the one laptop per child australia program tracy richardson [email protected]
TRANSCRIPT
XO SCAVENGER HUNT
What doesn’t work• XOs are unassigned to
students and the children choose one from a rack in an occasional ‘XO’ lesson
• The teacher is the knowledge bank and repair station
• Lessons that produce identical products from each student
• XOs are used predominantly as a ‘free time’ reward
Why?-The laptop isn’t ‘theirs’-No history of learning-No sense of responsibility for the device and what’s on it
Why?-It’s unmanageable-Collective class knowledge is much richer than yours alone
Why?-The XO is designed for creativity and expression-There may be a place for direct instruction and rote learning but the XO is not designed for it
Why?-If the XO is a reward for learning, then is must mean it isn’t learning itself-A teacher generally doesn’t value what is produced during ‘free time’
“Having one each means that there is no sharing or taking turns, and all students work together and help each other, sharing what they have managed to do.”Laura, Maningrida, NT
“Our class has an XO party every Friday afternoon. The original idea came from a chant ‘XO, XO, read all about it’ from the original newspaper call. Then we decided that it would be fun to share our excitement and exploration with students from the senior classes – and afterwards share healthy ‘green’ food; like kiwifruit, apples, grapes and melon. We began by having purely play time and we learnt from each other, from the simplest task, such as how to open the XO, through to how to take each other’s photographs.”Trisha, Acacia Hill, NT
“The XO-champion program has given my class a much needed positive role in the school. Students who struggle with conventional curriculum, have quickly worked through the XO-champion and XO-mechanic course and are invaluable to me in keeping 100 XOs running smoothly.”Tom, Geeveston TAS
“An XO expert class has also been set up with two to three students selected from each class. This class meets after school on Mondays… these kids will be the first to bring home their XOs and also act as teacher aids in the classroom when other kids run into trouble. Working with our AEWs we are trying to develop some memory games in Pitjantjatjara and also work on turning some of our electronic Pitjantjatjara book collection into PDFs so that they can be read on the XOs and so that the XOs cannot only help with English Literacy, but also promote first language literacy.”Abigail, Amata SA
“Observing the co-operation between children; their leaps of faith into the technological unknown; the delight/puzzlement when things did/did not go according to plan and, best of all, their sheer perseverance with a task in the face of multiple “failures” until they got it. Great ceremony is then made of setting them in the charging rack and plugging in the cord. Small responsibilities lead to acceptance of larger ones and a greater sense of ownership in their XOs, their care and maintenance.”Sandy, Robinson River, NT
“The shared learning and peer support that is taking place is phenomenal. On numerous occasions, the Prep/1 class were seen sharing ideas and understandings with students from the year 6/7 class. One of my favourite aspects of the XO laptops is that there are very few boundaries and learning is shared.”Collette, Collinsville QLD
What does work?
• Ceremony• “Ask 3 before me”• Journaling and
portfolioing which is shared and discussed
• Low floor, high ceiling tasks
• Freedom (vs free time)
• Shared responsibility
Why?-You are explicitly communicating that the laptop and the learning that can be done on the laptop is ‘theirs’.
Why?- You are acknowledging the capabilities of students and positioning yourself as a ‘collaborator’
Why?- It encourages children to understand how they learn and feel proud of their achievements
Why?-You don’t need to know everything- just enough to get them started-Children can take their learning where it interests them
Why?-Freedom tends to communicate self-directed learning where the product at the end is valued-Free time tends to communicate ‘no’ learning and the product at the end is incidental
Why?-Children are capable of being teachers and technicians-Self-worth and achievement
The XO-expert Program
Why?
