What was the Teacher as Designer project?
The project was a joint initiative between the Le@rning Federation, Primary English Teaching Association and Common Ground to link the Special Forever project with the Le@rning Federation's online content.
The Le@rning Federation has developed free online curriculum materials for Australian and New Zealand students in the P-10 years. Primary English Teaching Association jointly sponsors, with the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, the Special Forever project (an environmental communications project). Common Ground has conducted research with teachers in schools on the use of Microsoft Word templates for developing learning elements that incorporate lesson planning and curriculum resource development.
What did the project undertake?
The objectives of the project were to:
- extend access to The Le@rning Federation’s online content for schools in the Murray-Darling Basin through the Special Forever project;
- encourage and support the professional learning of teachers in the Special Forever project to integrate new information and communication technologies;
- prepare advice and materials for teachers about integrating online content and tools into the curriculum;
- investigate whether the use of The Le@rning Federation learning objects encourages engagement with the language and practices of the discipline in which they are being used.
How was the project administered?
A Steering Committee recruited participating teachers to work with The Le@rning Federation learning objects. During the course of the project, online data was collected on how the learning objects were used in the classroom.
Outcomes of the project
A project report was produced by The Le@rning Federation, documenting the project, its findings and experiences. Primary English Teaching Association published PEN156 Desiging for learning: Integrating digital content into learning tasks, describing ways that teachers can plan to integrate digital content into their classroom teaching and learning programs.
A collection of Learning Elements published by teachers working on the project are available for download from the Teaching resources section of this website.