any video recording device, whilst another should hold the iOS or Android device that the i-Prompt Pro script is on above the video camera so that the news reader can both read and look at the camera at the same time.

iMovie ( iOS | Mac) allows users to film and then edit news reports. Users can also import videos from the camera roll (such as those filmed using the Green Screen app reviewed above).

Once students use the editing tools to ensure that their video flows correctly, the add music, sounds and template tools enables them to create professional sounding news reports.

Schools should embrace the use of technology to bring student information reports alive. There are a number of strategies:

1. Creating a Website
Websites are great tools for organising, presenting and sharing your information report with a large audience, making you work accessible to your extended family and potentially to a global audience.

With a wide variety of free website hosts, who provide users with easy to use drag and drop templates, even the youngest of students can easily create and/or maintain a website.

Click on the images below to visit student websites showing their information reports then click here to access a dedicated page explaining the considerations that must be made when creating websites with students.

2. Digital Storytelling Presentations
Students should be presented with learning opportunities to learn how to create information reports that use a combination of narration and images to create a digital storytelling report (e.g. using PowerPoint or Pages).

Watch the video below to view a student's history project about Japanese Geisha.

Curious? Read more about the above video here.

During the study of advertisments and persuasive techniques, schools should get their students to use their digital devices and ICT skills to create school promotional videos that target a certain audience or highlight a certain strength of the school.

Watch the video below to see an excellent example from Croeserw Primary School in Wales.

Audiobooks have some advantages over paper-based books and ebooks and as they remove the need for users to read words and audio book users do not need to be in a stationary mode to access the text.

There is a myriad of online audio book suppliers, some are free (as they use stories that are available in the public domain) and others require payment. Read below to learn more about some popular audio book providers.

Audible by Amazon is a paid service that contains over 800 titles for children aged 0-4, over 4000 titles for ages 5-7 and over 5000 for ages 8+.

LibriVox is full of free audio books made available in the public domain in the USA. If you are not in the USA, please verify the copyright status of these works in your own country before downloading, otherwise you may be violating copyright laws (e.g. dependent upon the copyright laws of the applicable country, copyright can last for a lifetime + 70 years, and for companies, copyright can last for over 100 years).

With the prevalence of video call applications, schools should be exploring cost-effective opportunities to use Skype and an IWB/projector (which can of course be extended to include using Facetime via displaying an iPad's screen onto a PC using AirServer or AppleTV) to set up a live video call with an author, potentially from any where in the world.

Various internet sites list authors who offer their services (sometimes free, others for a nominal fee) to participate in video calls with schools, including:
View a sample video of an author call below:

As you can see in the video, the students had engaged in creating movie trailers for one of the author's books after reading it. The teacher would have also facilitated classroom activities based around the types of questions that students would like to ask the author, in addition to highlighting how the class had been exploring the author's literature.

iMovie on the iPad and Mac provides users with an option to create a trailer from existing or new video using easy to use templates and musical scores.

iMovie trailers can be used in:

Writing: Students create an iMovie trailer to 'advertise/promote' a narrative that they have written, using either themselves as actors or visual images that match their narrative

Reading: After concluding a class novel, students create a trailer to promote the novel. View a trailer made by year five students after reading Michael Mopurgo's junior fiction novel, Kensuke's Kingdom, below:

We all know that the age-old activity of students watching videos and taking notes in class can be applied within every subject.

ABC's Behind the News (BtN) is a review the week's top news stories both in Australia and from abroad presented in a child-friendly manner.

BtN can be used in whole class scenarios for developing students note-taking skills or in individual or paired activities as a reading rotation activity.

Whilst there are a plethora of letter ID resources out there, the combination of the resources reviewed below, when combined with the use of cued-articulation, have helped two intellectually disabled students I have taught (with only 1.5 hours of integration aide support a week) improve their letter ID scores of 2 to 52 within a year!

Ziptales' Learn The ABC interactive resource is a highly valuable tool for teaching children the alphabet, particularly those with an intellectual disability.

Learn The ABC consists of two modules:

Module 1 gives an explanation as to what the alphabet is

Module 2 allows students to click on any particular letter of the alphabet to learn or review.

Module 2 is the most valuable online alphabet tool around as it has been designed to prompt and teach children:

1. the name of a letter

2. the sound of a letter

3. to associate a letter and sound to an object (e.g. apple, and and acrobat)

4. the formation of a letter

5. write the letter on the palm of their hand

6. shut their eyes and trace a letter in the air

7. select from a series of silhouetted objects the silhouette of those objects that start with the focus letter.

Learn The ABC can be used in whole, small group and individual teaching scenarios to teach or review with children the alphabet using a Windows PC or Mac, Android device or Chromebook. As it is a Flash object, if you wish to use it on iOS devices such as iPads and iPods you will need to use Puffin Browser.
Ziptales is also full of many other wonderful interactive content for F-6 settings, including digital stories, story creating templates, as well as content specifically mapped onto an interactive grid of the Australian Curriculum: English.

chools and teachers. Click Ziptales offers free trials for 30 days by clicking here. Various subscription prices exist for parents, s here to find the subscription that is right for you.

The LeapFrog® Learn to Write with Mr. Pencil® stylus & writing App is a wonderful app and stylus for iPhone, iPod and iPad to support children to develop their letter ID and letter writing skills (A-Z) and number skills (0-20).

​​The app can be downloaded for free and the specialised soft-tip pen/stylus can be purchased from most retailers

Endless Alphabet is a cute app and fun app that can be used in both whole class and individual scenarios when teaching young children about the letters of the alphabet. The app reinforces letter sounds within a context in a humourous way. Endless Alphabet is available for both Android (free) and iOS ($AU13.99) devices.

Watch the video below to see Endless Alphabet in action.

AR Flashcards - Alphabet ( Android) is a simple and free AR app that brings a specially designed set of alphabet flashcards to life using animated 3D animals and letter sounds. Download the PDF containing the physical flashcards/target images here. The apps shows the potential that AR has in enabling teachers and parents to easily enhance their existing flashcards by adding an AR object.

Watch the video below to see the app in action.

rED Writing is a paid ($AU3.79) iOS app that is designed to help young children learn to handwrite using the Australian education approved state-based letter formations (fonts) and numbers.

Users simply select their state (to load the necessary fonts) and then are prompted to trace the given letter or number using their finger. Users must start at the correct starting point (as shown in the demonstration) otherwise their finger stroke will be deemed invalid. Once users correctly form/trace each letter three times they are rewarded by earning estickers (which they can collect).

Numberlys was a part motion picture, part video game app for iPhone and iPad, created by the team behind the highly popular 'The Fantastic Flying Book Of Mr Morris Lessmore'.

The story/concept behind the design of Numberlysis that there once existed a world that was colourless and only contained numbers. The five protagonists (the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) set out on a voyage of discovery to change the boring norm and create letters/the alphabet.
During the gameplay it is hoped that young children start to develop a sense of the shape and 'origins' of the letters of the alphabet.

Watch the video review below that explains and demonstrates exactly how the app works:

The Victorian Government provides a free variations of the Victorian Modern Cursive Script fonts (.TTF), including those with and without dotted-thirds, pre-cursive and cursive, and both joined and unjoined.

The font packages are available for both Windows and Mac:

1. Close any Microsoft Office programs that are open on a PC/Mac.

2. Unzip the files.

3. Select all the files, right-click one the selected files and then select 'Install'.

Downloadable alphabet models of the Victorian Modern Cursive script that demonstrate joined and unjoined scripts for both left- and right-handers are also available here.

Once you have installed all of the above Victorian modern cursive fonts onto a particular device, download (by clicking on the image of each resource) and open the following editable resources that have been specifically created using various different styles of the Victorian modern cursive fonts.

The following resources have been designed to be printed on overhead transparency sheets which can then be cut to size and given to students, who can then directly place these resources onto their writing books/paper to help guide them in their formation of their letters.

They have been specifically designed to use either pre-scanned 9mm or 14mm dotted thirds with the Victorian modern cursive fonts embedded within. Educators can easily make adjustments to the font size and style and scan in their own dotted thirds to match the size of the dotted thirds being used in their own classroom.

A-Z Table Helper (Print on Overhead Transparency Sheet)

A fabulous resource that can only be ordered online can make that initial first leap into reading and writing; a child learning to read and write their own name, a magical experience. Watch the video below and then click here to order a book.

Then combine the above method with this arts and craft activity (created by Buggy and Buddy) that utilises a child's love of toy cars cars to help them learn how to write their name by learning the correct starting point and direction.

Popular movies can be combined with Web 2.0 tools to create fun, inspirational and engaging ways that students can explore genre writing. Here are just a few examples:

Therefore, as school stakeholders see the student poems published poems (displayed within the school, online, via email or once the poem has gone home) they can scan a QR code from any poem (using a QR Code reader app using any tablet device or smart phone - including leaving one of the school's own devices secured to the wall - linked to the school's data plan) to watch videos of students reflecting upon the creation process and also reading aloud their poem's oral meter.

The Dead Poet's Society unit (with student samples) can be downloaded here (52MB) and the associated resources are accessible here (4MB).

In 'Despicable Me', Felonius Gru reads the story 'Three Little Kittens' to the children. Watch the video below and then scroll down to learn how this adorable story can be used to inspire seniors students to adapt their texts to be more suitable to meet the needs of a different (younger) audience:

After watching the video with senior years students, they should be able to brainstorm (in pairs or as a class) practical ways in which they could:

1. Adapt any existing narrative (written by themselves or others) to meet the needs of a younger audience (e.g. adapting the length of their story and modifying the language used to be more basic for their Prep buddies)

2. Make the content of their story interactive and more engaging for younger students (e.g. creating finger-puppet books, pop-up books or interactive eBooks).

Normally schools pay to maintain a library cataloguing system to track staff and students borrowing of library resources. However, there is a free solution!

But wait, there's more! In the early years classrooms, schools also generally sign out take-home readers to each classroom teacher's account, but at the end of the year find tens of thousands of dollars of take home readers have "gone missing". Therefore there is also a free classroom library cataloguing system that works iOS and Android devices!
ICT, Literacy Coordinator or Librarian

1. Register for a free School Portal account.

2. Log on to the School Portal account and select 'Account Set Up' to set up borrowing rules and passwords.

3. Option A: Select 'Manage Classrooms' and click on 'Add new classroom(s)' OR Option B: Teachers can click here to register themselves for their own classroom.

4. NOTE: Do not add books using the Classroom Organiser webpage's 'Bookroom Library' as books scanned/added with that method do not link to teacher/classroom accounts.

5. Download the free iOS (Apple) or Android app onto as many devices as you want/need.

1. If the coordinator has not done step 3 (above) teachers can click here to register their own classroom.

2. Download the free iOS (Apple) or Android app.

3. Open the app.

4. Log on using their Classroom ID (e.g. 56R).

5. Manage Classroom --> Manage Locations --> Add --> Back --> Arrow (top left)

6. Add five take-home readers to the classroom library: Select: Add Titles --> Scan (to scan an ISBN using an iOS/Android device's camera) --> Selection Location --> Add to Library.

7. Visit the Classroom Organiser website and log on to your classroom account (using the same login details as used for the app).

8. Add students to classrooms: Go to the 'Manage Students' section of the Booksource Classroom Organiser webpage's Teacher page. From there teachers can either use a template to download to enter the student information or manually enter the information.

9. Get each classroom teacher to open the Classroom Organiser app, log on to their classroom account (that you made in step 3), select 'Check Out', select a student and get them to pretend to be a student and attempt to borrow a book.

10. Repeat step 6 until all take-home readers have been scanned into a class' account.

Classroom Organizer (created by Booksource) is a free web-based software that allows educators to inventory and maintain both their classroom-based and library-based books.

The key features include:

1. An extensive database that uses the ISBN of any scanned/keyed book to find the title of each book, eliminating the need to manually type this information

2. Import your student details

3. Create rules for check and return

4. Assessment reports to understand students' reading levels and preferences (see here)

5. Customized title suggestions based on your library to help ensure that every book on your shelf will be a great read for your students

6. Private rating and review forums that create an open dialogue for readers to share their opinions

7. Use a (free) app on an iOS (Apple) or Android device to scan and borrow books (enabling students to check out and return books).

