Fund for Teachers Fellowship #2016 Wrap Up

The trip has come to an end, but the journey continues. 
I have made lasting professional connections and friends.

And now the work begins! 

I have another week before school starts for reflection, follow-up, global collaboration project plans, and continued connections. I have learned so much and am continuing to learn as I delve into all my resources and stay connected through professional social networks. This was an amazing opportunity to learn and grow as a teacher. As I had looked forward to the trip, I look forward to the continuation of the journey...the learning doesn't stop. Thank you Dalio Foundtion. Thank you FFT.

My take aways:

• I was impressed by the funding from the government to create resources, and finance the support staff and programs to implement coding into the curriculum. 
• I was also excited by the depth and breadth of those resources (and the fact that I have access to them!)
• Public transportation in the cities is clean, convenient, state of the art, straightforward
• The same educational initiatives are popular worldwide 
• There are many similarities within the schools
• Integrating of coding into the curriculum involves hands-on activities and resources
• The outdoors is a significant part of life in Australia
• There is a concerted effort to embrace and respect Aboriginal culture
• "Everyone" questioned the political climate of the US - as it is reported daily on the news

I had set this up as a trip of a lifetime. I felt comfortable in Australia, and there is still so much to see and do: Darwin, Perth, Brisbane. I would like to learn more and experience more of the Aboriginal culture. I think I will return at some point. I have begun a conversation with the Alice Springs School of the Air to work with them in the future. I wonder if perhaps a future fellowship opportunity might include a visit to several of the different School of the Air facilities throughout Australia?!

Thank you for following my adventures! I am excited to share my experiences and inspire colleagues to plan their own learning journeys. I am excited to open the walls of our classroom to a global collaboration experience.

We are bound by the restrictions we impose upon ourselves. Continue to learn and grow: expand your horizons, explore your world, exceed your comfort zone, and excite your mind!

An Unlikely Setting for Insight into the Australian Education System

Monday, August 1, 2016

On the train ride back to Sydney I had a lengthy conversation with a former teacher that is presently a casual relief teacher (US equivalent of a substitute teacher). The takeaway from that interaction was the revelation that Australia substitute is financially rewarded at a much higher level as compared to the school districts in the US. The rate of pay is A$400/day for a substitute in Australia. I had heard the same amount at a conference and did some fact checking. Wow! That is a monumental disparity! The daily substitute compensation in the US is often less than $100 per day. While I observed so many similarities on my journey, or inconsequential differences, this stands out as a major difference. The teacher salaries are more comparable: the top level teacher salary in Australia is approximately 15-20% higher than in our local area. This does not seem like a significant inequality compared to the 300% increase in substitute pay. Minimum wage is also significantly higher: $17.70 per hour in Australia as compared to a number closer to $10 per hour in the US.

Teachers in Australia teach four 10 week terms. Overall, that is just a bit longer than our 180 day schedule. We discussed additional holiday time that is awarded to teachers after 10 years of service (an additional six weeks that may be taken during the school year.) It may also be used to extend the two week break in between terms. It is not frowned upon. I ran across several situations were teachers were on "holiday" even though the term had just resumed. I even had to change my original school visitation itinerary due to some scheduled teacher holidays. At the time I did not fully understand the concept. The teachers and students were just returning from a two week winter break between terms, but this "holiday" was being referred to in a nonchalant manner, as if they were out for a meeting. It is not customary or allowable for us to extend our breaks for additional holiday, so it did sound quite unusual to me. So not only do they pay their substitutes at a much higher rate, they also hire them to cover the holiday time of veteran teachers.

A Visit to Quakers Hill High School

Monday, August 1, 2016

The final stop on my school tour was in Quakers Hill at Quakers Hill High School to meet with Sim Mediratta. Sim has participated in global collaboration projects through iEARN and I was excited to meet her and plan for a joint project for my upcoming school year. She received coverage for the afternoon, so she was able to provide a comprehensive tour of the campus and many of the classrooms. One of the highlights at Quakers Hill High School was learning about the Aboriginal learning space that was researched, planned, designed, and built by the students. It is an outdoor space with cultural significance. Students use it as a classroom/learning area and are continually adding to the gardens and keeping up with maintaining the space. The marker show to the left is titled Community Links. The circular symbol at the top is the representation. There are additional markings on the other side that relate to community. Each marker around the circle (two can be seen in the photo above) represent a concept related to Aboriginal life.

