Welcome to the 6th semester newsletter for Enhanced Learning Educational Services. ELES specialises in helping schools help students develop effective study skills through study skills resources and study skills sessions. This newsletter is sent at most once a semester. To stop receiving this newsletter, simply reply with 'remove' in the subject line.
In this newsletter:
1. New website for staff professional development days.
2.
All about Wikis, what are they, how do they work, how could you use them?
3.
Special offer for online study skills handbook extended for 3 weeks.
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ELES is now working with Human Connections to provide practical and useful staff professional development sessions for teachers. There are 3 types of courses available, based mainly in Sydney, with the occasional session in other locations:
a) Accidental Counsellor. This is a 2 day workshop that looks at how to be effective when placed in a counselling role by accident ie. issues or requests for help that arise from contact with students in the normal day to day duties teachers and coordinators undertake. Suitable for Primary and Secondary Staff (K-12), especially Year Coordinators, Deputies, Teachers - anyone who could be in a position of having to deal with students with issues and concerns.
b) Be A Better Teacher. This is a 1 day workshop run by 2 presenters. The first half of the day looks at behaviour and classro om management (managing disruptive classes and students, half day version) and the second half at helping students with study skills (time management, study notes, study techniques). Suitable for Secondary Staff (7-12), especially early-career teachers (ie less than 5 years' teaching) and a good refresher for more experienced teachers.
c) Conscious Classroom Management. This is a 1 day workshop that covers behaviour and classroom management (managing disruptive classes and students, full day version) and strategies and steps you can take to make your classroom a more effective learning environment. Suitable for Primary and Secondary Staff (K-12), especially for teachers who are looking for ways to make their classroom an even more productive learning space.
Great news for new NSW teachers, these courses are now all endorsed by the NSW Institute of Teachers - so they can count towards your hours!
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What is a wiki?
A wiki is a website that you don't have to have any special software in order to make changes to the pages on the website. All you need is access to the Internet and a web browser (like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Mozilla etc). The most famous wiki of all is wikipedia where anyone can edit or add to the content of the pages of this online encycopedia.
How do they work?
First you need to decide which wiki you will use. Many wikis are free (but may have some advertising down the side), while some wikis require you to pay a fee. I tend to use www.wikispaces.com
Next step is to sign up for a wiki on the site you have chosen. All the work will stay on the website, it doesn't get downloaded to your computer at all.
You then need to go into the settings of the wiki where you can change how it looks, but most importantly where you can set the privacy options. You can decide who can view the wiki, if it is public and private and who has permission to edit the pages. As the person who started this wiki, you can invite other people to join the wiki and decide what level of access and editing they have.
You can add as many web pages as you like to your wiki and down the right the navigation will list the pages in that wiki. You can also link between pages.
Advantages of wikis?
The power of a wiki lies in their collaborative nature. They work best when multiple people are working together on a project - and they can all work together on the wiki from different computers! Two experiences I had personally in my Master of Education course last year. A lecturer asked me to do my work on a wiki as this allowed her to view the work in progress and as I gave her editing permission she was able to add comments throughout the work - which was fabulous! She could also be alerted to when I had made changes. The second experience was a group assignment (http://mendingjuju.wikispaces.com/) where we worked together on a document. It was great as one of the features of a wiki is that for each page there is a discussion tab where you can talk about what you are doing on the page and discuss ideas without affecting the actual page itself. Allows the group to continue working on the project without needing to physically be in the same room. Great too for the teacher to see how involved participants are and their thought processes. Another great feature of wikis is that in addition to each page in the wiki having a discission tab, there is also a history tab that shows previous versions of the page (so you can actually revert back to an earlier page if needed) and it also shows who in the group has been contributing. A teacher friend told me when setting a group assignment to be done on a wiki by his Year 9 history class, he was at pains to point out that they were unable to change the date or time stamp and so if it was all left to the night before or all done by 1 person, it is very easy for the teacher to see!
Disadvantages of wikis?
Everyone needs internet access which can be an issue. Generally the public can view (although not edit) the wiki although with some they can be private. It is important that the group decides editing etiquette so they are not deleting each other's work at random.
Examples of wikis?
Definitely an interesting tool for groupwork! I am using a wiki for my PhD research: http://pruesalter.wikispaces.com/
A great site with lots of info and examples: http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/page/Student+Created+Wikis
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As part of my doctorate studies I am researching the development of independent learning skills using the online environment. The online study skills handbook program I have developed is a product of my experience over the past 15 years specializing in study skills development for secondary students, as well as the studies I have undertaken in the use of technology as a tool for learning. The feedback about the interactive units and special features on the site has been excellent, and the beauty of an online resource is that it is continually expanding and developing to meet the needs of secondary students.
The online study skills handbook has 26 different units for students to work through on topics such as time management, organizational skills, summarizing, how to study, research skills etc. Students can work through the interactive units at home or they can be incorporated into your existing programs at school. This is a great way to bring what is traditionally a dull and dry topic to life with quizzes, videos and interactive activities!
The advantage of a technological approach, apart from the motivational engagement factors, is that the handbook is constantly developing with new material and features being added regularly as well as the integration of a large amount of student generated content.
Annual subscription fees are as follows (and are in Australian dollars and include GST for Australian schools) and are based on total secondary school enrolment numbers:
Unlike many subscription sites that charge annual fees of $25-$99 per student, for most schools the study skills handbook works out at less than $1.60 per student per year – less than $1 per student for most schools. Subscriptions are based on a calendar year ie 1st Jan to 31st Dec.
So for around $1 per student, every student, parent and teacher in your school has unlimited access to the site and all the online activities at school and at home for a whole year!
SPECIAL OFFER for NEWSLETTER READERS:
We have extended our special offer that expired end of June for newsletter readers. Sign up for 2010 and get the rest of 2009 for free!
Pay your full year's subscription fees for 2010 now, and your subscription will be activated right now THIS year - receive subscription for the second half of 2009 for free!
Get your subscription form and payment in to pay for your 2010 year's subscription and your subscription will be activated and you will receive up to 6 months free use of the handbook this year. Don't miss out on this great bargain - 16 months use of the handbook for the price of 12!
So take advantage of this great offer to get your school started on the study skills handbook!
HAVE A LOOK AND SEE WHAT YOU THINK!
1. Go to www.studyskillshandbook.com.au (or you can access the handbook via the ELES website)
2. Click on the login for ‘on approval’ (NOT the main subscriber’s login link, the ‘login for on approval’ link below the heading 'just looking' )
3. Enter this username: viewhandbook and this password: studysmart
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All the best for the rest of the term!
Cheers
Prue Salter
Enhanced Learning Educational Services
PO Box 9, Neutral Bay, NSW 2089.
P: 0416 293 087 F: 02 9908 1893
info@enhanced-learning.net
www.enhanced-learning.net