INF533 – Assessment 4 – Part A – 823 words.
Holsworthy High School has strong military ties within its local community due to its proximity to the Holsworthy Army Base. Over ten percent of the student population are from military families (NSW Government, 2019). Reginald James Chard is a World War II Veteran and has always been an integral part of our school and the wider community, Reg’s life and commitment to our school will be the main focus of the digital story Reginald James Charles – An Australian War Hero.
Today’s students are termed ‘digital natives’, due the high exposure to digital technology in their lives (Helsper & Eynon, 2010, p.503). Students are using digital tools in their everyday lives to create and produce their personal digital stories through multiple social media sites including Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Within the Australian Curriculum, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a general capability from Foundation through to Year 12. The ICT general capability has been included across all subject areas to assist in providing students with 21st Century skills they will require for further education and employment. Digital storytelling can meet the ICT capabilities of information creation & presentation, communication and creative expression at all levels of schooling (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2010).
Digital storytelling embedded into the curriculum will provide and promote a bridge between an educator’s curricular knowledge base to the digital learning sphere of students; which will reflect authentic uses of literature and technology beyond the classroom, enhance literacy learning and foster 21st Century skills. (Loera & Sinclair, 2019, Laflan, 2013, p.54 and Mills & Levido 2011, p. 81). Digital storytelling creation has been shown to increase the engagement of students, through multiple learning styles and connects student’s interest with technology to desired learning and curriculum outcomes. (Educause Learning Initiative, 2007 and Mills & Levido 2011, p. 87). Reginald James Charles – An Australian War Hero has been created with Microsoft Sway. Holsworthy High School has a goal to increase technology usage across the school and has committed to providing Chromebooks to their Year 7 Enrichment class next year. The use of Microsoft Office 365 is being promoted for use with all classes due to the innovative features of the products, ease of use and simplified sharing and saving of work. Reginald James Charles – An Australian War Hero will be able to be accessed by individuals and classes through sharing of the link. Sway is a user friendly platform to create digital stories and will be the initial basis for staff and students to utilise in their creation of digital texts. Within the book, there are opportunities to further expand and engage students with the use of photos and links to WorldBook Online; which students are encouraged to use for assignments, the Australian War Museum and the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway. Through the inclusion of the photos and links, discussion will be fostered around the learning of WWII in the classroom.
The book will be used within a number of stage and curriculum areas through collaboration between the Teacher Librarian and classroom teachers. The creation of the digital stories will take place in the flexible learning spaces of the library, with the Teacher Librarian providing guided lessons on the use of digital tools for classes and upskilling classroom teachers in the use of digital tools.
The book will be included, but not limited to the following curriculum and stage areas:
- Stage 5 History – Core Study – Depth Study 3
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- Australians at War (World Wars I & II) Mandatory Study, Significance of wars to Australia (ACDSEH110)
- Commemorations and the nature of the ANZAC legend (ACDSEH097).
- The book will also be used as an example for Stage 6 English students to meet Objective A – Outcome 1 and Outcome 2
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- compose texts that integrate different modes and media for a variety of audiences and purposes
- compose and analyse texts in different modes, media and technologies for a variety of purposes
- The book will also be used as an engagement and enrichment activity for Stage 4 students. Due to the nature of the platform and the ease of instruction for creation, the book will be used as an example for Stage 4 students to create their own digital texts that will be showcased throughout the school.
- The book itself will also be used within the wider school community as Reg is our living legend – our Defence Mentor will utilise the book as necessary through her role.
It is hoped the digital story Reginald James Charles – An Australian War Hero will showcase Reg’s history and achievements and engage students through the digital medium, as well as encouraging them to create their own digital stories. The digital story will be accessible to a wide audience and used in a variety of settings. The digital story will be a strategy to link new literacy knowledge and practises to meet student learning needs and to also extend student’s literacy learning and move students from dependent to independent learners (State of New South Wales, 2019).
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. ( 2010). Information and communication technology capability. Retrieved from Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority website https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/information-and-communication-technology-ict-capability/
Educause Learning Initiative. (2007). 7 things you should know about digital story telling. Retrieved from https://library.educause.edu/resources/2007/1/7-things-you-should-know-about-digital-storytelling
Enis, J. (2019). Library ideas to launch AR/VR-enhanced children’s books. School Library Journal. Retrieved from https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=library-ideas-launches-ar-vr-enhanced-childrens-books
Helsper, E., & Eynon, R. (2010). Digital natives: Where is the evidence? British Educational Research Journal, 36(3), 503-520. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27823621
Hanson, J. (2019). News and highlights from ISTE 2019. School Library Journal. Retrieved from https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=news-and-highlights-from-ISTE-2019
Laflen, A. (2013). Putting Wikis to Work in the Literature Classroom. Modern Language Studies, 43(1), 54-73. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24616720
Loera, M. & Sinclair, H. (2019). 5 reasons to integrate digital storytelling into your teaching. Retrieved from https://www.eschoolnews.com/2019/08/29/5-reasons-to-integrate-digital-storytelling-into-your-teaching/2/
Mills, K. & Levido, A. (2011). iPed pedagogy for digital production. The Reading Teacher, 65(1), 80-91. doi: 10.1598/RT.65.1.11
NSW Education Standards Authority. (2017). English standard stage 6 syllabus. Retrieved from NSW Education Standards Authority website: https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/stage-6-learning-areas/stage-6-english/english-standard-2017
NSW Education Standards Authority. (2012). History K-10 syllabus. Retrieved from NSW Education Standards Authority website: https://www.educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/learning-areas/hsie/history-k-10
NSW Government. (2019). 2018 Holsworthy high school annual report. Retrieved from Holsworthy High School website https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/doe-nsw-schools/annual-report/2018/8564/2018_Holsworthy_High_School_Annual_Report.pdf
State of New South Wales. (2019). Literacy overview. Retrieved from Department of Education website https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/student-assessment/smart-teaching-strategies/literacy/literacy-overview