Create a joint statement expressing your understanding of what is required for

the ICT project and publish on the teacher page

This project requires us to draw on our teaching area as a group and create a unit that
is to be taught over four consecutive lessons for a particular year level. Our group
chose year nine English as our teaching area with our unit focusing on News, Media
and Society. We will plan and organise the project by devising a comprehensive
timeline that details what will be done and by whom. The brainstorm, joint
statements, lesson plans, forward planning documents and construction of the Weebly
site should be evenly divided up between the group to ensure an equal contribution is
made by all group members and that we meet the project deadline.

The four lessons need to scaffold learning for students, by drawing on past
knowledge, teaching new concepts and skills and also preparing students for what will
be taught in the following classes. The unit should help students achieve learning
clear and purposeful outcomes, which should be derived from the Australian
Curriculum. Our lessons meet the following Australian Curriculum outcomes:

Lesson 1: Introduction to News Articles

- Understand how punctuation is used along with layout and font variations in
constructing texts for different audiences and purposes (ACELA1556).
Lesson 2: Social Media
- Explore and explain the combinations of language and visual choices that authors
make to present information, opinions and perspectives in different texts
(ACELY1745).

Lesson 3: Media Bias

- Understand that authors innovate with text structures and language for specific
purposes and effects (ACELA1553).
- Explore and explain the combinations of language and visual choices that authors
make to present information, opinions and perspectives in different texts
(ACELY1745).
Lesson 4: Power and Persuasion
- Analyse and explain the use of symbols, icons and myth in still and moving images
and how these augment meaning (ACELA1560).
- Explore and explain the combinations of language and visual choices that authors
make to present information, opinions and perspectives in different texts
(ACELY1745).

The four lessons each need to have a process page published on the Weebly. These
pages should give students enough detail about the tasks that they can comfortably
follow the steps with little guidance from the teacher, demonstrating their ability for
independent learning. Of these four lessons, one lesson needs to be presented to our
Transforming Learning Through ICT class to help develop our teaching skills in a
supportive environment. This presentation will give us an idea of how long activities
can take, which will provide us with insightful information about timing and
sequencing for the other three lessons. The presentation also needs to have a feedback
discussion with the class on the usefulness of the ICT resource(s) used. This will
provide us with vital information about whether students thought the ICT was useful,
engaging and effective in the classroom environment, and depending on its success,
whether or not we would implement this resource in real classrooms.

There should be checks in place to monitor students learning and determine how
effective the lesson was. To achieve this, we have used online quizzes and surveys,
and incorporated presentation tasks into our classes to both formally and informally
assess student engagement and learning. The unit should include at least three ICT
resources which allow students to work collaboratively to solve problems and engage
them in an interesting and exciting way. These resources shouldnt be used just as a
teaching tool, but rather a tool that actively engages students in their learning process.
This project requires us to think and act like teachers by critically assessing the
integration of ICT in classrooms and how it can be used to effectively benefit student
learning. These are important skills for teachers to learn, as ICT competence is now a
part of the Australian Curriculum in English and other areas (ACARA, n.d.). Learning
these skills also helps appeal to the students as they are a part of the digital native
generation, in which they have grown up surrounded by technology (Bennett &
Maton, 2010). Students therefore need to know how to use this technology effectively
and get the most out of it. This project will equip us with the skills to integrate ICT
resources successfully in the classroom, to benefit student learning in new and
exciting ways that have never before been possible.

References
ACARA. (n.d.). English Curriculum. Retrieved March 15, 2015 from
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/english/curriculum/f-10?
y=F&y=1&y=2&y=3&y=4&y=5&y=6&y=7&y=8&y=9&y=10&s=LA&s=LT
&s=LY&c=3&layout=1
Bennett, J.S. & Maton, A.K., (2010). Beyond the digital natives debate: towards a
more nuanced understanding of students technology experiences. Faculty
of Social Sciences, 26(5), 1-24. Retrieved from Research Online database.