isupport

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i-support

• Engaging and broadening
• horizons for at
• risk students

Presented by Marilyn Pemberton and Zoe Wilkins
28 September 2005
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Design Brief

• i-support seeks to use ICTs and excellence and
  innovation in learning and teaching to engage and
  broaden the horizons for at risk students and/or
  students in rural and remote locations.
• i-support does not replace existing services,
  rather it offers additional opportunities and
  resources for schools seeking to support students
  most at risk of disengaging from learning and not
  completing 12 years of schooling. i-support hopes
  to promote capacity building in schools and to
  promote the use of ICTs for education service
  delivery.

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STRUCTURAL FOUNDATIONS

• The two current components of i-support are
• Ollie Up for middle schooling students targeting
  literacy, numeracy and social skills
• Stepping Stones for secondary students targeting
  careers education and school-to-work transition.

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Exemplary and innovative use of technology
Teacher
Learning
Study coach
Student

• Synchronous lessons
• Blackboard
• Voice conference
• Data conference
• Video conference
• Other supporting tools and materials
• (Chat and forum facilities, collaborative online
  project tools, blogs, web cams, digital cameras,
  multimedia packages etc)

• Asynchronous lessons
• Blackboard and other tools mentioned
• Work submitted via email, online digital drop
  box, ftp site etc

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Ollie-Up

• Schools choose students and the at risk factor
  (majority selected are boys with behaviour
  problems).
• The norm has not worked for these students.
• Students work in small online groups.
• Focus on self esteem building and putting the
  fun back into learning.
• Units developed out of student interest.
• Students used as peer tutors in their own
  classrooms.

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Stepping Stones

• Units of competency have been developed to allow
  students to gain a nationally accredited
  Certificate l in Work Education.
• The core units of competency for the Certificate
  1 in Work Education cover the following topics
• Developing a personal plan
• Self esteem
• Occupational Health and Safety
• Industrial and Workplace Relations
• Job search and interview skills
• Structured workplace learning
• Enterprise education

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• This innovative arts-based project enables
  students to tell stories about life in their
  town, to other students in the form of media
  presentations, costume design, dance, music and
  song. Students work and collaborate in online
  groups to produce an arts performance. The
  culminating activity for this project includes a
  physical as well as an online event. Groups and
  schools involved in this project include
• Dance (VSS students from Heatley and Gayndah)
• Music (The Band Thing program students from
  Glenala)
• Multimedia backdrop (Ollie Up students from
  Clermont and Baralaba)
• DVD group (Ollie Up students from Emerald and
  Springsure)
• Event management (Stepping Stones students from
  Bowen)
• Each group has specific responsibilities
  particular to their role in the project.

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Nurturing the i-support community

• Monthly newsletter sent to all schools.
• Email discussion list for facilitators.
• Fortnightly teleconference with facilitators.
• Facilitators Blackboard space to share
  resources.
• Facilitators conference.
• Community website (http//education.qld.gov.au/le
  arningplace/isupport/) for communication,
  information and resource sharing.
• Use of Wink and similar software to create how to
  demos for schools setting up etc.
• Online and face to face workshops for teachers
• Travel buddy for students

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The outcomes

• Proactive way to re-engage students.
• Increase in ICT skills for all involved in the
  program- student, student's class peers and
  teacher, study coach and facilitators.
• Provides community study coaches with ICT
  accreditation for being in the program.
• Provides others in the school with rich and
  innovative examples of how to integrate ICTs into
  the curriculum.
• Mode of delivery ideal for rural and remote
  schools.
• Provides itinerate specialist staff with an
  example of a mode of delivery to maximize time
  spent with students and minimize travelling time.
• All materials produced are shared through the
  curriculum exchange and therefore available to
  all teaching professionals.
• Future direction of the program guided by data
  gathered through action research.

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For more information

• Visit our website
• http//education.qld.gov.au/isupport
• Or contact
• Marilyn Pemberton
• 07 3421 6587 mpemb1_at_eq.edu.au
• Zoe Wilkins
• 07 3421 6592 zwilk1_at_eq.edu.au