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Inquiry Learning Through the Inquiry Learning Through the Online EnvironmentOnline Environment

Debi HowarthDebi HowarthPrincipal Project OfficerPrincipal Project Officer

Education Queensland, BrisbaneEducation Queensland, Brisbanedeborah.howarth@deta.qld.gov.audeborah.howarth@deta.qld.gov.au

0430 366 1180430 366 118(07) 3235 9966(07) 3235 9966

Catholic Education SymposiumCatholic Education SymposiumTownsvilleTownsville

April 20 2009April 20 2009

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• All schools / systems

– encouraged to explore Queensland’s past, present and future through the Q150 themes of “Our people, our places, our stories”.

• Education Queensland – series of inquiry based online student units– teacher guide materials– units work towards a culminating event students share with their

community.

• Learning Place – Student online materials available late April 2009 for all

Queensland teachers who are members or affiliates of TLP– Teacher Guides available at Q150 Events Page

http://www.learningplace.com.au/sc/events/Q150

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• Four inquiry based units - align with SOSE Yr 3, 5, 7, 9 Essential Learnings. Teacher guides & online student materials.

• Senior Legal Studies & Modern History independent study units.

• Local Area Guide.• Assessment to align with the

intent of the QCAR Framework• Work within the Q150 project itself

– sensitivities. • Indigenous perspectives• ICTs• Research skills

• Literacy & Numeracy• State Library of

Queensland digital resources to be incorporated

• Had to be built into Bb through Learning place

• Had to build in links to learning objects/videos etc - LP not able to build new materials.

• Longevity – beyond 2009

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Commenced at the conceptual• drawn from the ELs:

– community (Yr3) – identity (Yr 5)– global citizenship(Yr7) – social change (Yr 9)

• Moved to specific content through the ELs’ organisers for SOSE

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• Ways of Working – From ELs• Identified range of relevant strategies and

skills to use/develop within units e.g. graphic organisers; Three Level Reading Guide; survey; photo analysis

• Researched appropriate web links & learning objects to be incorporated. Some became the focus of unit phases e.g. Harvest of Endurance Scroll (Chinese Settlement); Journey of Understanding (Refugees).

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When students are involved in

inquiry they;– Ask questions, – Identify and investigate

problems, – Form their own hypotheses

and/or conclusions. – Reflect

Arthur L. Costa,1 co-director of the institute for intelligent behavior in Berkeley, California

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• Core business for teachers - integral to inquiry.

• Units incorporated some question banks into the teacher guides and question matrices for students.

• Always room to develop further in the classroom context.

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• Graphic organisers

• Research tasks

• Assessment tasks

• Literacy activities

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How do I crack this code?• What words are interesting, difficult or tricky? How did you work them out? • What words have unusual spelling? • What words have the same sound or letter pattern or number of syllables? • What words have the same base word or prefix or suffix? • What words mean the same (synonyms)? • What smaller word can you find in this word to help you work it out? • What words are tricky to pronounce? • How is this word used in this context? • What different reading strategies did you use to decode this text? • Are the pictures close ups, mid or long shots? • Are the pictures high angle or low angle? • Were there any word pictures, eg similes and metaphors? How did you work

them out?

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What do I do with this text?

• What sort of text is this? (information, story/narrative) How do you know? • Is it fact or opinion? How do you know? • How can you find information in this text? • How did the author start this text? Did it suit its purpose? • Who would read a text like this? Why? • If you wrote a text like this what words and phrases would you use? • How is the language the same/ different from other similar texts you have read? • Could the text help solve a real life problem? • If you were going to put this text on a web page, how would it be different to the

print version? • What is the purpose of this text? • Could you use these ideas in a poem, story, play, advertisement, report, brochure

or poster? • How would the language and structure change?

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What does this text mean to me?

• Does the text remind you of something that has happened to you or to someone else you know?

• What does the title/cover suggest that the text is about? • What might happen next? What words or phrases give you this idea? • What are the characters thinking and feeling? How do you know? • What message is the author presenting? • What are the main ideas presented? • What do the pictures (graphs, diagrams, tables, captions, illustrations) tell us? • Do they fit in with the text and do they provide more information? • What did you feel as you read this part? • Describe or draw a picture of a character, event or scene from the text.

