Teacher's+Page

=Teacher's Page =

In this topic the students have to research on democracy with the main focus of this term, having a class election. This includes the history of voting in Australia, what the rules of voting are in Australia, and the processes of voting, from voter's perspective as well as a candidate. The class election will involve groups of 4-5 students, with one of them representing the group and running for president. The other students task is to design a presidential campaign, convicing others to vote for their party, via making posters, powerpoint presentations, photostory etc.  Student's should be understanding in this topic:
 * Understands that people make choices in their use of places.
 * Understands that different roles and responsibilities are attached to people as individuals or as members of groups.
 * Respects and is articulate about the political process
 * Respects and is committed to democracy as a system of decision making and formal government
 *  C ooperates in group activities

Assessment for this topic are:
 * Peer assessment
 * Self assessment
 * Observation
 * Anaecdotal notes
 * Concept mapping
 * Computing skills

Lesson Plans:   

Resources that should be considered are: [|AEC - history of voting Democracy rules - student animations and interactions] [|Take a Vote: Democracy] [|Homer Simposon votes for Obama] [|Comic Life] [|Photostory] Microsoft Power Point Interactive Whiteboard (including projector, computer and board) Class set of computers or laptops

ICTs are effective in these consecutive lessons as they enhance students' learning through engaging and allowing them to actively participate. The initial introductory lesson allows students to engage in a video with the students then using inspiration to create a brainstorm, allows them to demonstrate what has been learnt. This is an active and visual way for students to recall information and allows them to communicate information to one another. ICTs also give students another tool to present their work. Rather than the norm of writing what their campaign values, it allows them to be creative with it. Take photos, make clever captions, pick music that relates to their cause, the options are endless. More importantly, the students are enthusiastic about doing school work. Many of them, without realising, teach their peers, because in ICT, they share their knowledge and help one another out, reinforcing their own knowledge in the process. It is a great way for students to be getting out of their comfort zone and creating some amazing pieces of work.

ICT is centred around social constructivist classroom as it allows students to have some responsibility for their learning, allowing them to have choices on presenting, on representation and what their campaign values uphold. Having the ICT in the classroom, allows students to learn indpendently, discovering knowledge for themselves. It allows students more freedom of choice but still allows the teacher to intervene when necessary.If knowledge is actively created, then students need to be actively reflecting on what has been learnt. This can be done using ICT. Creating brainstorms by using inspiration fulfils this as it reinforces what students have learnt and allows them to recall the knowledge they have just learnt. Social constructivist classrooms can work very well and ICT can contribute greatly to its success.