Duration: 4:48
Senior secondary students reflect on how their learning has changed at Fraser High School through curriculum integration and the use of authentic contexts as they produced the first issue of Passionfruit magazine. This project utilised many ICTs which enabled collaboration and anytime anywhere learning opportunities. The process enabled students to develop values, knowledge, and capabilities for life beyond school.
Student one:
Yeah, I reckon it’s opened up more ideas to me like, with certain stuff, and like learning also time management. Because I was not good at that, like usually I’m used to being told to go somewhere, do something at a certain time and I’ll do it, but I had to do it all by myself and I’m like “ok well I’m not really used to doing that” so that was a big change. But I reckon that’s good because in the future if I want to do something I can do it and I know that.
Teacher:
So you feel like your skills have really built there, that you’re much more able to, because I mean we’ve had a number of different discussions about that and we tried a range of different things and I know that not all of those were kind of ones that you went “yeah what I really want to do sir is grid up my week and go I’m going to do this and this and this”.
Student one:
Yeah I’ve gotten better to do that now. I do it day-by-day like period-by-period. And it’s good because I actually do all of that stuff so I actually feel like I’m doing something instead of “oh yeah I didn’t really do much today” even though I finished stuff I just, yeah.
Teacher:
So again that sense of achievement, that for me seems to be something that’s come through a lot.
Student one:
To me if I feel like I can accomplish all that stuff in a day, I can accomplish anything I want to put my mind to.
Sally:
I think it was hard because like, when we were in like different classes we only had 55 minutes to do stuff kind of thing, so you’re just like “oh crap I’ve got to get this finished in 55 minutes” but then like whereas now it’s like “oh I have six hours to do it” like you know, so it’s just like kind of chilled. But then when it gets to the end of six hours it’s like “ah”. Well I slowly get there eventually, but maybe just not straight away.
Teacher:
Yeah and I mean I find it really interesting because you have, by and large you’ve met deadlines and stuff has been done and kind of magically stuff appears and it turns out that actually you have been working on stuff somehow. And I suppose I find that really interesting as a teacher that rather than going “you’ve got to do this by the end of this period” we’ve kind of gone “hey you’ve got to get a double-page spread done by this point” and most of that stuff has been done.
Sharnae:
I’ve made lots of lists so I remember the stuff that I need to do, and if I’m like waiting for something else to finish I do something else in the time, so I get things done quicker.
Teacher:
Is that something you’ve kind of adapted and done this year, or is that the way Sharnae rolls as a normal way of…?
Sharnae:
No, I used to do everything last minute, and now I’m doing different things at the same time.
Student one:
I’ve learnt that I find it a lot easier to say stuff instead of writing it down. I mean I get it all in my head but I find it difficult to write it down and keep it inside. Unless I was like standing in front of the class, it would be easier for me just to say everything and present it, but in this we have to like prove that we’ve written it. At first I really did not like it, like I would do whatever I could to put it off, but then I was just like…
Teacher:
What changed it? What made you go…?
Student one:
I got more into it, like I got really serious into it, I was like we have a deadline and I actually want to do it. Like I want to prove to people that have said “you can’t do that because you have whatever”, what I have, and then I’m just like “yeah well, I have dyslexia but I just did that and it’s in a magazine so…”. I feel proud of myself because I’ve done that and I find it easier to like write essays now and stuff because I’ve overcome that and learnt how I can do it easier, if that makes sense.
Teacher:
Totally, totally. And I suppose it’s built that confidence and you’re kind of more, I mean I’ve noticed as a teacher that you’re much more willing to take on a written project, you know I mean just doing those propositions the other day.
Student one:
Yeah I did that in a day. I did that in a period.
Teacher:
Yeah, yeah, and it was, it was very much we had kind of talked about it…
Student one:
Yeah, if I talk about it and brief it then it’s all in my head and I’m just like “done”. But if I don’t have it in my head then I’m just like, blank.
Teacher:
So I guess in some ways you are kind of learning about how you learn and how you operate and being able to apply that, and then combining that with a bit of confidence, suddenly we’ve got someone who is…
Student one:
As long as I see everything in my head right in front of me then I can do it.
Sharnae:
I guess it’s because you’re making something for other people to see that you want it to be really good, so you don’t want to be laid back and it will turn out crappy and stuff like that. If you, like in normal classes we’re just doing something and we’re the only ones who see it or the teacher, so we don’t really care as much what it looks like.