As Classroom Organiser has the ability to assign locations to books as they are added to a Classroom Organizer account, users can simply create locations (e.g. PrepA, 5/6R) and choose a location before scanning or adding a book to your library. This allows students to scan their take-homer readers within a classroom (using an iOS or Android device - pictured below) and eliminates the requirement that all books must be returned to the library for cataloguing (e.g. students can swap books by scanning in the book to be returned, selecting the new student and scanning out the book).
To set up Classroom Organiser to manage student borrowing of take-home readers, simply:

Teachers will teach students how to analyse and comprehend paper-based and digital texts (such as webpages, blogs and videos) but often neglect to think about providing students with the literacy skills to unpack and understand music. Teachers will also often provide listening post activities wherein students listen to narratives or informational podcasts for enjoyment or to monitor their listening comprehension, but then too forget about music. Why?

There are three key reasons that students should be analysing music at least once a week in senior years literacy classes:

1. Curriculum Requirements
When educators examine their English curricula, often the same statements that teachers apply to written and digital texts apply to music.

For example, in Victoria, Australia, between 2007-2011, the English curricula required Year 5 and 6 students (10-12 year-olds) to have the following skills:

The current Australian and Victorian English curriculum contains a myriad of content descriptors, elaborations and standards that justify the analysing of music in literacy settings. Click on the image below to view the relevant curriculum statements for Years 4-7:

Therefore, when curriculum allows (as the above examples clearly demonstrate), students should be (on a weekly basis) listening to songs and learning how to:

identify the values, attitudes and beliefs, and

analyse how certain musical effects and lyrics within songs lead to the formation, creation or presence of visual imagery when people listen to music.

Click here or on the image below to download a listening post activity for students in Years/Grades 4-7 mapped to the current English curriculum codes for both the Australian Curriculum and AusVELSAC.

2. Understanding Modern Day Digital Media
There are a number of critical reading and thinking skills we must develop in our students.

2.1 Music in Schools
As educators would have discovered, when it comes to using music in classrooms, school discos or school concerts, administrators and teachers must be very careful with their song choices. It is almost impossible to set up a school radio station ran by students as students struggle to find 'cool' songs that are also acceptable for use within a school setting. If we are going to prepare students to be able to navigate the pitfalls of the real world, we must give them the skills to be able to critically analyse music so that they can make appropriate choices for any given situation.

2.2 Music in New Modes of Texts
Whilst students are exposed to an increasing range of digital texts each day (such as wikis and blogs), an new emerging online text is a Knol. Knols started as a Google project that aimed to include user-written articles on a range of topics, mostly in the health and medical field.

One example of a brilliant knol is Gust Mees' For a Better World Knol. This knol is an example of many authors from different multi-cultural backgrounds, all over the world, collaborating in an effort to show others that in a global world, that we can find areas of common interest among ourselves as humans, as well as sharing our knowledge about what could be done for a better world.

In learning to analyse this and other knols, students could discuss:

1. What type of text is a knol?

2. What is it's purpose?

3. Where do you think the word knol came from?

4. Who do you think made this knol?

5. What are there qualifications? (Most of the authors have an educational and/or medical knowledge background)
What have you noticed about the layout of this knol?

6. Why are there music videos posted on this knol? (Because they contain the values, attitudes and beliefs of the authors who are using them to try to spread a message)

7. What are some values, attitudes or beliefs that can be gained from this website? (record found answers in their books under the heading 'Identifying VAB's on websites)

8. If you were given the chance to set up a knol, what would it be about?

9. If you had to place music videos/songs on your knol, what would they be? Why? Do they represent the values, attitudes and beliefs that (i) you, (ii) your school, and (iii) your parents want for you?

In values programs, children learn that society as a whole, as well as we as individuals and groups, have various values, attitudes and beliefs, and that who we are and who we become will generally be as a product of our values, attitudes and beliefs.
Often schools will invest time and money in these values programs but fail to recognise the important role that listening to and analysing music can play in such programs. Students should be taught that when somebody writes a song, they use their lyrics, music and effects to communicate to other people something. This could be to communicate to others:

1. Their attitude towards something or someone (what they are feeling)

2. What they value or what they think you should value

3. What they believe or what they think you should believe

4. Or what they think or what they think you should think.

Therefore, if music contains values, attitudes and beliefs, and in this digital age of YouTube, digital downloads and streaming, music is everywhere, given the sheer amount of music and videos students are exposed to on a daily basis, educators must teach students the skills to be able to analyse the values, attitudes and beliefs presented within both old and new music to develop the skills to be able to:

1. Identify the difference between values, attitudes and beliefs

2. Identify which songs they share/do not share the same values, attitudes and beliefs with and discuss why

3. Make an informed decision for themselves and others as to whether they should listen to or play a song given various circumstances.

Students should explore the questions of:

1. What values can be present in songs?

2. What attitudes can be present in songs?

3. What beliefs can be present in songs?

4. What values are normally present in hip-hop/rap/R&B?

5. What attitudes towards women are normally present in hip-hop/rap/R&B?

6. What beliefs about money/fame are normally present in hip-hop/rap/R&B?

For each analysed songs students should discuss:

1. What does this song possibly tell us about the songwriter's/singer's values/attitudes/beliefs?

2. What were some interesting word choices made when the song writer wrote the song?

The Approach: Whole or Small Group Activities?
The initial exploration of the values, attitudes and beliefs contained in songs should be heavily scaffolded in whole-class scenarios. Most topics (see suggestion below) can be also introduced either during the reading hour by listening to an appropriate song or by using a song or music video as the 'hook'.
Once students show that they are developing the necessary skills and abilities, students in the senior years classroom can be given a weekly audiological listening post activity wherein they listen to a given song and must analyse it give a structured template.
World Values/Problems

Axwell And Bob Sinclar Feat. Ron Carroll - What A Wonderful World

Black Eyed Peas - Union

Bob Sinclair - World Hold On

Bob Marley - Redemption Song

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - Somewhere Over the Rainbow

John Mayer - Waiting For The World To Change.

The music video for 30 Seconds to Mars' Closer to the Edge is one of the most powerful songs and video productions aimed directly at children.

Due to the layering of multiple persuasive devices, understanding and unpacking this video will take multiple views, discussions,

Watch the music video below in full screen mode, with the classroom lights turned off, the speakers (and bass) cranked up and then use the question prompts below the video to analyse the song.

If any of the questions can't be answered by the class, watch the video again, and again, and again, each time getting the students to take notes to record their thinking as the video plays, cueing them into more and more persuasive devices. As the students start to tune into the lyrics, the visual clues and the on screen captions, they will eventually be able to unpack the whole song. Then watch it one more time and then discuss the final discussion questions (far below).

Deep Thinking Questions:

1. What are the names of the band members?

2. Why were their baby photos used?

3. Why did you get to see each band member doing some outdoor activity by themselves?

4. What was the song about? / What was the message of the song?

5. What were some interesting word choices made when the song writer wrote the song?

6. What does it mean to be 'closer to the edge'? The edge of what?

7. Why are they signing 'I'm not saying I'm sorry'?

8. Is it a dangerous attitude to be saying you're not be sorry?

Now watch the video clip again attempting to answer:

1. What were the values discussed in the song?

2. What were the attitudes towards .... discussed in the song?

3. What were the beliefs of (the band / the children) discussed in the song?

4. What does this song possibly tell us about the songwriter's/singer's values/attitudes/beliefs?

5. What values (if any) from the song do you agree with? Why?

6. What attitudes (if any) from the song do you agree with? Why?

7. What beliefs (if any) from the song do you agree with? Why?

Watch the clip again, this time cuing students into the need to read the text (captions) embedded into the music video:

1. What were the words that flashed up on the screen? (You may need to pause)

2. What does 'Into The Wild' mean?

3. Have you ever seen a music video that flashes words up on the screen?

4. Why do you think the video producer chose to do this?

5. Did the video clip enhance the meaning of the song? If so how?

6. Did the video try to persuade you to feel/believe? If so, what? How?

7. What were the persuasive devices used in the music video? (i. Emotive words, ii. R epetition, iii. U se of children sharing their attitudes, values and beliefs to make connections with the target audience, iv. Emotive music over still faces of the band and children, v. Religious iconography: 'This is a cult.' Hand symbols akin to that used by priests with the crowd copying) vi. Slow motion filming, vii. Screaming lyrics with the children screaming the lyrics back in time)

8. Who is the target audience of this song? (i. The 1,363,930 of you and ii. The youth demographic who will buy this band's music - young emo rockers)

9. What is a cult? Who is part of the cult ('Yes this is a cult'?)?

10. Who wrote the song? (Bartholomew Cubbins)

11. Who is Bartholomew Cubbins? (Jared Leto, the lead singer and also Hollywood actor)

12. Why would the lead singer use a pseudonym?

13. Who wishes that they were in the crowd at one of the concerts? Why?

14. In what part of the song did you get the most goosebumps / emotional? Why?

15. Discuss one person's statement that, "Some people believe in God, I believe in music. Some people pray, I turn up the radio." Then listen to Faithless - God is a DJ and discuss the parallels

There are a myriad of categories that potential songs for analysing values, attitudes and beliefs can be put into. Here are some suitable songs grouped into categories:

Advice About Living

Eddie Amador - Rise [Future Shock Trackhead Mix]

Jaheim - Fabulous

Katy Perry - Firework

Ministers De-La-Funk featuring Jocelyn Brown - Believe [Minister's UK Radio Edit]

Public Enemy - Give It Up [Clean Edit]

Australian Culture

GANGgajang - Sounds Of Then (This Is Australia)

John Farnham - You're The Voice

Australian History / Aboriginal Displacement

Goanna - Solid Rock

Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning

Midnight Oil - The Dead Heart

Song - Phil Collins - Both Sides of The Story

Yothu Yindi - Djapana [Gapirri Mix]

Yothu Yindi - Treaty

Anti-Bullying / Peer Pressure
Kate Miller-Heidke - Caught in the Crowd

Beauty / Anti-Marketing / Anti-Make-Up

Casey Chambers - Not Pretty Enough

Chris Brown - Beautiful People

TLC - Unpretty

Feelings (Depression)

Avril Lavigne - Keep Holding On

Cat Stevens - The Wind

Cleopatra - Life Ain't Easy

Club Nouveau - Lean On Me

Goyte - I Feel Better (Links to R U OK? Day)

Harry Nilsson - Everybody's Talking

Joe Cocker - Have A Little Faith In Me

Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends

Kate Bush & Peter Gabriel - Don't Give Up

Pharrell Williams - Happy

Quinden Tarver - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)

Simon & Garfunkle - Sounds of Silence

Wilson Phillips - Hold On

Generation Issues

Immigration

Rise Against - The Immigrant Prayer

Split Enz - Six Months In A Leaky Boat

Sting & Police - Englishman In New York (Illegal Alien)

Literacy Study - Letter Writing / Transactional Texts

Money

ABBA - Money, Money, Money

Barrett Strong - Money (That's What I Want)

Pink Floyd - Money [Clean Edit]

Rage Against The Machine - Sleep Now In The Fire (Video)

Simply Red - Money's Too Tight (To Mention)

The O'Jays - For The Love Of Money [Clean Edit]

Arrested Development - Mr Wendal

1. What trade occurs in this song/story/poem?

2. What are the poet's values/attitudes/beliefs? Who do you know that?

Jessie J featuring B.O.B - Price Tag [Clean Edit]

1. Why do you think the man needs a dollar?

2. What story could he be sharing, to have you, in return, share your dollars with him?

3. If someone said to you that, "I think that the man in Aloe Blacc's song is a young man named Mr Wendal?", how could they have come up with such an idea?

4. What was the other song we listened to, where a person gave his money to someone in need? (Mr Wendal by Arrested Development) What other donation strategy did the person who wrote Mr Wendal use? ('He gives me some knowledge, I buy him some shoes'). What is better, a hand out or a helping hand? What is the difference?

Persuasive Texts

30 Seconds to Mars - Closer To The Edge

Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth (Stop Children What's That Sound?)

Michael Jackson - Earth Song

Song - Phil Collins - Both Sides of The Story

Poetry

Arrested Development - Mr Wendal

LL Cool J - Deepest Bluest

Racism

John Mayer - Waiting For The World To Change.