Sim's described how the students will work on a global collaboration project with my students later this year. She has been involved in global projects through iEARN. The students worked with the Adobe Youth Voices Project (Mars Project). It was a skill-based sustainability project. The students chose a common case study with two other countries in the program. The three areas of focus were: fix themselves; fix community; and fix globally. They shared around in a Wiki as they researched, drafted, and presented final projects. There were many challenges, but it was a worthwhile learning process.

The school, as a whole, has not yet integrated coding into all the classes.  These are some of the tools/resources they are using: laptop carts by department; filming; cameras; robotics; Adobe animation develop sustainable communities with MineCraft; Lego nxt, 2nd gen.; stay in line challenge; sumo challenge; Raspberry Pi; and Python (yr 10). The school has five computer labs to share in addition to the computers available in the media center. The photo on the right is of one of the computer labs being used by a substitute teacher. I found it interesting that the school has an academic team focus rather than a grade level team focus. Teachers spend their "team" time and meeting time with like minded teachers, not grade level teachers. For science, there will be a school wide integration of STEM next year (their school year begins in January). 

The students may visit the library/media center during their lunch. I spent some time there with the students and interacted with a few boys that were brainstorming the next storyline for a game and writing the code for it. The game was called Hearts of Iron. The lunch media center program is interesting. Students may use computers for school related or non-related business. Students sign in and sit at an assigned computer. They may also choose a book, read or just socialize. It is not a quiet zone, but it is structured. There are library helpers that each complete assigned tasks at the bell such as straightening keyboards and mice, pushing in chairs, and generally tidying up. I was impressed with the execution of the routines. Also, the students were very polite explaining to me what they were working on. The photo below shows the media center computers during lunch.

This was the final scheduled school visit, but I had an unexpected, yet informative conversation with an educator on the commute back to Sydney...

A Visit to Evans High School

Two more school visits west of Sydney

They are too far to take a taxi, but I anticipated an easy hour commute by train. The train station was easy to navigate with helpful staff. The train was multilevel, comfortable, and very clean. 

The first school is Evans High School in Blacktown. My airport transportation driver, a former teacher at Blacktown Boys High School, referred to Blacktown as the "Wild Wild West."  That conjures up a visual of gun fights in the street for me! That did leave me a bit concerned, but I had a commitment to go there. On the Uber ride from the train station to Evans High School I observed neighborhoods that were distinctly different from the high-rises of the city or the prosperous suburbs of Melbourne.  I spotted Blacktown Boys High School one block from the main road, behind an auto body shop. The businesses seemed to spring up haphazardly, with rundown store fronts and a poor, or perhaps nonexistent, development plan. There was clearly a different socio-economic vibe. Evans High School was a gated property. I moved onward with an open mind. 

One unique feature of this school is that it has a separate program that is an Intensive English Center. International and aboriginal (8%) students may attend this program of study for 6 months and then they transition to the main curriculum. 60 percent of the students attend this intensive language module and represent over 120 different languages. Technology integration in the language program is separate from the main school as they have access to more devices and the budget and funding is independent.

I met with Tamara Rodgers.  Evans High School received an eleven thousand dollar grant to purchase technology resources to implement coding into the curriculum.  They have five computer labs and the students do not bring their own devices. They have not yet begun to integrate coding into their classes. They are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the following: Spheros, Ozobots, Lego Robotics, Raspberry Pi, Little Bits, and Makey Makey supplies as a means of introducing computational thinking and coding. These seem to be the popular coding integration resources highlighted at the conference and used in many schools in Australia. I will follow up with Tamara to learn how these products are facilitating the assimilation of coding in the curriculum.   

I cannot speak of Blacktown Boys High School, but my impression of Evans High School is a school struggling with fiscal issues that provides the best learning experiences for their students within their means. Thankfully my visit was safe and insightful. This is a picture from the Evans High School website.

http://www.evans-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/our-school

Meeting with Paul Clapton-Caputo

Paul Clapton-Caputo is the Program Leader of Digital Learning and Communications at the Department for Education and Child Development, South Australia. He is also a board member of EdTechSA. I met with Paul and he shared a wealth of knowledge. We discussed so many things, these are the highlights: 

• Abundant resources to expand my personal learning network
• Social Networking resources: About.me; Twitter 
• Added to Australian Curriculum Innovation Facebook Group
• The TfEL (Teaching for Effective Learning) Compass Feedback Tool for educators
• FYA.org (Australian Foundation on Youth)
• YouTube Martin Westwell: Teaching and Learning in South Australia
• New Media Consortium Report 2015
• Michael Fullan: A Rich Seam - How New Pedagogies Find Deep Meaning
• John Seely: Humans Need Not Apply
• The 4th Industrial Revolution
• Create a culture of "yes"
• Teacher as a change agent
• Continue the conversation - stay in touch -

Paul is a valuable contact and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to spend quality time with him and make this lasting connection.