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What does this text do to me?• Is the text fair? • What would the text be like if the main characters were girls rather than boys

and vice versa? Consider different race and cultural backgrounds too. • How would the text be different if told from another point of view? • How would the text be different if told in another time or place, eg 1900 or

2100? • Why do you think the author chose this title? • Think about why the author chose particular words and phrases. • Are there stereotypes in the text? • Who does the text favour or represent? • Who does the text reject or silence? • How does this text claim authority? (consider language, structure and content) • Who is allowed to speak? Who is quoted

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Using the ModelUsing the Model

Journal responses Reading Circles Hot seating PMIHigher Order Thinking (Bloom’s) reflection

cards Critical analysis based on biasStereotypespoint of viewCompare different sourcesTop Level Structure (cause/effect)Poetic analysisDebateAuthor intent discussions

Reflective Questions• What kind of person with what

interest and values wrote this text?• What is the text trying to make me

believe and do? • In whose interest is this?• What beliefs and positions are

dominant in the text?• What beliefs and positions are

silenced or absent?• What do I think about this and what

alternatives are there?

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• Metalinguistics activities• Alphabet• Phonics• Sight Word/ Word sort/ Word family

activities• Onsets, Rhymes, Word analogy• Cloze• Spelling activities/ Latin/ Greek

roots, dictionary Meanings, Thesaurus, Homonyms, Antonyms, Synonyms

• Transformations• Generic features of the text based

activities • Grammar activities• Book Feature focus• Key Words/Note making

Reflective Questions• How do I crack this

text?• How does this text

work?• What are its codes and

conventions?• How do the parts relate

singly and in combinations?

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• Metalinguistics activities• Alphabet• Phonics• Sight Word/ Word sort/ Word family

activities• Onsets, Rhymes, Word analogy• Cloze• Spelling activities/ Latin/ Greek

roots, dictionary Meanings, Thesaurus, Homonyms, Antonyms, Synonyms

• Transformations• Generic features of the text based

activities • Grammar activities• Book Feature focus• Key Words/Note making

Reflective Questions

• What is the purpose of this text and what is my purpose in using it?

• How have the uses of this text shaped its composition?

• What should I so with this text in this context?

• What will others do with this text?

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Readers need to know how to:• Infer• Evaluate• Generalise• Make predictions• Sequence• Compare• Classify• Recount• Summarise informationActivities:• KWL, Concept maps, Graphic outline, Story Maps, Plot

Profile, Character Web • Reflections, Innovation• Reader’s Theatre• Independent reading, Shared reading• Think Pair Share, Top Level Structure

Reflective Questions

• How do the ideas in this text connect to one another?

• What do I know that can help make meaning of it?

• What are the possible meanings and readings of this text?

• Meaning maker resources are all our previous social, cultural and reading experiences.

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• Time• Sequential nature of social and

environmental inquiry• Integrity of the inquiry• Writing with other purposes in mind• Development process was sometimes

frustrated by the system security issues in EQ itself.

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Some Web 2.0 evident in units• Wikis• Discussion boards• Photostories• Survey tools• Learning objects/videos/interactive tools• Digital resources - State Library of Qld.

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Collaboration and participation – social networking sites/collaborative authorship

e.g. http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Welcome_to_Citizendium

– Writeboard http://www.writeboard.com/ – Digital storytelling – http://www.mangolanguages.com/ - Language

immersion – conversations with native speakers– Dimdim – video conferencing; whiteboard

http://www.dimdim.com/

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Access to current content/knowledge – the web itself – Kids Newsroom

http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/climatechange/ – Children’s University of Manchester

http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/ – Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org/ – Questionaut

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/games/questionaut/

– News for kids http://www.headlinespot.com/international/asiapacific/

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• Productivity/portability/sharing of info/ideas– Googledocs – Docstock http://www.docstoc.com/

• Field trips – virtual ones!! – Google maps – Immersive media - http://www.immersivemedia.com/#demo8 – Geocaching – high tech treasure hunt game.

http://www.geocaching.com/ – Mapwing – build, share, and explore virtual tours-turn photos

into virtual tours http://www.mapwing.com/

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• Create and share 3D Models http://sketchup.google.com/

• Webspiration http://www.mywebspiration.com/

• Mindmeister – mind mapping tool

http://www.mindmeister.com/

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• Survey, Data Collection, Inventories– Zoho Creator http://creator.zoho.com/ – SurveyMonkey

http://www.surveymonkey.com/

• Timespace – uses timelines http://specials.washingtonpost.com/timespace/world/121/

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Web 2.0 will bring greater meaning to the process of social and environmental

inquiry.

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Critique units against MCL for relevance, useability,

applicability.

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What Web 2.0 tools could be incorporated into the units to boost engagement and richness? Where? What scaffolding might be required

to use the technologies?