Linton Kwesi Johnson - Sonny's Lettah

Michael Jackson - Black or White

Reading Comprehension: Developing Visualisation

Belinda Carlisle - Summer Rain

GANGgajang - Sounds Of Then (This Is Australia)

Toto - Africa

1. What words set a scene/imagery/imaginings in your head? How/Why

2. Did the music/instrumental help set any imagery? How? Why?

Religion / Prayer / Heaven

Alanis Morissette - What If God Was One of Us

Coldplay - Viva La Vida

Eddie Amador - Rise [Future Shock Trackhead Mix]

Golden Quartet - Go Down Moses (Let My People Go)

Guy Sebastian - Get Along

Justin Bieber - Pray (Lesson)

Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men - One Sweet Day

Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin - Don't You Worry Child

The Story of Amazing Grace

Space

Frank Sinatra - Fly Me To The Moon

The Police - Walking On The Moon

Sustainability

War

Despite OECD studies linking schools who promote students to read independently during school time leading to greater student academic performance, in a crowded curriculum it is often hard for teachers to justify giving senior students the time to just sit and read any student-chosen material. Unfortunately in most schools, independent reading in the senior years primary classroom can be often assigned to students in the form of low-minded thinking:

1. Once-a-week task set as a reading rotation during the Literacy block

2. Planned or random opportunities to read after recess or lunch to calm the students down (e.g. S.Q.U.I.R.T: Silent Quiet Independent Reading Time), or

3. Assigned for homework with parents to sign to indicate that their child has read.

It doesn't have to be like that, and it shouldn't.
Therefore schools must plan to provide students in the senior years with independent reading time that has a clear learning focus for the reading session(s) (instead of just 'reading' for enjoyment or to fill in spare time), wherein students apply a designated/taught reading comprehension skill (such as synthesising, making connections, finding the main idea, inferring, identifying character motives, determining importance and summarising, sequencing, visualising, self-questioning, making predictions, text structures, paraphrasing & synonyms) whilst reading from a bevy of their own personal reading materials. This will allow students to develop the higher level reading comprehension and thinking skills the current and future worlds require whilst they working in their own comfort zone of student driven reading material selection.

The provision of focused-goal oriented independent reading time during class time provides the scaffolding needed to support students as they become familiar and then proficient with the skill and can be used with all types of text. The selection of their own reading material will most likely result in the students making the very same connections/identifying the reading skill(s) they are focusing on during independent reading sessions at school when they are reading the same/similar materials/interests outside of school.

Read below to learn about a school who is taking this very approach, combining excellent explicit teaching and learning of higher-order thinking reading comprehension skills with focused skills-based independent reading time and the use of digital literacy tools to enhance this process.

Teachers in middle and senior years classrooms have combined the explicit teaching and learning of reading comprehension skills with the use of highly engaging and literacy rich media (such as the Minuscule TV series) and timetabled opportunities to participate in focused skills-based independent reading time. See the following examples of how students learned and then practised during whole class independent reading time the higher order thinking and reading comprehension skills of synthesising and inferring.

1.1: Synthesising During Independent Reading
The key to students understanding the skill of synthesising is to explain that synthesising is a reading comprehension skill whereby student's self-monitor their continually evolving thinking that naturally occurs when they reading/viewing texts or events.

Omnipresent before, during and after reading, synthesising involves the reader/viewer bringing their original ideas, knowledge, predictions or preconceived notions to the reading experience, reading, then pausing to reflect upon how their ideas, knowledge and understanding has developed as a result of them reading/viewing a text.

Therefore introducing the strategy of synthesizing in reading primarily involves teaching the students to stop every so often, to take stock and think about what they have read, as each piece of additional information gained from/whilst reading enhances the reader's understanding of the text and/or the world, allowing them to better construct meaning.

Take for example the Game of Thrones books or TV series; they are so dense and multi-layered that even adults need to pause, take stock and reflect on their evolving understanding of the characters, themes, plot(s) and story lines to better construct meaning (even from the inexplicable death of the main or 'good' characters).

When teaching students how to synthesise information, teachers must give students opportunities to discuss or note down their original insights/thoughts/predictions about a text/topic before reading and then whilst reading, pause to make comment/record notes to track:

1. Changes in their understanding of the content/story (e.g. newly learned material, development of the plot or the presence and meaning of themes).

2. Adjustments or confirmations of their predictions or pre-conceived notions based on what they have just read/viewed.

Responding (in oral or written form) to reading experiences is a key element to the successful synthesis of new information and literary experiences. Question Stem(s):

1. What insect was catapulted first/second/next/last?

2. What happened after the ladybug figured out that the grasshopper was responsible for catapulting the other insects?

This need for students to read, pause, take stock and record notes of their evolving understanding without the short time frames of reading rotations or disturbances from other students, is ideally suited for practicing during sustained periods of independent reading time during the literacy block.

In the Year 6 class at school x, to introduce/revise and model the skill of synthesising to the class, the teacher used (i) the following 'The Ladybug' episode of the Minuscule TV series, (ii) a student in a 'hot seat' scenario and (iii) synthesising questions stems used to ask questions when pausing the video, to give the student time to reflect upon/synthesise the story.

Watch the wonderfully entertaining video below whilst also reading the various questioning prompts that were used (located below the video).

Questions asked by the teacher to the 'hot seat' student at the start and at various points during the episode (after pausing the video) included:

1. What do you think is going to happen?

2. What actually happened? Was your prediction correct?

3. What were your original thoughts about how you could describe the character of the ladybug? How and why have they changed? What did you see? What did the ladybug do?

4. Whose perspective was the camera angle/shot viewed from? What made you think that?

5. What assumptions could you make when comparing the flying skills of the ladybug to that of the flies?

'The Ladybug' episode of the Minuscules TV series is so multi-layered that discussion could have been extended to include questions and question stems such as:

1. What noises were used in scene x? Why? (e.g. Old propeller plane noises were used as the flies took off to chase the enemy, much like the occurrences depicted in old war movies as the propeller planes turn over to take off to chase the enemy planes. The propeller plane noises were then replaced by the sound of Formula cars racing as the red 'Ferrari' lady bug led the race between it and the flies.)

2. What connections could you make between the scenes depicted in the videos and movies that you have watched? (The fly chase scene and the lead fly crashing and falling apart can be compared to the pod racing scenes and crashes contained in Star Wars: Episode 1)

3. I was right/wrong to think... because.....

4. The interesting/confusing thing about the episode was...

5. I also noticed that...

6. Seeing/reading...... helped me explain...

7. I still don't know/have trouble explaining/understanding...

The students enjoyed the episode and the whole lesson/skill review, which then set the scene for a productive independent reading session. Students then read their chosen texts in various places around the classroom, each taking with them their pen/pencil and their ' Synthesising Snowmans' (a template in which their synthesising notes could be taken which can be downloaded from here) giving the students opportunities to explore their evolving thinking by writing down when/how/why their thinking changed, noting clues or evidence.
The following synthesising question stems were available for students as visual prompts via a classroom poster:

1. The new information I just read was....

2. The new information fits into the story as/by....

3. Now I understand...

4. I'm changing my mind about...

5. I used to think.....but know I think.....

6. My new thinking is....

7. I'm beginning to think....

Students read mostly in silence, each aware of the learning focus: to undertake a sustained period of silent reading time whilst taking notes to show evidence of their ability to synthesise the read text. The teachers when then able to work independently with focus students to monitor their ability to synthesise whilst reading.
The task of getting students to record their synthesis is an especially effective tool for assessing, tracking, and extending readers comprehension, reading tastes, and reading metacognition.

1.2: Inferring During Independent Reading
I also observed Year 5 students participating in timetabled sustained independent reading time. Each student had a set of post it notes which they would use to note down any inferences they were able to make based on what they had read. Reading materials ranged from novels, to comics and even non-fiction texts about the World Cup (e.g. What do you think the coach is doing/saying? What makes you think that?).

Following on from the ideas above, the following episodes from the Minuscules TV series have been matched to the various other reading comprehension skills and can be used as wonderfully engaging avenues to introducing/reviewing each skill:1.3: Other Minuscule Episodes Matched to Reading Comprehension Skills

Sequencing:

The Greek philosopher Aristotle divided the means of persuasive appeals, into three categories: e thos, pathos and logos. Therefore when teaching students to write persuasive texts, it is important to teach them about these categories (English curriculum documents also often require students to learn about ethos, pathos and logos).

Ethos
Ethos is a Greek word meaning "character". It is often used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology.

In persuasive writing, e thos (credibility) or ethical appeal focuses on persuading others by giving an impression to the reader that you or others are someone worth listening to (in other words making yourself as an author into an authority on the subject/topic).

As pictured right, persuading using ethos can be used in the form of anecdotal evidence, statistics or by citing expert opinion(s).

Using the notion of Twitter hashtag can help students remember the concept of ethos. Pictured below is a student's use of #ethos with what they perceive to be credible citing, Michael Jackson fans:

In persuasive writing, pathos (emotional) focuses on persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions.

We all know that an author's choice of language can profoundly affect the audience's emotional response, therefore an emotional appeal can effectively be used to enhance an argument. Pathos is student-written texts most often appears n the form of rhetorical questions.

Using the notion of Twitter hashtag can help students remember the concept of pathos. Pictured below is a student's use of #pathos using strong opinionative language to appeal to the audience:

In persuasive writing, logos (logical) focuses on persuading by the use of reasoning/logic.

The notion behind logos is that giving the reader reasons why they should or should not think x, y or z should form the heart of argument.

Logos can be shown in three ways:

1. The clarity of the claim,

2. The logic of its reasons, and

3. The effectiveness of its supporting evidence (facts and statistics).

Using the notion of Twitter hashtag can help students remember the concept of logos. Pictured below is a student's use of #logos using simple logic:
Use the links below to navigate to other areas of this website relating to integrating ICT into Literacy:

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Alternatively, you can access the Pinterest version of this page here. With the rapid advances in technology, the prevalence of interactive whiteboards, computers and tablet devices, as well as increasing student ownership of smartphones, schools must have an eLearning plan for integrating ICT into the teaching of English.

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AC: Digital technologies in focus (Resources)

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AC: Digital technologies in focus (Resources)

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Blendspace: Interactive Lesson Planning tool

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Blendspace: Interactive Lesson Planning tool

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These days, students often expect us to pour information and understanding into them, without them having to do the tough stuff-like studying and learning. I expect my students to actively participate, but it isn't always easy.

Being a 21st-century educator is a tall order. In my 15 years in the classroom, my most important "helpers" are technology, movement, and networking. Here's why.

1. Use technology to get students interested and involved.

I believe in the importance of face-to-face conversations, but for our students, technology is a major part of the way they communicate and learn. Why not use the mini-computers they carry with them?
Here are my technology must-haves:
I was taught early to make sure I call on all students daily. They like being recognized. Technology helps. Technology allows all students to have a voice and a chance to show what they know.

Google Docs: Our school uses Google Docs, making it easy to share and collaborate with other teachers and students.

YouTube

TES teach with blendspace for lessons

Quizlet and Kahoot to engage students in learning vocabulary.

The Remind app to remind students of homework assignments. My students are turning in homework more than ever before! And having a class website makes it easy for my students to find important documents, rubrics, lessons, sites and projects.

Additionally, while using technology is a part of what we do, it shouldn't be everything. I like using non-technology games from my teacher toolbox for vocabulary and sentence-building, and my students always enjoy it when I bring these games out from time to time. In fact, they're always asking when we can play them again. It is important to have routines, but also to change things up now and again and have fun doing so with students. If we are excited about the lesson, students will be, too.

2. Movement: Know when to shake things up-literally.

Aside from being a language teacher, I am also a Zumba instructor. And since I teach music as part of the Spanish culture, I do " brain breaks " with simple dance moves for salsa, merengue, cumbia and more to get students out of a slump and get oxygen flowing to their brains.
You are the company that you keep, so reach out to other like-minded professionals who are always learning and trying to stay positive.
3. Connect with others in our profession to stay encouraged.

Connecting with other educators to share and collaborate helps ensure our success. We can of course do this face to face or in curriculum groups, but we can also stay in touch via Twitter (you can reach me at Project Spotlight @edspotlightdiv or @MountainsTeresa) and other social networks.