A Visit to Emmaus Catholic School

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Gary Pascoe is a Deputy Principal at Emmaus Catholic School and an ICT teacher.  He is also the Marketing Coordinator for EdTechSA. While I have been keeping track of similarities and differences on my journey, one significant similarity that I noticed at Emmaus were the classroom and common area bulletin boards with Mindset phrases. We have comparable messages on our bulletin boards. It was encouraging to see that, as educators, we value the same initiatives. One prominent difference at this school (as in many schools in Australia) is a no hat/no play policy.  Australians spend a great deal of time outside, and they are conscientious of the damaging effects of the sun. At this school they have proactively instituted the stringent hat policy. Students must be in the shade and are not allowed to play if they do not have their hats. The hat must be wide brimmed to cover their ears (not a baseball style cap). 

Other highlights of this school visit include the low cost resources that Gary uses while implementing coding initiatives. He was considering a high cost paint for one wall to use as a green screen, but found that an inexpensive green sheet from IKEA works fine.  He shared some frame stands that he also purchased at IKEA that are perfect for an IQ code project. Instead of expensive charging stations for the iPads, a plastic notebook holder works is also suitable. Gary is interested in supporting his students to use their ITC skills to be producers rather than consumers. He also uses a few of the common tools for coding such as Little Bits, Ozobots and Spheros. He has shared a great social news magazine app call Flipboard. I am following Gary's Flipboard and he has an abundant amount of information on coding and ideas for integration. This is an amazing resource!

A Visit to Woodend Primary School

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

After the conference I met with Senior Leader, Jarrod Lamshed, at Woodend Primary School in Sheidow Park. Woodend Primary School (reception - year 7) is located in a former shopping mall. It is no longer evident that this space previously held stores and restaurants. It does not have high end technology, but it makes practical use in creative ways, such as using a green sheet for a green screen.  I was impressed with all the different Year 7 Memento projects. I have included two photos showing one of the projects. 

Jarrod is the Vice President of EdTechSA. Jarrod was available to tour me around the school. As a Senior Leader he has a few days each week out of the classroom. Jarrod teaches sixth and seventh grade boys. While the school is co-ed, they have recently implemented a single gender teaching focus for grades 6 and 7. It takes the co-ed drama associated with that age group out of the classroom. One of Jarrod's current initiatives is called "What is it to Be a Man?" The objective is to change gender stereotype perceptions and develop respectful young men that are positive role models in the school community. He is receiving positive results, so far. 

Jarrod uses digital technologies to improve learning. He showed me how a Woodend Primary Facebook group is improving parent communication and involvement. I am now following Jarrod on his Connected Learning professional blog. On August 10, 2016 he published an entry titled "Noticing the Good Stuff." I love the effort to change the culture in the classroom by taking the time to notice and publicly acknowledge the "good stuff." 

A Visit to Immanuel College

Tuesday, July 26, 2016
 
Immanuel College was the host of the EdTechSA conference. I was invited back for a closer look when the students returned to school. Immanuel College has students from years 7 through 12. This is a Microsoft Showcase School - which is a distinctive honor reserved for exemplar schools that lead with forward thinking and utilize Microsoft applications for teaching and learning in the classroom. "Microsoft Showcase Schools are a global community of schools engaged in digital transformation to improve learning outcomes." (Microsoft) Immanuel College is also a Google for Education school, employing the best practice of tools and resources across the curriculum. 
Part of the school has recently undergone a renovation. The principal, Kevin Richardson, provided a detailed tour and insight into the development of the new facility. The students had the opportunity to participate in the design of the renovation. They requested a student driven, professional environment that was technology enhanced (but invisible). Kevin also shared the philosophy of the learning spaces, the technology integration, and the curriculum. The upgrade was financed with a grant from the government. The design includes exemplar integration and inclusion of technology for the future, with the intent of serving as a model or prototype for other schools upgrading facilities and technology.

