Teaching Technology – Problem Solving
Assessment Details
This assignment requires you to analyse and develop a report based on the following scenario.
Scenario
Clearwater Primary School in Victoria is a relatively small community school with a student population of approximately 170 students across Foundation to Year 6. The students are grouped across three learning communities: Junior learning community (Foundation to 2); Middle learning community (Years 3 & 4); and Senior learning community (Years 5 & 6). Most students are from English speaking families, with 20% of students speaking a language other than English. The school has a strong connection with the Wurundjeri People on whose land the school is located.
Over the last 12 months the school has acquired the following technology products:
- Bee-Bot Classroom Kit
- LEGO Education SPIKE Essential / Prime class sets
- Sphero Indi robotics kit
- Two FlashForge Adventurer 3D printers located in a dedicated space in the school’s library.
Teaching across the Foundation to Year 6 levels has typically followed a traditional approach of teaching and learning. Consequently, this has meant that some students have struggled with learning at Clearwater Primary School; often resulting in them becoming disengaged. With the new technology products, the principal wants to see more contemporary and innovative practices embedded across the learning communities, with an emphasis on addressing the needs of all students. Additionally, the principal would like to see teachers embed opportunities for skills development that embrace the 6Cs of collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, communication, culture, and connectivity.
For this assignment you will select ONE of the following three Learning Communities:
- Junior learning community
- Middle learning community
- Senior learning community
You will then formulate a written response (in the form of a report) to the following three key requirements requested by the school’s principal:
- Select one or more of the technology resources listed above, that you would use as part of teaching the Technologies curriculum at Clearwater Primary School for your learning community. Then describe and justify how you would incorporate the chosen technology resource(s) as part of the teaching and learning program that you would develop for your learning community. For your justification, you should outline how the resource(s) could be used in the classroom as part of a sequence of lessons for the teaching of both Digital Technologies, and Design and Technologies. Your response must also include an analysis of suitable pedagogical processes in the teaching of the Technologies curriculum, and how the resource(s) and/or pedagogical approaches can help in catering for a diverse group of learners in the classroom. Note: you are not developing a lesson plan.
- Analyse a range of suitable assessment strategies that you would consider using in the teaching of the Technologies curriculum to assess student learning. Include in your response if relevant, the benefits, limitations and/or implementation constraints of your assessment strategies.
- Provide a critical reflection on the significance of the Technologies curriculum in developing 21st century skills. As part of your this reflection you should consider how the resources you have identified will be used to support effective 21st century teaching and learning practices.