I found that being involved in the Teacher Leadership Initiative this past year helped me connect with excellent teachers across my state and our nation. I also stepped up to take on more leadership in the Billings Education Association (I am a director at large), went to Jump Start training to start the process for National Board Certification and attended AP training for Spanish.

The first couple of years for the 21st-century educator can be stressful, but also rewarding. Each year, you will get closer to becoming a master teacher. Always believe that each of your students can and will succeed. Best wishes in your teaching journey, for it truly is a calling.

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These days, students often expect us to pour information and understanding into them, without them having to do the tough stuff-like studying and learning. I expect my students to actively participate, but it isn't always easy. Being a 21st-century educator is a tall order.

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What is a PLN - Marc-André Lalande's take

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Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

If you are studying teaching, supervising pre-service teachers, or involved in initial teacher education programs, you will be using the Graduate descriptors. All initial teacher education programs, and students graduating from these, must meet the descriptors at this first career stage.

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If you are studying teaching, supervising pre-service teachers, or involved in initial teacher education programs, you will be using the Graduate descriptors. All initial teacher education programs, and students graduating from these, must meet the descriptors at this first career stage.

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This article originally appeared in the ISQ Briefings, a publication of Independent Schools Queensland. Republished with permission.

It is hard to imagine a teacher or school leader who is not aware of the importance of teaching higher-order thinking skills to prepare young men and women to live in the 21st Century. However, the extent to which higher-order thinking skills are taught and assessed continues to be an area of debate, with many teachers and employers expressing concern that young people 'cannot think'.

What are we talking about when we talk about 'higher-order thinking'? Brookhart (2010) identifies definitions of higher-order thinking as falling into three categories: (1) those that define higher-order thinking in terms of transfer, (2) those that define it in terms of critical thinking, and (3) those that define it in terms of problem solving.

In the category of transfer, Anderson, Krathwohl et al (2001) define transfer in how it differs from retention: Two of the most important educational goals are to promote retention and to promote transfer (which, when it occurs, indicates meaningful learning) ... retention requires that students remember what they have learned, whereas transfer requires students not only to remember but also to make sense of and be able to use what they have learned.

While learning for recall requires thinking, the higher-order thinking is in 'transfer'. That is, students not only acquire the knowledge and skills, but also can apply them to new situations. It is this kind of thinking, according to Brookhart (2010) that applies to life outside of school where thinking is characterised by 'a series of transfer opportunities (rather) than as a series of recall assignments to be done'.

The critical thinking category includes definitions that refer to 'reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do' (Norris & Ennis, 1989) and 'artful thinking', which includes reasoning, questioning and investigating, observing and describing, comparing and connecting, finding complexity, and exploring viewpoints (Barahal, 2008).

In critical thinking, being able 'to think' means students can apply wise judgment or produce a reasoned critique. The goal of teaching is then to equip students to be wise by guiding them towards how to make sound decisions and exercise reasoned judgment. The skills students need to be taught to do this include: the ability to judge the credibility of a source; identify assumptions, generalisation and bias; identify connotation in language use; understand the purpose of a written or spoken text; identify the audience; and to make critical judgments about the relative effectiveness of various strategies used to meet the purpose of the text.

In the problem-solving category Brookhart provides the following definition: A student incurs a problem when the student wants to reach a specific outcome or goal but does not automatically recognize the proper path or solution to use to reach it. The problem to solve is how to reach the desired goal. Because a student cannot automatically recognize the proper way to reach the desired goal, she must use one or more higher-order thinking processes. These thinking processes are called problem solving (Nitko & Brookhart, 2007). They may include remembering information, learning with understanding, critically evaluating ideas, formulating creative alternatives, and communicating effectively.

The broad definition of problem solving is that it is the skill that enables a person to find a solution for a problem that cannot be solved simply by memorising (ibid). While there are many closed problems-in maths for example-that require students to use memory to repeatedly practice a particular algorithm, many problems are open-ended and cannot be solved from memory alone. Or they may have more than one solution. Or they may be genuine problems where an answer is not yet known. Problems may also be open-ended in that solutions change as circumstances change. For example, living within a budget is an open-ended problem.

Bransford and Stein (1984) point out that problem solving is the general mechanism behind all thinking, including recall, critical thinking, creative thinking, and effective communication. They assert that to recall something, students have to identify it as a problem ("I need to memorise the planets, a poem, a list of capital cities. How can I do that?") and devise a solution that works for them. Similarly, critical thinking is a matter of problem solving-how well does Shakespeare develop this character?-and communication also involves problem solving-who is my audience? How do I need to best communicate with them? What words might I use to persuade?

Project Zero developed at Harvard University, provides an example of how teachers might help students to think by viewing works of art, using an 'Artful Thinking Palette' (Barahal, 2008). Students were asked to use six thinking dispositions to view art: exploring viewpoints, reasoning, questioning and investigating, observing and describing, comparing and connecting, and finding complexity. Teaching students these thinking skills is not only useful in art but in other disciplines, and in preparation for standardised tests such as the Queensland Core Skills Test.

Brookhart (2010) argues that if teachers think of higher-order thinking as problem solving they can set lesson goals to teach students how to identify and solve problems at school and in life. This, she says, involves not just solving problems set by the teacher but solving new problems that 'they define themselves, creating something new as the solution'.

How do we teach higher-order thinking?

While Bloom's Taxonomy is not the only framework for teaching thinking, it is the most widely used, and subsequent frameworks tend to be closely linked to Bloom's work. A committee under the leadership of Dr Benjamin Bloom created the Taxonomy in 1956. Bloom's aim was to promote higher forms of thinking in education, such as analysing and evaluating, rather than just teaching students to remember facts (rote learning). Learning was divided into three domains of educational activity:

Cognitive: mental skills (Knowledge)

Affective: growth in feelings or emotional areas (Attitude or self)

Psychomotor: manual or physical skills (Skills)

While all three domains are important for a 'rounded' person, it is the first domain (Cognitive) that is the subject of this paper. The cognitive domain involves 'knowledge and the development of intellectual skills' (Bloom, 1956). The abilities and skills within the domain are listed in six major categories starting from the simplest thinking behaviour to the most complex (see Table 1). It is generally accepted that each behaviour needs to be mastered before the next one can take place. This is useful knowledge in assisting teachers in their lesson planning.

In the mid-nineties, Lorin Anderson (2000), along with her colleagues, revisited the cognitive domain in the learning taxonomy and made two major changes. She changed the six categories from nouns to verbs; and slightly rearranged them so they became:

Using the Taxonomy, teachers have a framework available to them that allows them to scaffold teaching thinking skills in a structured way. Teachers can do this through the following stages.

1. Specifically teaching the language and concepts of higher-order thinking

Teachers should not only teach the language and concepts but also tell students what they are doing and why higher-order thinking skills are necessary for them to problem-solve at school and in life. For example, by using a common language, students can recognise the skill they are exercising and the level of complexity of a question. When they see words like 'define', 'recognise', 'recall', 'identify', 'label', 'understand', 'examine', or 'collect', they know they are being asked to recall facts and demonstrate their knowledge of content. When they see words like, 'apply', 'solve', 'experiment', 'show', or 'predict', they understand they are being asked to demonstrate application. And when a question begins with 'appraise', 'judge', 'criticise', or 'decide', they understand the higher-order thinking skill they are practising is 'evaluation'. Teachers also have an instant checklist of whether or not the level of work they require from students is of sufficient complexity. Students should begin to practice higher-order thinking skills from primary school, but by the time they reach year 11 and 12 the bulk of class and assessment questions and discussion should be in the higher levels of the taxonomy.

2. Planning classroom questioning and discussion time to tap into particular higher-order thinking skills

The important word here is 'plan'. Teachers, on the whole, are very good at 'thinking on their feet'; however, without meticulous planning they are likely to ask recall questions rather than questions that require higher-order thinking. Similarly, discussions can be de-railed if they are not planned with a higher-order thinking learning objective in mind. While this does not mean every question or discussion has to be pitched at higher-order thinking, a good proportion should be. By carefully planning lessons and discussions, teachers can ensure the proportion is right. It is useful to ask a colleague to observe a class with a view to recording the percentage of higher-order thinking skills practiced in a lesson; or even to ask students to use the knowledge they have gained in learning the language of thinking to record the teacher's use of higher-order terms; or to observe and assess their classmates in planned activities. Teachers should also encourage students to reflect on their learning so they understand their thinking strengths and weaknesses.

3. Explicitly teaching subject concepts

The research is overwhelmingly in favour of explicit, direct instruction (Hattie, 2005; Marzano, 2011). This is particularly so in the teaching of concepts. Students need to understand the critical features that define what higher-order thinking skills they are practising. Once again, Bloom's Taxonomy (or the Core Skills of the Queensland curriculum) is a useful place to start. In any subject area, students should be aware of the key concepts they must learn. They must be able to identify them and they must practice them. Teachers can help by alerting students when a key concept is being introduced, and identifying the explicit characteristics of the concept. Students need to understand whether the concept is concrete, abstract, verbal, nonverbal, or process.

For example, often students who perform poorly in mathematics have difficulty with nonverbal concepts. Simply working problems again and again with no verbal explanation will do little to help these students to understand maths concepts. Teachers have to spend time helping students to make strong connections between the manipulation of the symbols, the associated language and some form of concrete materials and images. By working through problems with students and verbalising the appropriate language, students begin to understand mathematical procedures.

Conversely, students who have difficulty with verbal concept formation need multiple examples with relatively less language, which may confuse them. That is, some students need to be shown how to solve a problem, some students told, and some need both.

In countries where attainment in maths is particularly high, it seems teachers ensure students have mastered basic concepts before proceeding to more sophisticated ones. Where students do not master basic concepts they are likely to attempt to memorise rather than to understand. While this works for them in the early years, it leads to misunderstanding and the inability to apply knowledge in the later years of schooling. It is also possibly the reason why many students 'turn off' maths.

Thomas and Thorne (2009) suggest a multi-step process for teaching and learning concepts, which includes:
1. name the critical (main) features of the concept
2. name some additional features of the concept
3. compare the new to the already known
4. name some false features of the concept
5. give the best examples or prototypes of the concept (what it is)
6. give some non-examples or non-prototypes (what the concept isn't)
7. identify other similar or connected concepts.

4. Providing scaffolding

Scaffolding involves giving students support at the beginning of a lesson and then gradually turning over responsibility to the students to operate on their own (Slavin, 1995). Without this limited temporary support students are unlikely to develop higher-order thinking skills; however too much scaffolding can be as detrimental as not enough. Kauchan and Eggen (1998) suggest teachers should provide 'only enough support so that learners make progress on their own'. Too much or too little support can interfere with the development of higher-order thinking skills. Too little support, and students are left floundering; provide support even though students don't ask for it, and they get the message they cannot do the task on their own.

Kauchan and Eggins (1998), propose the following guidelines:

1. Use scaffolding:

During initial learning, with a variety of examples to describe the thinking processes involved

Only when needed, by first checking for understanding and, if necessary, providing additional examples and explanations

To build on student strengths and accommodate weaknesses.

2. Provide structured representations and discussions of thinking tasks:

Visually represent and organise problems in concrete examples such as drawings, graphs, hierarchies, or tables

Demonstrate how to break up a thought problem into convenient steps, using a number of examples and encouraging students to suggest additional examples

Discuss examples of problems and solutions, explaining the nature of problems in detail and relating the worked-out solutions to the problems. This practice reduces the student's need for additional teacher assistance.

3. Provide opportunities for practice in solving problems

Provide teacher-directed practice before independent practice, spot-checking progress on practice and providing short responses of less than 30 seconds to any single request for assistance

Assign frequent, short homework assignments that are logical extensions of classroom work

Link practice in the content area to complex, real-life situations.

5. Consciously teach to encourage higher order thinking

In order to foster deep conceptual understanding, consider using the following strategies:

Teach skills through real-world contexts

Vary the context in which student use a newly taught skill

Emphasise the building blocks of higher-order thinking

Build background knowledge

Classify things in categories

Arrange items along dimensions

Make hypotheses

Draw inferences

Analyse things into their components

Solve problems

Encourage students to think about the thinking strategies they are using (more details available online: http://theonlinepd.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/teachinghigherorderthinking.pdf).

