BSC ICT links

Case StudySearching for information on an Australian poet I am writing a biography on the Australian poet Edward Harrington. What information is available on him? We can start by searching likely databases for entries on Harrington e.g. Australian Dictionary of Biography and AustLit It is always useful to search the Catalogue to see if the Library has any items relating to Harrington. A Catalogue search for "Edward Harrington" shows that we hold a portrait of him, a biographical cuttings file and an oral history recording by him. It is a good idea to check his published works to see if any biographical information is included in his writings. We can then search the Trove newspaper database to find articles that mention Harrington. If Harrington was involved in any organisations, such as a poet's society, searching for the organisation may provide some useful background on his life and activities

- Post-It Poetry

- Blackout Poetry

- Instant Poetry

Here are some questions I ask myself as I go through this process: Will the learning activities provide learners with opportunities to tap into their own personal interests and passions? Will the learning activities offer the learners the chance to put them “selves” into their work? Will the learning activities provide learners with opportunities to express themselves using their own authentic voices? Will the learners find the learning activities engaging? interesting? relevant? useful? What “cool” technologies can be used to help meet both the instructional and the learners’ goals? Will the learning activities provide learners with opportunities to have fun and to play? Will learners be able to do at least some of the work independently? Will the learning activities give all of the learners opportunities to shine? Will the learners get the chance to share their work with other learners, with a more global audience?

Contrast Scotch with Brookside College, a public P-9 school in Caroline Springs west of Melbourne. According to the MySchool web page, Brookside has an enrolment of 940 – half the number at Scotch but, unlike that elite school, it draws its students from a wide range of cultural and socio-economic backgrounds with more than half from non-English speaking homes where 88% are in the lower and middle socioeconomic quartiles. Brookside has 68 teachers and 24 non-teaching staff while Scotch has 191 teachers and 106 assistants. Last year, Brookside had a net-recurrent income of $9 million  – equivalent to nearly $10,000 per student and a total capital expenditure of $137,000. In contrast, Scotch’s recurrent income was $45.5 million – equal to $24,400 per student – and its capital spending came to nearly $4 million.

1.  Give them a blog.  

2.  Give them time.

3.  Give them post-its.