Communicating with ICT

Resources that help teachers and students to:

...collaborate, share and exchange

...understand computer mediated communications

Instructables.com - Toys contest

URL: https://www.instructables.com/contest/toys2018/

Overview: Enables users to showcase and evaluate their design ideas and production processes in an online design community.

Platform: Web-based - all operating systems and mobile devices

Cost: Free

Age: Year 7 to 12

Instructables.com provides an authentic way for students to further "understand computer mediated communication" within the capability of "communicating with ICT" (ACARA, n.d.). It enables students to participate in an online community to discover and evaluate others' work, and discuss their design products and processes.

As noted by Davies and Hardy (2015) student motivation is amplified when learning with digital technologies (p. 176). Furthermore, communicating online is a form of “electronic publishing” that engages and typifies students of the 21st century (Roblyer & Doering, 2014, p. 261). With this in mind, Instructables.com provides an encouraging stage for students to develop, share and evaluate each other's ideas using 21st century communication skills (Roblyer & Doering, 2014, p. 32). In Design and Technology contexts, this would support development of students' skills in communicating design ideas through "situated cognition", via authentic experiences in a competitive and supportive atmosphere (Roblyer & Doering, 2014, p. 59).

References:

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (n.d.). Information and communication technology (ICT) capability. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/information-and-communication-technology-ict-capability/
Davies, S. & Hardy, A. (2015). Preparing to teach with digital technologies. In G. Owen-Jackson (Ed.), Learning to teach design and technology in the secondary school: A companion to school experience (3rd ed., pp. 161-178). London, UK: Routledge.
Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2014). Integrating educational technology into teaching (6th international ed.). Harlow, UK: Pearson.

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Trello

URL: https://trello.com/tour | sample tutorial video

Overview: Trello enables students and teachers to collaborate on projects while organising, tracking and managing their team's activities.

Platform: Web-app - all operating systems and mobile devices.

Cost: Free (paid upgrade with advanced features = $10/mth)

Age: Year 7 to Adult

This resource aligns to the capability of "communicating with ICT", providing a central hub to "collaborate, share and exchange" (ACARA, n.d.). It enables 'real-time' interaction and organisation of information via student to student, student to teacher or teacher to teacher modes of communication.

Collaboration is a powerful "affordance" (Bower, 2008, p. 5) of web-based programs that harness the "social-networking" potential of the internet (Roblyer & Doering, 2014, p. 243). The 'live' nature of Trello's "cards" and "boards" extends the idea of traditional post-it-notes into an interactive domain (Atlassian, n.d.). Team members join project 'boards' to enable instant communication, organise tasks and encourage collective “community” thinking (Roblyer & Doering, 2014, p. 245). In Industrial Technology contexts, Trello would be suitable for supporting team-based design projects, small-group research activities and as a tool for teachers to plan project-oriented curriculum content (Board of Studies NSW, 2003c, p. 6).