Using assignments and assessments that require intellectual work and critical thinking is associated with increased student achievement. These increases have been shown on a variety of achievement outcomes, including standardised test scores, classroom grades, and research instruments. The increases have been demonstrated in reading, mathematics, science, and social studies. And they have been documented particularly for low-achieving students. Evidence from both the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) report clear evidence that in mathematics and science instruction emphasising reasoning is associated with higher scores in all grade levels tested, while in reading, teaching for meaning (including thinking about main ideas, author's purpose, theme, and using real texts) is associated with higher NAEP performance, Wenglinsky (2004).

Higgins et al (2005), for example, did a meta-analysis of studies of thinking-skills interventions on student cognition, achievement, and attitudes. He and his colleagues found 29 studies, mostly from the United States and the United Kingdom that reported enough data to calculate effect sizes. They found very strong effects. The average effect of thinking-skills instruction was:

0.62 on cognitive outcomes (for example, verbal and nonverbal reasoning tests), over 29 studies.

0.62 on achievement of curricular outcomes (for example, reading, maths, or science tests), over 19 studies.

1.44 on affective outcomes (attitudes and motivation), over 6 studies.

Assessing higher-order thinking skills has also been shown to assist disadvantaged students. The 'Higher Order Thinking Skills' (HOTS) program designed by Pogrow (2005) specifically for educationally disadvantaged students, is based on four kinds of thinking skills: (1) metacognition, or the ability to think about thinking; (2) making inferences; (3) transfer, or generalising ideas across contexts; and (4) synthesising information. The project is a pure thinking skills approach to assist disadvantaged students in grades 4-8 in the United States. It combines the use of Socratic dialogue, drama, and technology, and has been used in approximately 2,600 schools in 48 states. It produced student gains in standardised tests, on measures of metacognition, in writing, in problem solving, and in grade point average.

Furthermore, Pogrow found that in studies contrasting the efficacy of teaching higher-order thinking skills with teaching enhanced content instruction, the former was much better at setting up students to be flexible, allowing them to 'understand understanding' and to handle a variety of content.

Finally, research has shown that student motivation increases when teachers hold them accountable for higher-order thinking. This seems to be so, because teaching students higher-order thinking tasks forces them to engage in thinking about particular things, and undertaking assessment that requires intellectual work and critical thinking. Memorising, while it is useful in some cases, does not increase students' autonomy and, to a large extent, does not contribute to mastery, although it might be argued that knowing basic facts is essential in providing building blocks for understanding. Also, it should be noted that 'knowing things' for immediate recall is a relatively unimportant skill. In most things we do, it is not the facts that are important but how we apply knowledge. For example, knowing the times table is useful to save time, to help in estimating and because rote learning builds useful pathways in the brain, but it is only when we use our knowledge of tables to manage our finances, plan a budget, or make decisions about whether one item is more expensive than another, that we exercise problem solving and higher-order thinking.

Therefore, in order to assess so that students can demonstrate mastery, teachers need to plan assessment items that allow students to use all the skills of the Taxonomy: analysis, evaluation, and creation (the "top end" of Bloom's Taxonomy); logical reasoning; judgment and critical thinking; problem solving; and creativity and creative thinking.

There are countless resources online and on paper to assist in the teaching of higher-order thinking, and while these are useful, an effective teacher needs to make few changes to programs already in place in order to ensure that students are encouraged to think. The research suggests that constant awareness of the language teachers use, and reflection on how the skills might be incorporated in every lesson, are pivotal in making the difference.

Bibliography

Anderson, L., Krathwohl, D., Airasian, P. et al (2001), A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, New York: Pearson, Allyn & Bacon
Barahal, S. (2008), Thinking about Thinking: Pre- Service Teachers Strengthen their Thinking Artfully, Phi Delta Kappan 90 (4)
Bloom B. S. (1956), Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain, New York: David McKay Co Inc.
Bransford, J., & Stein, B. (1984), The IDEAL Problem Solver, New York: W. H. Freeman
Brookhart, S. (2010), How to Assess Higher Order Thinking Skills in Your Classroom, ASCD, http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/How-to-Assess-Higher-Order-Thinking-Skills-in-Your-Classroom.aspx
Hattie, J. (2009), Visible Learning: a Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement, Oxon, OX: Routledge
Higgins, S., Hall, E., Baumfield V. & Moseley D. (2005), A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of the Implementation of Thinking Skills Approaches on Pupils, in Research in Education Library, London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research
Kauchak, D., & Eggen, P. (1998), Learning and Teaching: Research-based Methods (3rd ed.), Boston: Allyn and Bacon
Marso, R., Pigge, F. (1992), A Summary of Published Research: Classroom Teachers' Knowledge and Skills Related to the Development and Use of Teacher-Made Tests, paper presented at the annual conference of the Midwestern Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL
Marzano, R. (2011), The Art & Science of Teaching/ The Perils and Promises of Discovery Learning, Educational Leadership, Volume 69, Number 1
Nitko, A. & Brookhart, S. (2007), Educational Assessment of Students, Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall
Norris, S. & Ennis, R. (1989), Evaluating Critical Thinking, Pacific Grove, CA: Midwest Publications
Pogrow, S. (2005), HOTS Revisited: A Thinking Development Approach to Reducing the Learning Gap After Grade 3, Phi Delta Kappan
Slavin, R. (1995), A Model of Effective Instruction, The Educational Forum, 59
Thomas, A., and Thorne, G. (2009), How to Increase Higher Order Thinking, Metarie, LA: Center for Development and Learning, http://www.readingrockets.org/article/34655
Wenglinsky, H. (2004), Closing the Racial Achievement Gap: The Role of Reforming Instructional Practices, Education Policy Analysis Archives, 12 (64)

Further Reading
Brookhart, S. (2010), How to Assess Higher Order Thinking Skills in Your Classroom, ASCD, http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/How-to-Assess-Higher-Order-Thinking-Skills-in-Your-Classroom.aspx
Teacher and author Susan M. Brookhart answers the questions: What does higher-order thinking look like? And how can teachers assess it across the disciplines?

Brookhart begins by laying out principles for assessment in general and for assessment of higher-order thinking in particular. She then defines and describes aspects of higher-order thinking according to the categories established in leading taxonomies, giving specific guidance on how to assess students in the following areas:

Analysis, evaluation and creation

Logic and reasoning

Judgment

Problem solving

Creativity and creative thinking

The book covers how to use formative assessment to improve student work and then use summative assessment for grading or scoring.

http://theonlinepd.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/teachinghigherorderthinking.pdf

This site provides excellent information about why we should teach higher-order thinking skills and how to teach them.

Research in Action:

http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/How-to-Assess-Higher-Order-Thinking-Skills-in-Your-Classroom.aspx

This site includes a series of four short videos in which Dr Susan Brookhart describes, with examples, how best to assess higher order thinking skills in your classroom. The videos include: why higher order thinking is important, principles for designing assessment, assessing reasoning and assessing creativity. While the author regularly promotes her book in these videos, the contents of the videos are useful and worthwhile as simple and succinct summaries for teachers considering how to assess their students.

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/34655

Included on this site are specific conversations with students to test their thinking; examples of how to increase higher-order thinking; comments about evaluation; and recommended resources.

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Curriculum & Leadership Journal | Skills for the 21st Century: teaching higher-order thinking

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This article originally appeared in the ISQ Briefings, a publication of Independent Schools Queensland . Republished with permission. It is hard to imagine a teacher or school leader who is not aware of the importance of teaching higher-order thinking skills to prepare young men and women to live in the 21st Century.

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Virtual Museum Templates

Below are links to several sample virtual museum rooms I developed based on an example I was provided by the generous educators at Keith Valley Middle School. The first sample is a full template to use in the development of a virtual museum. Use and share it freely. The room samples, with the exception of "Class Slides," were all developed by Keith Valley personnel and I modified them for use in new museums. Note that the "rooms," as opposed to the template, do not include active links.

Full Virtual Museum Templates

Warneka Design-4 rooms, 13 artifacts

Blue-Yellow Design-4 rooms, 16 artifacts

Grand Entry Design-5 rooms, 23 artifacts [Note: With the exception of the text and wall hangings, the graphic elements in the museum entrance are grouped. To make changes to this template, ungroup the project.]

Virtual Museum Rooms

During ISTE 2010, I had the privilege of learning about a new method of using non-linear PowerPoint. Michelle Lynn of Fox Creek Elementary in Highlands Ranch, Colorado along with Jessie Bertman, Kim Eikenberg, Lindsey Moore, Katie Patterson, Angel Wolf, and their students presented a poster titled "Interactive Primary Lesson or Non-linear Moon Phase PowerPoint." Their students combined a graphic of moon phases with the non-linear technique to create a project that demonstrated their understanding of their science content. You can see some examples of their student work at http://drop.io/nonlinearppt.

After viewing their presentation, I realized their were many other ways to use the platform to teach or reinforce cross-curricular content. Of course, many have seen the techniques used to make game boards in the past, but here are some other ideas I hadn't seen before.

Alternative Techniques [Note that the HTML versions linked below provide visual representations of the slideshows, but, in many cases, the internal links are inactive. You must download the PPT file to engage interactively.]

Booklist (PPT version/HTML version): Using a bookshelf concept, students place pictures of their recently read books on their home slide and provide synopses or personal recommendations about the books on the linked slides.

Book Report (PPT version/HTML version): Using simulated book tabs, students declare their knowledge of concepts such as plot, setting, characters, genre, and vocabulary as it relates to their selected books. See an example of aNevada Report using this technique (PPT version/HTML version).

Timelines (PPT version/HTML version): Using pre-existing timelines or based on self-created timelines, students create links to information about each node on their timeline.

Maps (PPT version/HTML version): Using an exiting map, students create and place buttons over different locations on the map.* These buttons, then, link to pages referencing each of those locations.

*If you wish to place an unseen button over another graphic, one option is to create a shape and place it directly over the graphic. This is particularly helpful when working with maps. To make it so you can use the button as well as see the graphic behind the button, make the fill color of the object transparent. Buttons will not work if you select "No Fill."

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Educational Virtual Museums Developed Using PowerPoint

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Below are links to several sample virtual museum rooms I developed based on an example I was provided by the generous educators at Keith Valley Middle School. The first sample is a full template to use in the development of a virtual museum. Use and share it freely.

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﻿ ﻿ Children must be taught how to think, not what to think." - Margaret Mead ﻿ ﻿

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Authentic learning is real life learning. It is a style of learning that encourages students to create a tangible, useful, quality product/outcome to be shared with their world. Once an educator provides a motivational challenge, or student selects their initiative, it is imperative to nurture and support the necessary criteria, planning, timelines, resources and support to accommodate student success. The teacher becomes a guide on the side or an event manager, a facilitator that co-creates with their students. Processes become the predominant forces while skills, knowledge and behaviours are activated in real-world, relevant contexts.

Authentic learning is actualized learning. It is only when student initiatives are directed towards a genuine audience, beyond the classroom, that learning becomes truly activated. When learning initiatives are designed for initiatives that permeate the classroom walls, then lasting, transferrable learning begins to take hold. It can be achieved by going out to the community, by inviting a community audience into the school setting, or directing it towards an audience in the global, digital or electronic domain.

When relevant and meaningful learning initiatives are skilfully designed and implemented for a genuine audience, in a realistic context, then innate neurological receptors to learn are heightened. The closer learning is to real-life scenarios, the more optimal the learning experience will be.

Authentic learning engages all the senses allowing students to create a meaningful, useful, shared outcome. They are real life tasks, or simulated tasks, that provide the learner with opportunities to connect directly with a relevant world.

Instead of vicariously discussing topics and regurgitating information in a traditional industrial age modality, authentic learning provides a learner with support to achieve a tangible, useful, quality product worth sharing with an audience in their world. Instead of prioritizing the curriculum expectations and its contents over experience rich processes, authentic learning chooses fertile, student driven, community connected audiences to create experience rich products for and then strategically align relevant curricula connections to them. with our environment that creates experience

As Albert Einstein stated, "The only source of knowledge is the experience." Yes we are complex, intricately wired beings with a vast network of neuro-receptors that serve us on our unique journeys through life. Regardless of our analytical talents, physical prowess, perceptual abilities or health status, we all come with plethora of innate skills and deficits. It's only when we're exposed to opportunities to explore, engage, create, reflect, interact socially, emotionally and cognitively

exposure to Authentic learning emphasizes 'experience nurturing' that provides longer lasting, transferable skills to an individual. It is more relevant, motivational and personal.

