Using IT to enrich the learning experiences of secondary English students

The new Victorian VCE statement of goals requires that students will focus on among other things :

• Strategies for constructing and supporting a personal response to a text;
• Techniques for critically discussing and evaluating issues and arguments presented in texts;
• Conventions of small group and whole class discussions;
• Means of responding to and building on the ideas of others in discussion;
• The use of evidence to support the ideas and points of view presented in speech;
• Means of developing constructive interaction in group settings.

The 1998, the Year 9 student cohort which first used notebook computers as a learning tool, was surveyed after 1 year and again at the end of 1999. They believed they were better organised, could draft their work more effectively, find work more easily, enjoyed using online texts, worked in a mostly paperless environment and found email useful.

Students at this school are well used to email as a social and pastoral and communication tool but it has rarely been see here as part of the learning culture nor has it's use been embedded in the course structures.

Using the same student cohort as the above survey, online threaded discussions were set up for groups of 5 in Feb 2000, with one student from each of the Year 11 English classes randomly allocated to each group. A record of what each student wrote was kept. Each teacher monitored 4 of the groups and was asked to evaluate the frequency and quality of the student responses to the text, particularly how students follow and contribute to a discussion, present evidence and respect and respond to the views of others.

With the help of a lecturer from Melbourne University Faculty of Education, a group of students and staff were interviewed before the project began, a questionnaire established and random focus groups for interview formed for interview at the conclusion of the project. The results of the survey will therefore be analysed jointly by the school and the lecturer.

The format of online discussion will be extended to groups of students across three schools in May and June 2000.

This online moderation of discussion by teachers was an extension of their existing role in the online setting of tasks, correction and examinations, online research and other activities using IT.

We expect the outcome to show that the students take more responsibility for their own learning; that they increase the repertoire of their thinking strategies; that there is a rise in learning energy as they interact with a non-preferred social group; as they develop their thinking skills in a collaborative environment; and as they use learning time more effectively.

We believe that information technology has the potential to change the way teachers teach, the was students develop self directed learning and their ability to work in teams, think critically and solve problems. This paper will demonstrate one way in which this hypothesis has been tested.