Wednesday 14 September 2011

ICT and VELS

Ok, I'm not going to lie, I found this concept difficult to image in practice.  I am 36 years of age, when I was at school we were still taught how to type on typewriters!  We had a computers at school, but they were locked away in a single room and you had to elect to take "Computing"as a separate subject in years 10 - 12.  So I don't have any reference point from my my own background.  Similarly, the school that I have been placed at all year (reduced mode) is an inner Western suburbs senior (10 -12) public school that has a lot of computers (situated in at least half the classrooms) but hardly any of the teachers seem to use them.
I teach Drama and there certainly aren't any computers in our teaching space.  We have a TV with a DVD player attached that can be rolled out from time to time, we have 2 white boards and a wall of mirrors.
The mentor teacher I worked with was delightful, but had been teaching at the school for over 35 years and was still struggling to grasp the concept of emails as a tool for teachers, let alone use computers or digital equipment as a vehicle to engage and teach students.
Having said all this, I can see the potential of how ICT could be used in the Drama classroom.
Most schools require drama students to complete a journal after each class as a means of reflecting on the days activities.  Hand written journals seem to be a burden to most teachers as they are cumbersome and heavy to lugg around.  From students perspectives, journals are also cumbersome, easy to misplace and are often forgotten to be brought to class.  I could easily see the use of internet structured journal platforms being used as a replacement to hand written diaries.
Online journals would "assist in developing interpersonal skills as well as building knowledge about a topic/theme and ICT. For example, a student who drafts a message and edits it before sending it in an email or posting it on a website learns to reflect about message content, purpose, and impact on the known and unknown audience".
I know that online journals are merely scratching the surface of ICT possibilities within Drama.  VELS states that by years 9 and 10 that ICT should be used to better develop communication skills by using "online forums to exchange ideas and critical comment. They also communicate online with peers, experts and others. They are careful to respect cultural differences."
As detailed in my last post I personally think that the use of cameras and the editing of student filmed footage is a tool that would deepen students understanding of Drama from a performance and communication perspective.  This detailed specifically in VELS level 2.5 - 2.75 under creating:
with teacher guidance, transfer and saving to a computer of still and/or moving images captured with a digital camera.
Combine this with the students editing footage to create a specified Dramatic style, this would certainly resonate with some students to better understand theatre conventions.

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Mime on film

I found this Mime workshop on You Tube - it was made in a Japanese secondary school and it is a good look at what can be done with students mime exercises combined with some basic film editing. I think these concept could actually be taken a bit further - Film the students mime routines and allow THEM to edit, add sound effects and sound track to make a very short clip. FUN!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpCtSiNi1ns

Sunday 4 September 2011

How do I include ICT in secondary Drama?

OK, I'll admit it, I was shocked when I took a year 11 drama class to the library (in order for the students to do some research for an upcoming assessment) and half of them (6 out of 12 students) needed help on how to use Google search!  As a 'mature aged student' (I hate that term, there really does have to be a better phrase) I was arrogantly assuming that most kids of this generation were more savvy on computer skills than me.  I mean these students come from a generation where the terms "VCR" or a "Comador 64" are completely foreign to their vernacular - how could they not know how to search for information on the internet???  Well, now I know.  Not all students have access to a computer at home.  I really think it comes down to something that simple.
The school that I am currently working at is a lower socio-economic school in the Western suburbs of Melbourne.  3/4 of the students have ESL issues and most of their families are 'new Australians'.  Having a computer at home is not a priority for most of these families.

Lesson one when it comes to ICT in education - schools need to provide access to computers for students OUTSIDE of class time to allow and hopefully encourage students to explore the WWW without an agenda.