Our greatest short coming in education these past years has been to ignore the brain research that is richly available to us that affirms that implementing multi-sensory activities, pursuing meaningful tasks, exploring a variety of skills with real world applications is optimal learning and that it needs to be practiced regularly.

A student sitting at a desk, taking notes and regurgitating curriculum content uses a minute amount of their potential. In general, students learn to sit quietly, respond in turn, follow instructions and complete tests for a control teacher. Without relevance, personal connection, multi-sensory engagement and purpose, content driven curricula begins to evaporate once the test has been taken. You remember studying for exams, cramming, finding memory cues and rote to consolidate information? Do you also remember how fast you started to forget those brain bytes once you left the exam room? If it's not relevant to you, it not lasting, transferrable learning. If learning is not based in the rich processes that only experiences can provide, it's static learning.

This classic, industrial age approach has been used since the mid 1870's to produce a work force to facilitate mass production lines that were to become prevalent in the next hundred years. That era ended in the 1980's if not before. If all we do is sit at a square table, with a square piece of paper, in a square room with departmentalized lessons and timetables, then what are our education systems really producing? Brain-based research shows that by using all senses it maximizes the learning experience. The key being - the experience!

Interacting, manipulating, exploring, collaborating, discussing openly and sharing for meaningful reasons while having ample time to nurture a greater depth of reasoning and creativity is optimal learning. It's learning that sticks. It's learning with roots!

In an authentic learning model the emphasis is to prioritize the processes over the content. It's about allowing students to pursue individual learning opportunities that are unique to their interests, through relevant, real life journeys. The emphasis isn't just about regurgitating content for a unit test, it's about developing a set of culminating skills sets, within a realistic timeline, using self-motivated, natural inquiry methods to create a useful product to be shared with a specific, meaningful audience. It's about engaging students into full fledged, multi-sensory contexts that nurture their learning experiences in significant, lasting ways.

More importantly, the learning journey that ensues is life altering as students are aligned to meaningful processes that nurture non-perishable skills rather than the short term memory exercises that a content driven curriculum demands. Don't get me wrong, content is important but when using an authentic learning approach content is recognized as it is properly intended to be - a portfolio of records, research, plans, lists, notes, reading, contacts, drafts and support information that will become the artifacts of the authentic journey.

With the advent of the internet, content is readily available to everyone. We can reference, cross reference, research any topic at rapid speeds and do it at any time when it's relevant for us. We can access it through mobiles, tablets or computers as we access information as it is needed and when it is needed. Is it still relevant for a teacher to predominately dispense content to students, then evaluate the regurgitation of that content given as the main assessment of a person's learning ability?

Authentic learning allows for students to demonstrate their skills through a series of unfolding learning processes with a definitive, quality product that they can actually demonstrate. At no time in history has information (content) been so readily available to the masses, but it's the synergy and processes of engagement that defines our human experience. That's where the real value in education lies. Students need purpose. They need to feel useful and be a valued part of a community. They need to feel connected and real-world contexts allow for these elements to be activated and groomed. By nurturing 'purpose' we are providing the channels for students to recognize their unique talents and see their inherent value in society. Thus, individual and community self-esteem becomes a priceless byproduct of a successful authentic learning initiative.

I believe that education systems must reevaluate the weighting of its' curricula as it must reflect a working balance between learning processes and properly aligned content? Remember, processes take time to learn but once they're consolidated they're impact lasts for a long time. Processes require skill sets that are developmentally prioritized and require skilled instructors to transfer these skills. If you want students to engage in deeper thinking opportunities, then time is one of the most valued commodities. Are education systems willing to forgo the number of content expectations in their curricula in favour of embracing processes that require more time commitment? Good teachers are quick to point out that their curricula covers so many topics and expectations that there isn't enough time to cover everything appropriately. The more topics, the more content and the more time it takes to cover everything in the curriculum, and mathematically it just doesn't work. The rules dictate how the game is played, so to cover every expectation educational systems rely on the "here's the information" and "here's the test" mode of education. It's an efficient way to deliver content quickly so that all expectations are lawfully covered. It's an over used exercise in short term memory skills and cognitive cueing tricks, but its not a fulfilling, meaningful way to learn. Unless students are immersed in relevant, multi-sensory activities with specific, audience directed outcomes and culminating skills sets, then what students are learning is not sticking.

With the recognition of STEM, STEAM, Maker education platforms in the past decade, it demonstrates a deeper appreciation and commitment to relevant processes. This is very promising!

The quality of research, subject knowledge, skill development, expert consultation, dedication and resourcefulness that goes into making a product is directly related to the quality outcome of that product.

Is It Authentic Learning or Not?

Remember, in true authentic learning an outcome designed to interact successfully with a community is the goal. When this happens a whole new layer of emotional, academic and skill set developments take place. There's a big difference between preparing a skit for some classmates verses a dramatic production for the public. There's a much larger personal investment required when a student becomes an ancient Egyptian tradesperson producing tools and wares, while working at a market stall to an interacting audience than holding up a Bristol board display and explaining ancient Egyptian information on it. Best of all, the student retains information from this type of multi-sensory, authentic learning experience longer because it's real, it's connected.

Authentic learning is not project-based learning nor is it constructivism. These models of education were designed within the classroom context. Although at times they stepped successfully into the world of authentic, and are extremely useful tools in moving closer to an authentic learning approach they are not authentic learning models. Authentic learning is intended to successfully interact with a community; by going out to interact with a community or the community coming into the student community to interact. That's why it's authentic! It's a quality outcome or product of significance that is intended for community consumption or betterment.

Kudos to those teachers who provide project-based, simulation, game-based learning opportunities, Maker, STEM and STEAM. These are significant, engaging initiatives that provide the best kind of classroom learning and education systems need more of you. They are fantastic opportunities in providing working instruction and to model inquiry method, team work and sound skill development. What I'm encouraging is to take the next step. Consider a project to be developed for real world applications beyond the school walls, for a viable audience. Not every time, but perhaps once in a school year attempt an authentic event. For those who have stepped into the realm of authentic you'll understand how this impacts everything. It will impact the initial discussions, the consultation, the refined skill sets, networking and the professional development a student and teacher requires.

Think about it. Every important, relevant thing a person requires to achieve a goal in life has a quality outcome or product attached to it with an intended audience. Pitching a business proposal requires an in depth presentation that reflects relevance, meaning and purpose. If it's backed by tangible proof, even better. A prototype of a new invention requires a quality, tested, working device or apparatus to gain support in the marketing world. An environmental assessment requires extensive research and impact studies of connected, like-situations from around the ecological world.

A grade five teacher once shared a wonderful collection of student written and recorded persuasive "Saving Energy" stories with me. They even designed CD covers in art lessons for their project. The work, learning and planning by teacher and student was tremendous. Upon being asked however, "What did you do with all that great work" she replied she'd listened to the CD in class and put the CD covers up on the bulletin board. This is a great example of integrated learning but it's not authentic learning.

By planning beyond the classroom, a whole new level of understanding and relevant learning takes place. What if the CDs were intended for sale at the nearest mall? Now, an in depth degree of consultation needs to be pursued. Mall managers, local radio stations, graphic designers, bar codes for selling, copyrights local recording studios and marketing experts will need to be considered. That's the major leap an educator needs to take to enter the realm of authentic learning. What if the recordings were uploaded onto a website and promoted to leaders of energy conservation intended to be used to educate the surrounding community on "Energy Saving"? What about an "Energy Saving in Our Homes" campaign within your community? These are only suggestions but with a little brainstorming and with the right people, it wouldn't be long until a list of exciting possibilities could be created. Why are they exciting possibilities? Because they're real, relevant and worthy!

One of the reasons I started to use the term "authentic learning" was that I recognized that the term "outcomes-based" education, William Spady's model which shared a number of characteristics, was being recognized mainly for it's outcome statements. His strategy of reforming an education system, built on students performing a hierarchy of skills was diluted down to the content-based, outcome statements. Again, it became more about the content than pursuing the meaningful journey of authentic education. It isn't hard to understand why this happened because that's how it would be perceived by policy makers who's successes were affirmed in a content driven system.

Authentic learning is not another edu-trend or buzz word. It is real life - real world education and when appropriately implemented it can provide optimal learning opportunities to all students. I have noticed that some educators are misrepresenting the term "authentic" to qualify their student's inferred learning. If learning is engaged solely in classroom settings, referencing real world examples only, it's vicarious learning, - it's not authentic learning. Authentic learning is relevant learning, activated in a real world context to a real world audience.

​If you've ever initiated a business or an organization, you'll have a far better understanding of the enormous work and planning an authentic learning event requires. As in real life - these initiatives take an enormous amount of time, dedication, consulting, flexibility, networking, research and communication to launch. Yes, to launch! Once the launch has been initiated, then the real work starts. As guide on the side, or project manager you're now having to coordinate, educate, coach, consult and communicate with your students and parents in shaping their successful roles while pursuing the larger goal of your signature event. As well, you're going to require some additional professional development directly connected to the skills required in your authentic initiative.

Creating a Signature Event

A signature event is when tangible product is shared with a genuine, relevant audience. For example; if your high school senior class planned to design, construct and test their solar cars, organizing a Solar Car Derby with a spectator audience at a nearby racetrack would be a worthwhile signature event.

To fully immerse the students in an authentic learning experience they would be expected to prepare for the event with community experts, consultants, parents, teacher colleagues and community leaders. The more the students participate in the organization of the event, the more ownership and pride the students will have towards the event.

By providing students with the opportunity to have input at all levels allows for the distribution of learning at all levels. If there are rules involved, then student representatives need to be part of the derby rules development, refinement and approval. Students will possess a better grasp of all aspects of the authentic event when they are personally connected to the complete journey.

While the signature event is being planned, the students are honing their knowledge and skills to create their own quality product to share. It all depends on the type of product being created that will dictate how much class time can be used to design and create their products.

This style of learning is labour intensive and time consuming but it is the most worthwhile education you can provide students. Once you've implemented an authentic event, or simulation, the impact on student development is remarkable. The great thing about authentic learning is, it's a context that allows for student's uniqueness to be highlighted. Whether it's a specific skill, academic or a social/behaviour issue, an authentic setting, appropriately implemented, provides a very rich personal growth setting.

This new, authentic learning approach, however, requires another breed of educator. An academic as well as a life skilled, co-creator. A real, "life" long learner with skill sets and experiences that can facilitate a creative, diverse, well structured, team-based, open-ended, criteria based and globally directed education program. Ask yourself if you're on the way down the enlightened authentic learning road? Are you working towards sharing a tangible product beyond the class or bringing the world into your schools either electronically or for real? The authentic experiences you provide your students is also the beginning of an unforgettable learning journey in your life.

The Tale of Two Lyres

Pictures of Quality Products (below)

I had just completed an authentic event, a Medieval Market Living Museum one April evening. It was the culmination of one and half months of preparation as the students demonstrated their personas (roles) as medieval trades people in medieval Coventry, UK. The students worked diligently away at their trades during this open house, all academic levels to their potential. Their goal was to create an authentic medieval trade persona, an authentic costume that reflected their trade role, an authentic working trade tool or product and a market stall to share their wares. The room was decorated with beautiful tapestries, murals, personalized heraldry banners and a large book display of the student's collective work/activity sheets carefully spiral bound.

In authentic learning paper collections are referred to as portfolios. These portfolios were carefully done and included an extensive variety of curriculum content and authentic learning preparation sheets. Spelling, creative writing, math, art, drama, technology, problem solving and reading comprehension work sheets were all included. Nearly five hundred visitors came through our themed room and only about ten people even looked through the spiraled bound unit booklets. They were clearly displayed, beautifully presented and featured eye pleasing, colorful covers.