The technology is state-of-the-art. In fact, some of the technology resources included will not be used for several years, but they have planned ahead. The learning spaces are flexible. I observed an abundance of charging stations, USB ports, and plugs in the common areas. One of the spaces that seemed unique to me was the large interactive IT office that was designed to invite staff and students in to work, seek assistance, and provide assistance to others. Two photos are included of the IT space. Very impressive!

The Digital Technologies curriculum is integrated into core classes and electives. Not only do they have 3-D printers, but they have 3-D scanners and laser cutting and engraving tools in their state-of-the-art manufacturing classrooms. Digital technology is even a large part of their fashion design classes, with code written to accessorize clothing with illumination devices. I have included photos from a music computer lab and a general computer lab. In the computer lab, the students may choose to use their laptop at one of the center tables, or use the desktop computers. While I realize that some of these tools are for the upper level grades and that we may or may not have similar resources, I was equally impressed by the year 7 after school club that wrote code for a robot to take directions and point to body parts (head, nose, etc.) in German even though not all participants were familiar with German! Coding at Immanuel College is not for computer class, it is incorporated into most, if not all classes.

Everyone was welcoming as I entered their classrooms to observe and/or interacted with their students. I was able to spend time with two of the teachers (Jolanta and Jess) that I will be embarking on a global collaboration project with. I had met one of the teachers, Jolanta, at the conference. Coincidently, she presented a workshop on global collaboration. My students will be participating in a global collaboration project with the year 7 students in their classes. 

I was dazzled by this school at the conference and I was even more amazed when I received the behind the scenes tour and backstory. Is this what schools are like in Australia? The students seemed so well behaved. The first school I had visited also seemed to have a plethora of resources. Perhaps, Australia is an educator's utopia? 

Reality check: a trusted friend at the conference confided that not all schools are this fortunate. At Immanuel College the bar is set very high, but it is not the norm. Many schools have severe budgetary constraints and they do not have classrooms full of high end technology resources or "model students" - and I will experience this as I continue on my journey. 

A Visit with Tina Photakis

Monday, July 25, 2016

Tina Photakis
President of EdTechSA

Congratulations Tina, on a successful conference! Well done!

I was able to spend some time after the conference chatting with Tina and we set up additional time to connect on Monday, July 25, 2016.  I am very thankful that I was able to join EdTechSA, participate in the conference, and establish a network of resources to enrich my teaching and learning. I am here as a student, an educator with a lifelong passion for learning.

Tina is a wealth of knowledge and contacts.  She took the time to reach out to colleagues in Adelaide for me to connect with.  As a result of our conversation, I decided that it would be in my best interest to extend my stay in Adelaide.  I set up several school visits and meetings for later in the week.

EdTechSA Day 2

Friday, July 22, 2016

Day 2 Keynote 1
Dr. Bronwyn Stuckey "Growing Gameful"
Find your own gameful place to ignite learning!
Take Away: Growing Gameful is not just about playing games: inspire learning!

Jim Gee's book: What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy

The discourse/conversation that people have “around the game”

powerful learning is socially constructed, think laterally

Get gameful:engage with non-game environments in a gameful way (like protractor near the swing)

Build game around the narrative/tell an engaging story/deconstruct the game and tell the narrative/

make play part of your journey/ Ex: Chore Wars

What does it look like when gameful goes to school?

Make recycling a fun thing to do (hoops over bin)

Gamified professional development - earn badges          http://edurealms.com      @lucasgillispie 

Take Away: message to get across: teachers are learners too!

breakoutedu.com

A good game community for classes

Craft learning management - designed as a multiplayer game

Simple Quest: google form

Complete challenges and teacher’s spreadsheet updates

http://alicekeeler.com/simplequest

(use as intro to new content)

Grammar Olympics

Stop thinking of fun as giggles

Take Away: The fun is in the challenge!

Topic signal

Topic is not intrinsically interesting or engaging 

Name assignments in a fun way  
Engage by bringing in fun

Engagement signal

learners switched off by traditional learning
giving learners new experience of success

Context signal   new curriculum

http://www.getgamehub.net       Do I have a new story to share? Add it here!

Take Away: in gaming, students try and try again: they are less likely to give up!

Day 2 Workshop 1
The Crisis of the Introvert
Presenter: Kathryn McGilvary

Consider the personalities of both students and colleagues

Presentation: https://goo.gl/RsHmTL

Twitter: @kathmcg1

Myers Brigg Personality Test: ESTJ
Extroverted Sensor Thinker Judger

Activity: photo language cards: find an image that relates to an introvert

Take Away: Introverts take longer to process!

