[First filed: May 25, 2010 @ 14:34]
Andrew Barr has announced that the “Connected Learning Community” (cLc), currently being trialled at eight schools (Hawker College, Lake Tuggeranong College, Stromlo High School, Alfred Deakin High School, Campbell High School, Weetangera Primary School, Ngunnawal Primary School and Wanniassa Hills Primary School) is going live to the rest of the public school system next year.
“The cLc is revolutionising teaching in ACT schools,” Minister for Education and Training Andrew Barr said today. “It will allow students to replay a lesson by podcast at home, use video links to practice speaking a language with a student at another school and have the option of completing their maths homework online. They will also be able to log in from home to double check their homework requirements and create online portfolios of work. Students will be able to learn anywhere, any time.”
The potential for parents to see for themselves what homework has been set is revolutionary enough.
The thought of every lesson being podcast is intriguing though.
Bad enough for a new teacher to lose control of a class. How much worse to have every student, those student’s friends, and families, be able to re-live the magic moments?
Any readers been involved in the trials? Want to share the experience?
UPDATE: Andrew Barr’s office has clarified that podcasting will be at the teacher’s discretion:
It’s up to the teacher what is recorded and stored The system could be useful for studetns when they’re away sick or when a lesson deals with concepts that are hard to grasp – the replay can help students better understand without having to go back to the teacher.
Cunning parents can now track teacher performance by the number of lessons published one supposes.
FURTHER UPDATE: Well we’ve had one piece of student feedback on the system which warrants front page attention:
#1
ash.wello
19:53, 25 May 10
i’m a current student at hawker college in year 12, today i watched mr barr in my library give a report on the new Connected Learning Community. i can tell you right now. nobody is interested.. about 50 percent of students at my school actually use the computers and the other half have never logged onto my classes the whole time they have been here, we just don’t care really. i’m sure parents will begin caring once it is annouced in newsletters that they can start keeping track of their children’s homework. but how many will? and what about the small percentage of people who still don’t even have a computer at home. i think we are too dependant on technology, and the minutes my fellow students and i have spent watching our teachers struggle to use the smartboards and seen machines play up have actually eaten into our learning time. don’t get me wrong, the whole catching up when your sick thing is great, but its just the same as coming back to school and collecting the worksheets you missed out on. classes before us graduated without this help so i really don’t think its needed.