Visitors were far more interested in interacting with the trades people, hearing their stories, watching them work, than reading the notes that helped them attain their goal. Really, it is this kind of instance that affirms the reality that content and paper curriculum isn't as important as we believe them to be. It's important, and it certainly has its place, but the applied knowledge is far more important. The doing consolidates all the learning that went into the event.

​Somewhere along the continuum of learning development the jot notes became more important than the tangible, meaningful applications of the education purpose itself. In the end, it's the applied demonstration that counts. "It's all in the doing".

Student Behaviours When Immersed in Authentic Learning

Is it realistic to think that authentic learning of this nature can be done, ongoing, throughout the school year? Of course it can and there are school's that engage in authentic approaches already. Maybe one day authentic learning may be the motis operandum of the majority of schools, but realistically not yet. With the current school classroom structures, resources, timetabling, standardized test demands, physical classroom limitations, administration directives and the plethora of curriculum expectations as they are, it's difficult to do.

If, however, an educator can attempt one or two authentic learning events in a school year then that's a fantastic start. At year's end you and your students won't regret it and it won't be long until you're looking forward to starting your next. There are different degrees of authentic learning events from simulations shared with your community to complete, real world integrations. Start small, then develop your authentic learning undertakings over the years to come. Let other educators, parents and community members observe your authentic learning events. Remember, a well implemented authentic unit/event is the best kind of promotion for this rich style of learning.

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Authentic learning is real life learning. It is a style of learning that encourages students to create a tangible, useful, quality product/outcome to be shared with their world. Once an educator...

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eSafety Commissioner: Video and resource library

Organised into lower, middle and upper secondary, these resources can be used to explore issues around online safety, cyberbullying and screen time. Use the resources including the multimedia games to explore appropriate online behaviours and digital citizenship.

Additional details

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eSafety Commissioner: Video and resource library

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Organised into lower, middle and upper secondary, these resources can be used to explore issues around online safety, cyberbullying and screen time. Use the resources including the multimedia games to explore appropriate online behaviours and digital citizenship.

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Editors' Note: For the benefit of readers who are unfamiliar with the notion of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK), we offer the following condensed and updated depiction by Mishra and Koehler (2007), which was presented originally at the annual conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education in 2007.

Judi Harris & Matt Koehler
Special Issue Guest Editors

As educators know, teaching is a complicated practice that requires an interweaving of many kinds of specialized knowledge. In this way, teaching is an example of an ill-structured discipline, requiring teachers to apply complex knowledge structures across different cases and contexts (Mishra, Spiro, & Feltovich, 1996; Spiro & Jehng, 1990). Teachers practice their craft in highly complex, dynamic classroom contexts (Leinhardt & Greeno, 1986) that require them constantly to shift and evolve their understanding. Thus, effective teaching depends on flexible access to rich, well-organized and integrated knowledge from different domains (Glaser, 1984; Putnam & Borko, 2000; Shulman, 1986, 1987), including knowledge of student thinking and learning, knowledge of subject matter, and increasingly, knowledge of technology.

The Challenges of Teaching With Technology

Teaching with technology is complicated further considering the challenges newer technologies present to teachers. In our work, the word technology applies equally to analog and digital, as well as new and old, technologies. As a matter of practical significance, however, most of the technologies under consideration in current literature are newer and digital and have some inherent properties that make applying them in straightforward ways difficult.

Most traditional pedagogical technologies are characterized by specificity (a pencil is for writing, while a microscope is for viewing small objects); stability (pencils, pendulums, and chalkboards have not changed a great deal over time); and transparency of function (the inner workings of the pencil or the pendulum are simple and directly related to their function) (Simon, 1969). Over time, these technologies achieve a transparency of perception (Bruce & Hogan, 1998); they become commonplace and, in most cases, are not even considered to be technologies. Digital technologies-such as computers, handheld devices, and software applications-by contrast, are protean (usable in many different ways; Papert, 1980); unstable (rapidly changing); and opaque (the inner workings are hidden from users; Turkle, 1995).On an academic level, it is easy to argue that a pencil and a software simulation are both technologies. The latter, however, is qualitatively different in that its functioning is more opaque to teachers and offers fundamentally less stability than more traditional technologies. By their very nature, newer digital technologies, which are protean, unstable, and opaque, present new challenges to teachers who are struggling to use more technology in their teaching.

Also complicating teaching with technology is an understanding that technologies are neither neutral nor unbiased. Rather, particular technologies have their own propensities, potentials, affordances, and constraints that make them more suitable for certain tasks than others (Bromley, 1998; Bruce, 1993; Koehler & Mishra, 2008). Using email to communicate, for example, affords (makes possible and supports) asynchronous communication and easy storage of exchanges. Email does not afford synchronous communication in the way that a phone call, a face-to-face conversation, or instant messaging does. Nor does email afford the conveyance of subtleties of tone, intent, or mood possible with face-to-face communication. Understanding how these affordances and constraints of specific technologies influence what teachers do in their classrooms is not straightforward and may require rethinking teacher education and teacher professional development.

Social and contextual factors also complicate the relationships between teaching and technology. Social and institutional contexts are often unsupportive of teachers' efforts to integrate technology use into their work. Teachers often have inadequate (or inappropriate) experience with using digital technologies for teaching and learning. Many teachers earned degrees at a time when educational technology was at a very different stage of development than it is today. It is, thus, not surprising that they do not consider themselves sufficiently prepared to use technology in the classroom and often do not appreciate its value or relevance to teaching and learning. Acquiring a new knowledge base and skill set can be challenging, particularly if it is a time-intensive activity that must fit into a busy schedule. Moreover, this knowledge is unlikely to be used unless teachers can conceive of technology uses that are consistent with their existing pedagogical beliefs (Ertmer, 2005). Furthermore, teachers have often been provided with inadequate training for this task. Many approaches to teachers' professional development offer a one-size-fits-all approach to technology integration when, in fact, teachers operate in diverse contexts of teaching and learning.

An Approach to Thinking About Technology Integration

Faced with these challenges, how can teachers integrate technology into their teaching? An approach is needed that treats teaching as an interaction between what teachers know and how they apply what they know in the unique circumstances or contexts within their classrooms. There is no "one best way" to integrate technology into curriculum. Rather, integration efforts should be creatively designed or structured for particular subject matter ideas in specific classroom contexts. Honoring the idea that teaching with technology is a complex, ill-structured task, we propose that understanding approaches to successful technology integration requires educators to develop new ways of comprehending and accommodating this complexity.

At the heart of good teaching with technology are three core components: content, pedagogy, and technology, plus the relationships among and between them. The interactions between and among the three components, playing out differently across diverse contexts, account for the wide variations seen in the extent and quality of educational technology integration. These three knowledge bases (content, pedagogy, and technology) form the core of the technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework. An overview of the framework is provided in the following section, though more detailed descriptions may be found elsewhere (e.g., Koehler & 2008; Mishra & Koehler, 2006). This perspective is consistent with that of other researchers and approaches that have attempted to extend Shulman's idea of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) to include educational technology. (A comprehensive list of such approaches can be found at http://www.tpck.org/.)

The TPACK Framework

The TPACK framework builds on Shulman's (1987, 1986) descriptions of PCK to describe how teachers' understanding of educational technologies and PCK interact with one another to produce effective teaching with technology. Other authors have discussed similar ideas, though often using different labeling schemes. The conception of TPACK described here has developed over time and through a series of publications, with the most complete descriptions of the framework found in Mishra and Koehler (2006) and Koehler and Mishra (2008).

In this model (see Figure 1), there are three main components of teachers' knowledge: content, pedagogy, and technology. Equally important to the model are the interactions between and among these bodies of knowledge, represented as PCK, TCK (technological content knowledge), TPK (technological pedagogicalknowledge), and TPACK.

Figure 1. The TPACK framework and its knowledge components.

Content Knowledge

Content knowledge (CK) is teachers' knowledge about the subject matter to be learned or taught. The content to be covered in middle school science or history is different from the content to be covered in an undergraduate course on art appreciation or a graduate seminar on astrophysics. Knowledge of content is of critical importance for teachers. As Shulman (1986) noted, this knowledge would include knowledge of concepts, theories, ideas, organizational frameworks, knowledge of evidence and proof, as well as established practices and approaches toward developing such knowledge. Knowledge and the nature of inquiry differ greatly between fields, and teachers should understand the deeper knowledge fundamentals of the disciplines in which they teach. In the case of science, for example, this would include knowledge of scientific facts and theories, the scientific method, and evidence-based reasoning. In the case of art appreciation, such knowledge would include knowledge of art history, famous paintings, sculptures, artists and their historical contexts, as well as knowledge of aesthetic and psychological theories for evaluating art.

The cost of not having a comprehensive base of content knowledge can be prohibitive; for example, students can receive incorrect information and develop misconceptions about the content area (National Research Council, 2000; Pfundt, & Duit, 2000). Yet content knowledge, in and of itself, is an ill-structured domain, and as the culture wars (Zimmerman, 2002), the Great Books controversies (Bloom, 1987; Casement, 1997; Levine, 1996), and court battles over the teaching of evolution (Pennock, 2001) demonstrate, issues relating to curriculum content can be areas of significant contention and disagreement.

Pedagogical Knowledge

Pedagogical knowledge (PK) is teachers' deep knowledge about the processes and practices or methods of teaching and learning. They encompass, among other things, overall educational purposes, values, and aims. This generic form of knowledge applies to understanding how students learn, general classroom management skills, lesson planning, and student assessment. It includes knowledge about techniques or methods used in the classroom; the nature of the target audience; and strategies for evaluating student understanding. A teacher with deep pedagogical knowledge understands how students construct knowledge and acquire skills and how they develop habits of mind and positive dispositions toward learning. As such, pedagogical knowledge requires an understanding of cognitive, social, and developmental theories of learning and how they apply to students in the classroom.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge

PCK is consistent with and similar to Shulman's idea of knowledge of pedagogy that is applicable to the teaching of specific content. Central to Shulman's conceptualization of PCK is the notion of the transformation of the subject matter for teaching. Specifically, according to Shulman (1986), this transformation occurs as the teacher interprets the subject matter, finds multiple ways to represent it, and adapts and tailors the instructional materials to alternative conceptions and students' prior knowledge. PCK covers the core business of teaching, learning, curriculum, assessment and reporting, such as the conditions that promote learning and the links among curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy. An awareness of common misconceptions and ways of looking at them, the importance of forging connections among different content-based ideas, students' prior knowledge, alternative teaching strategies, and the flexibility that comes from exploring alternative ways of looking at the same idea or problem are all essential for effective teaching.

Technology Knowledge

Technology knowledge (TK) is always in a state of flux-more so than the other two core knowledge domains in the TPACK framework (pedagogy and content). Thus, defining it is notoriously difficult. Any definition of technology knowledge is in danger of becoming outdated by the time this text has been published. That said, certain ways of thinking about and working with technology can apply to all technology tools and resources.

The definition of TK used in the TPACK framework is close to that of Fluency of Information Technology (FITness), as proposed by the Committee of Information Technology Literacy of the National Research Council (NRC, 1999). They argue that FITness goes beyond traditional notions of computer literacy to require that persons understand information technology broadly enough to apply it productively at work and in their everyday lives, to recognize when information technology can assist or impede the achievement of a goal, and to continually adapt to changes in information technology. FITness, therefore, requires a deeper, more essential understanding and mastery of information technology for information processing, communication, and problem solving than does the traditional definition of computer literacy. Acquiring TK in this manner enables a person to accomplish a variety of different tasks using information technology and to develop different ways of accomplishing a given task. This conceptualization of TK does not posit an "end state," but rather sees it developmentally, as evolving over a lifetime of generative, open-ended interaction with technology.

Technological Content Knowledge

Technology and content knowledge have a deep historical relationship. Progress in fields as diverse as medicine, history, archeology, and physics have coincided with the development of new technologies that afford the representation and manipulation of data in new and fruitful ways. Consider Roentgen's discovery of X-rays or the technique of carbon-14 dating and the influence of these technologies in the fields of medicine and archeology. Consider also how the advent of the digital computer changed the nature of physics and mathematics and placed a greater emphasis on the role of simulation in understanding phenomena. Technological changes have also offered new metaphors for understanding the world. Viewing the heart as a pump, or the brain as an information-processing machine are just some of the ways in which technologies have provided new perspectives for understanding phenomena. These representational and metaphorical connections are not superficial. They often have led to fundamental changes in the natures of the disciplines.