Personality Profile Portal: Kingdomality

How is your classroom learning space arranged? Flexible learning space? Learning space for all learning styles? Sitting/standing/small group/individual???

Check out paint that you can write on the wall!

Take Away: What can you do in the learning space for the introvert?

Learning circle - everyone is equal, including the teacher, no technology

the waterhole space for incidental conversation?

Get ideas from others on how you can improve your learning space:

Geoff Mulgan

We are all designers – John Hockenberry

Why architects needs to use their ears – Julian Treasure

Build  Tower, Build a Team – Tom Wujec

The 7 Spaces of Virtual Learning – Ewan McIntosh

From the campfire to the holodeck – David Thornburg

Creating Learning Spaces – Anne Keneally

Maker Spaces – Dale Dougherty

Education in the slums – Charles Leadbeater

Where can students publish their work?
Youtube creator studio: (easier than MovieMaker)

Take Away: Draw on introverts because they have a different take on things!

Day 2 Workshop 2
Digital Technologies: Next Steps at Years 7 & 8
Katrina Falkner & Rebecca Vivian (not available)

Presenter: Claudia

MOOC: Massively Open Online Community

Years 7& 8

Overview of project streams 

Examples of projects

Why Digital Technologies?

• allows understanding and appreciation of the difficulties
• allows for innovative thinking
• how does it impact
• how does it solve problems

Take Away: CS is about solving problems!

Year 7 & 8

Evaluate: talk about what they have done and practice giving/receiving feedback

Design Thinking

Systems Thinking

Enchanting (looks like Scratch - but can work on Lego Minecraft Robots (free software)

Australian Digital Technologies Curriculum

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/technologies/digital-technologies/curriculum/f-10?layout=1#level3-4

https://csdigitaltech.appspot.com/course

"The Computer Science Education Research Group, CSER, at the University of Adelaide, have developed a number of open, online courses designed to assist teachers in addressing the new Digital Technologies learning area.   These courses cover an introduction to concepts and example activities that help teach Computer Science and Computational Thinking at primary and secondary levels. While explicitly connected with the Australian Curriculum, these courses are open to anyone who wishes to learn more about how they could teach Computational Thinking at these levels."

Take Away: Check out this resource!

Day 2 Keynote 2 
Martin Levins "What have we learned?"

Levins.net

Take Away: The single most successful element of BYOD is “trust”

STEM/STEAM/STREAM

STEM is not equal to coding!

Valve employee handbook: 

Develop self sufficient problem solvers!

What if I screw up?  Mistakes are opportunities for learning!

How do I manage change? Stay purpose driven —create “low cost of failure” increments

Constantly communicate——  get the  right people to do this

Invest in people—they’re your biggest asset

Persist—with friends

Take Away: 

Take action as a change leader for learning improvement!

Day 2 Workshop 3
Global Connections and Being a Teacherpreneur
Presenter: Jolanta Stephens

https://padlet.com/jolanta_stephen/GCTPconnect

Jolanta Stephens

Twitter: @jolantastephens

email: jstephens@immanuel.sa.edu.au

Teacherpreneur

Certified Global Educator

www.julielindsay.net

www.flatconnections.com

@julielindsay

@flatconnection

Janet Farrell

Getting students to create professional learning networks with other students, experts, etc

“good reads”

Edmodo: Connect culturally with schools / Teach about digital citizenship

Need to be flexible

Today’s Meet: 140 characters

Approach Twitter with a Growth Mindset

dave mulder  @D_Mulder

Jolanta's Blog: www.the-quirky-teacher.blogspot.com

check out Jolanta’s blog

kids blogging

Weekly Education
Auasma

Makers Empire

https://padlet.com/jolanta_stephen/GCteacherpreneurresouces

Jolanta has a huge collection of ideas and resources! I am so excited to begin a global collaboration project with her and a teaching partner (Jess). I will spend some time in their classroom next week!

Another full day of learning! Again, I love all the take-aways! The fun is in the challenge! I have many more connections to follow for my professional learning network and many resources to explore. What an amazing opportunity to participate in this event. #FFTFellow2016

EdTechSA Day 1

Thursday, July 21, 2016

EdTechSA Conference at Immanuel College, Adelaide

Two full days of learning at Immanuel College. In Australia, the term "college" refers to a secondary education setting. University or "Uni" is the higher education setting. 

