Part 3. Instructional Content

3A. Strategy Narrative

An Instructivist approach will be the main strategy used during the lessons on learning how to use the software, however some Constructivist strategies will be used to foster knowledge creation and understanding. Specific outcomes will be stated for the students to achieve in each of the three 1 hour lessons. The students will be told what knowledge and skills they will be required to master in order to build their portfolio sites, blogs, and how to embed their digital evidence. Based on the students’ responses to the Student IT use survey, prior knowledge will be taken into account in order to identify those students with the most experience and skill; these students will be given a peer coaching role.

Due to lesson time constraints and a need for efficiency, supplantive strategies will be used to impart the knowledge and skills required to master the software. The more important aspect of the whole project for the students is the analysis and identification of appropriate content for their portfolios and in those lessons, generative strategies will be used.

The structure of the sessions will be based around the students watching short instructional demonstrations of how to construct and edit a Google Site, Blog, and to create and upload media to their sites via YouTube, Google Drive, etc. The students will work in groups of three to support each other in their construction. With the peer support and assessment provided by their teammates, the students will construct and test sites, blogs and online media that is private and shared only with the appropriate people within the SCIS GAFE domain.

Control of the lesson will be primarily in the hands of the instructor, however the use of instructional demonstrations allows the students to work at their own pace. The instructor will be free to assist those students who have self assessed as being less “tech savvy”, or are requiring assistance on the day.

The students’ success will be assessed be the degree to which they have reached the stated outcomes. A self and peer assessment of the privacy settings will be required and used to inform the instructor as to whether students need more support on setting the privacy correctly; these assessments will be presented within each student’s portfolio site with assessment comments by the peers. This evidence will also be used to support digital citizenship and online safety.