Understanding the impact of technology on the practices and knowledge of a given discipline is critical to developing appropriate technological tools for educational purposes. The choice of technologies affords and constrains the types of content ideas that can be taught. Likewise, certain content decisions can limit the types of technologies that can be used. Technology can constrain the types of possible representations, but also can afford the construction of newer and more varied representations. Furthermore, technological tools can provide a greater degree of flexibility in navigating across these representations.

TCK, then, is an understanding of the manner in which technology and content influence and constrain one another. Teachers need to master more than the subject matter they teach; they must also have a deep understanding of the manner in which the subject matter (or the kinds of representations that can be constructed) can be changed by the application of particular technologies. Teachers need to understand which specific technologies are best suited for addressing subject-matter learning in their domains and how the content dictates or perhaps even changes the technology-or vice versa.

Technological Pedagogical Knowledge

TPK is an understanding of how teaching and learning can change when particular technologies are used in particular ways. This includes knowing the pedagogical affordances and constraints of a range of technological tools as they relate to disciplinarily and developmentally appropriate pedagogical designs and strategies. To build TPK, a deeper understanding of the constraints and affordances of technologies and the disciplinary contexts within which they function is needed.

For example, consider how whiteboards may be used in classrooms. Because a whiteboard is typically immobile, visible to many, and easily editable, its uses in classrooms are presupposed. Thus, the whiteboard is usually placed at the front of the classroom and is controlled by the teacher. This location imposes a particular physical order in the classroom by determining the placement of tables and chairs and framing the nature of student-teacher interaction, since students often can use it only when called upon by the teacher. However, it would be incorrect to say that there is only one way in which whiteboards can be used. One has only to compare the use of a whiteboard in a brainstorming meeting in an advertising agency setting to see a rather different use of this technology. In such a setting, the whiteboard is not under the purview of a single individual. It can be used by anybody in the group, and it becomes the focal point around which discussion and the negotiation/construction of meaning occurs. An understanding of the affordances of technology and how they can be leveraged differently according to changes in context and purposes is an important part of understanding TPK.

TPK becomes particularly important because most popular software programs are not designed for educational purposes. Software programs such as the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Entourage, and MSN Messenger) are usually designed for business environments. Web-based technologies such as blogs or podcasts are designed for purposes of entertainment, communication, and social networking. Teachers need to reject functional fixedness (Duncker, 1945) and develop skills to look beyond most common uses for technologies, reconfiguring them for customized pedagogical purposes. Thus, TPK requires a forward-looking, creative, and open-minded seeking of technology use, not for its own sake but for the sake of advancing student learning and understanding.

Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge

TPACK is an emergent form of knowledge that goes beyond all three "core" components (content, pedagogy, and technology). Technological pedagogical content knowledge is an understanding that emerges from interactions among content, pedagogy, and technology knowledge. Underlying truly meaningful and deeply skilled teaching with technology, TPACK is different from knowledge of all three concepts individually. Instead, TPACK is the basis of effective teaching with technology, requiring an understanding of the representation of concepts using technologies; pedagogical techniques that use technologies in constructive ways to teach content; knowledge of what makes concepts difficult or easy to learn and how technology can help redress some of the problems that students face; knowledge of students' prior knowledge and theories of epistemology; and knowledge of how technologies can be used to build on existing knowledge to develop new epistemologies or strengthen old ones.

By simultaneously integrating knowledge of technology, pedagogy and content, expert teachers bring TPACK into play any time they teach. Each situation presented to teachers is a unique combination of these three factors, and accordingly, there is no single technological solution that applies for every teacher, every course, or every view of teaching. Rather, solutions lie in the ability of a teacher to flexibly navigate the spaces defined by the three elements of content, pedagogy, and technology and the complex interactions among these elements in specific contexts. Ignoring the complexity inherent in each knowledge component or the complexities of the relationships among the components can lead to oversimplified solutions or failure. Thus, teachers need to develop fluency and cognitive flexibility not just in each of the key domains (T, P, and C), but also in the manner in which these domains and contextual parameters interrelate, so that they can construct effective solutions. This is the kind of deep, flexible, pragmatic, and nuanced understanding of teaching with technology we involved in considering TPACK as a professional knowledge construct.

The act of seeing technology, pedagogy, and content as three interrelated knowledge bases is not straightforward. As said before,

... separating the three components (content, pedagogy, and technology) ... is an analytic act and one that is difficult to tease out in practice. In actuality, these components exist in a state of dynamic equilibrium or, as the philosopher Kuhn (1977) said in a different context, in a state of ''essential tension''.... Viewing any of these components in isolation from the others represents a real disservice to good teaching. Teaching and learning with technology exist in a dynamic transactional relationship (Bruce, 1997; Dewey & Bentley, 1949; Rosenblatt, 1978) between the three components in our framework; a change in any one of the factors has to be ''compensated'' by changes in the other two. (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1029)

This compensation is most evident whenever using a new educational technology suddenly forces teachers to confront basic educational issues and reconstruct the dynamic equilibrium among all three elements. This view inverts the conventional perspective that pedagogical goals and technologies are derived from content area curricula. Things are rarely that simple, particularly when newer technologies are employed. The introduction of the Internet, for example - particularly the rise of online learning - is an example of the arrival of a technology that forced educators to think about core pedagogical issues, such as how to represent content on the Web and how to connect students with subject matter and with one another (Peruski & Mishra, 2004).

Teaching with technology is a difficult thing to do well. The TPACK framework suggests that content, pedagogy, technology, and teaching/learning contexts have roles to play individually and together. Teaching successfully with technology requires continually creating, maintaining, and re-establishing a dynamic equilibrium among all components. It is worth noting that a range of factors influences how this equilibrium is reached.

Implications of the TPACK Framework

We have argued that teaching is a complex, ill-structured domain. Underlying this complexity, however, are three key components of teacher knowledge: understanding of content, understanding of teaching, and understanding of technology. The complexity of technology integration comes from an appreciation of the rich connections of knowledge among these three components and the complex ways in which these are applied in multifaceted and dynamic classroom contexts.

Since the late 1960's a strand of educational research has aimed at understanding and explaining "how and why the observable activities of teachers' professional lives take on the forms and functions they do" (Clark & Petersen, 1986, p. 255; Jackson, 1968). A primary goal of this research is to understand the relationships between two key domains: (a) teacher thought processes and knowledge and (b) teachers' actions and their observable effects. The current work on the TPACK framework seeks to extend this tradition of research and scholarship by bringing technology integration into the kinds of knowledge that teachers need to consider when teaching. The TPACK framework seeks to assist the development of better techniques for discovering and describing how technology-related professional knowledge is implemented and instantiated in practice. By better describing the types of knowledge teachers need (in the form of content, pedagogy, technology, contexts and their interactions), educators are in a better position to understand the variance in levels of technology integration occurring.

In addition, the TPACK framework offers several possibilities for promoting research in teacher education, teacher professional development, and teachers' use of technology. It offers options for looking at a complex phenomenon like technology integration in ways that are now amenable to analysis and development. Moreover, it allows teachers, researchers, and teacher educators to move beyond oversimplified approaches that treat technology as an "add-on" instead to focus again, and in a more ecological way, upon the connections among technology, content, and pedagogy as they play out in classroom contexts.

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Author Note:

The authors contributed equally to this work. We rotate order of authorship in our writing.

Matthew J. Koehler
Michigan State University
[email protected]

Punya Mishra
Michigan State University
[email protected]

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What Is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge?

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Editors' Note: For the benefit of readers who are unfamiliar with the notion of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK), we offer the following condensed and updated depiction by Mishra and Koehler (2007), which was presented originally at the annual conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education in 2007.

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The future of work is changing but Australia's education system is not preparing students for twenty-first century success.

Young Australians are studying for longer than ever before but are disengaged and struggling to find permanent jobs. Young people entering technology-rich, global, competitive job markets need different skill sets to what our education system has traditionally valued.

Unless schools broaden learning objectives, many students will fail to become capable, successful adults - putting Australia's social and economic wellbeing at risk.

Young people need to bring more than knowledge to the modern workforce. The most crucial capabilities for the future include critical thinking, creativity, curiosity and communication skills.

Our approach to education is not equipping young people with the broad capabilities that will enable them to thrive in complex education and employment settings. It is time Australia made changes to prioritise teaching, assessing and reporting capabilities.

In 2016, we brought together a group of leaders across Australia to consider the challenge of preparing young people for the future of work. This report takes an in-depth look at these challenges and provides possible solutions to ensure young Australians are prepared for the future of work.

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Preparing young people for the future of work

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The future of work is changing but Australia's education system is not preparing students for twenty-first century success. Young Australians are studying for longer than ever before but are disengaged and struggling to find permanent jobs. Young people entering technology-rich, global, competitive job markets need different skill sets to what our education system has traditionally valued.

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The Queensland Government has a plan for education that will see us take our world-class education system further and prepare our students for the challenges of tomorrow. dvancing education action plan puts our students on the path to success.

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Classroom resources | eSafety Commissioner

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Discover resources designed to help schools and other educators teach online safety lessons.

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This clip summarises the seven general capabilities form part of the Australian Curriculum construct.

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How do I support the general capabilities through my teaching? Why would I use it? Can I develop skills with and without ICT? How do I ensure that my digital pedagogy is not just to entertain the students, but to consolidate/collaborate their learning.

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Introduction

The general capabilities play a significant role in the Australian Curriculum in equipping young Australians to live and work successfully in the twenty-first century.

In the Australian Curriculum, capability encompasses knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions. Students develop capability when they apply knowledge and skills confidently, effectively and appropriately in complex and changing circumstances, in their learning at school and in their lives outside school.

General Capabilities in the Australian Curriculum

In the Australian Curriculum, the general capabilities are addressed through the content of the learning areas. General capabilities are identified where they are developed or applied in the content descriptions. They are also identified where they offer opportunities to add depth and richness to student learning via the content elaborations, which are provided to give teachers ideas about how they might teach the content. Icons are used to indicate where general capabilities have been identified in learning area content descriptions and elaborations.

Teachers are expected to teach and assess general capabilities to the extent that they are incorporated within learning area content. State and territory education authorities will determine if and how student learning of the general capabilities is to be further assessed or reported.

General capabilities materials are presented to help teachers develop a shared understanding of the nature, scope and sequence of the general capabilities in the Australian Curriculum and to help teachers plan for students' development of the general capabilities in school and classroom learning programs.

The materials for each general capability include:

an introduction that describes the nature and scope of the capability, its place in the learning areas and its evidence base

organising elements and sub-elements that underpin a learning continuum

a learning continuum.

Learning continua have been developed for each capability to describe the relevant knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions at particular points of schooling. Within each of the capabilities, specific behaviours and dispositions have been identified and incorporated into each learning continuum as appropriate.
Using the learning continua Personalising learning
Students need opportunities to develop capabilities over time and across learning areas. What is learnt in the early years supports all subsequent learning. The learning continua map common paths for general capability development while recognising that each student's pace of development may be influenced by factors such as their prior experience, sense of self in the world and cognitive capacity.

Learning continua typically, but not exclusively, align with years of schooling. Stages in each learning continuum are labelled from Levels 1 to 6 to emphasise that the continuum presents a sequence of learning independent of student age.

For Literacy, Level 1 is divided into five sub-levels: 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d and 1e. Levels 1a-1d represent the development of early literacy skills with a particular emphasis on communication. For Numeracy, Level 1 is divided into two sub-levels: 1a and 1b; to represent the progression from early numeracy to numeracy skills. For Personal and Social capability, Level 1 is divided into two sub-levels: 1a and 1b. Level 1a describes the development of awareness of self and others and Level 1b describes the skills or actions to accompany those understandings about self and others.

For more information on using the general capabilities continua to personalise learning for students for whom English is an additional language or dialect, students with disability and gifted and talented students see Student Diversity.
Viewing on the website
Each general capability learning continuum is available online in two views:

expected learning across the levels in a table format

expected learning for each level in turn, in text format .

Users can also see which general capability elements and sub-elements are addressed in the content description by selecting the capability icon.