I met some great people: experts, colleagues, friends. It was an amazing learning opportunity. Looking forward to personal learning networks, future meetings, collaboration, and global learning projects. Thank you, Fund for Teachers. I am just going to enter brief notes and take aways from all my experiences at EdTechSA, mostly as a reference for myself. Feel free to utilize any of the information or resources.


Day 1 Keynote 1
Dan Haesler "Engaging Kids Today"
What is the positive sense of belonging at my school? How do I know? What am I going to do about it?
Take Away: And if it is 99% positive...what am I going to do to rectify the 1%?

Depression: School connectedness is a better predictor of wellbeing and depression than parental attachment
Does the student feel able to be him/herself? Is there an adult they can go to with a serious issue?

Engagement
Know what you're doing (SLO)
How to get there (Learning Scale)
Most important: WHY are you doing it?
Need to shift the thinking from "on task" behavior to "in task"
"In task" Creativity. Fun. Groups. Example: Mindcraft
No Game Over. Just Try again.
Take Away: in gaming, students try and try again. They are less likely to give up.

Book: School of Thought - downloaded to Kindle

Day 1 Workshop 1
DIY Personalized Treasure Hunts with Google Forms and QR Codes
Presenter: Chantelle Morrison, Immanuel Primary School
Blog: guerillalearning.com

Activity: QR Code Treasure Hunt with Pokemon characters
Take Away: a fun way to set up a review of content prior to an assessment
Like students, teachers grow best when they are moderately challenged...

Resources: Google Forms, PlayPosit, QR Code Creator & Readers, URL shortener
Google Form for presentation and template of activity: https://goo.gl/79MXXu 

Day 1 Workshop 2
Resources for the new Australian Digital Technologies Curriculum

Unpack the Digital Technologies curriculum, one step at a time

Presenters: Leanne Robertson and Jill Wilson

Education Services Australia (ESA)

Twitter: @DigiTechHub

groups/DTHub

Amazing resource: CSUnplugged download resources

Integrate unplugged activities into curriculum for coding lessons

***Also have available for technology and power failures!!!

knowledge and understanding/process and production

A comprehensive resource developed for integration of coding into the curriculum

It is a work in progress -

digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au 

Go to the website above:

Choose the Primary Teachers tab

Video 1

Ten key concepts

Digital Technologies: about understanding how these are created and used

Computational Thinking

• find patterns
• collect find and use data
• only part of the story

Take Away: Coding is an important element, but the focus is on active problem solvers, creating, computational thinking…

Day 1 Invited Speaker 
Katrina Faulkner "Digital Technologies from the Classroom"
Katrina is unavailable: presentation by Jill Wilson and Leanne Robertson 
This presentation has similar content from the workshop that I just attended
More information about the resources available at the website above

Day 1 Workshop 3
Hands on the Digital Technologies Australian Curriculum
Presenter: Gawain Duncan

hands on activities using 

integrate into the bigger picture

presentation available at http://bit.ly/EDTECHSA16GD

Network Traffic Game (unplugged)

Scratch type coding (SNAP) with Arduino Boards

I went through the motions and participated in this workshop, but I do not think that I will be utilizing much of the information.

All in all this was a full day of learning! I loved all the take-aways! I have an overwhelming amount of connections and information. What an amazing opportunity to participate in this event. #FFTFellow2016

I also made an early connection with two of the presenters, Kate Besson and Vanessa Allen.  I am thankful to have met these new friends. They were helpful and both a great source of information.

Alice Springs School of the Air

Monday July 18, 2016

Alice Springs School of the Air

This school services students in a 502,000 square mile area. (That's a big number! Visualize the area of California times THREE!) It is considered to be the world's largest classroom!  There are currently 141 students enrolled. The students live in remote areas that do not have local schools. They may live on cattle ranches, camel farms, mining camps, national parks, roadhouses and in Indigenous communities.  The school employs 16 teachers that provide learning opportunities via satellite using technology, curriculum, support, and field visits for students ages 4 (pre-school) through year 9. Students continue years 10, 11, and 12 at a boarding school or a remote learning school in Darwin.

The School of the Air has a presentation that discusses the history of the school through current times. You are able to see into the classrooms and view the technology and resources that are used for remote learning. I have included a photo of one of the classrooms. 

While this school visit was not part of my scheduled itinerary, it made an extreme impact on me and I have reached out for further communication. I was fascinated by the programs and the work they do there. I am hoping to add this to my list of global collaboration options. It is a unique setting compared to a conventional school building, yet they overcome challenges such as distance, language, culture, and priorities to create virtual classrooms with successful learning opportunities.