Action Research Report 8 : De La Salle College

by Maree Cullen

World War One and its Aftermath

1914 — 1921

Project: To develop, conduct and review a web based activity that will actively engage students with the text.

Reconnaissance

De La Salle College, Cronulla is a Catholic Co-Educational Senior high school with a population of approximately 320 students. The students are largely from local Catholic schools — De La Salle College, Caringbah (boys 7 — 10) and Our Lady of Mercy, Burraneer bay (girls 7 — 10) as well as small numbers from many local high schools who may want a solely senior school or greater variety in the curriculum. The students are of varying abilities, backgrounds and interests.

The senior nature of the school lends itself to flexibility and variety in teaching delivery. As a senior college there limitations placed upon it with regards to individual subjects and promoting those subjects outside the school. This ‘lack’ of tradition and my constant aim to engage students with the text has resulted in a number of initiatives. I have considered the role Internet has as a learning tool and responded in a number of ways:

• In response to the Modern History Stage 6 syllabus and the use of technology as part of the key competencies the use of computers and on line activities should be useful, productive and result in historical debate within the classroom. There is great emphasis on this, as the Stage 6 is heavily content based and ultimately exam driven.
• In June, 2002 I enrolled in Grad Dip Arts (hist ed) study at Monash University in order to experience ‘on line’ learning and methods of teaching history first hand.
• The NSW History Project, with its focus on Action Research, presented itself as the culmination or opportunity to put these ideas into practice.

Very recently, De La Salle College, Cronulla launched its own school web site. This opened up the opportunity to place aspects of Modern History lessons on line. As with all teaching methods and practices, success lies in being used effectively, appropriately and in moderation. It was at this point that consideration needed to be given to planning the type of activity that would actively engage the students, use technology to effectively and efficiently deliver the material and result in the learning of additional material related to the key inquiry questions.

Planning

In planning on line learning I involved the students in some preliminary work using the Internet. This involved simple web navigation, note taking and collaboration with peers. Some students continued this activity at home. This aspect is interesting as students also have the opportunity to extend themselves, review what they have done or reflect on the material. My plan was to provide material that would require reflection and a deeper level of thought than the gathering of facts.

There have been some interesting studies made on the use of the Internet and its impact on student learning. In his article, ‘Using the Internet in the History Classroom’, Andrew Field examines the ways new technologies may assist in the development of traditional skills including the assessing of evidence. The assessment of evidence is one such area I believe will engage the students and can be used as the focus of their activity, then through the use of hyperlinks allow both the development of a deeper level of understanding and associated peripheral learning to take place. Field maintains that the Internet is a technological tool available to the teacher, but the use of suitable sites and activities can also allow the Internet to teach the lesson. The important factor here is to note it in no way replaces the teacher, or traditional teaching methods.

The interactive nature of web navigation, use of links and completion of activities can be used to allow the students to develop and improve history skills and knowledge while completing the task. The student is at the centre of the learning as they make choices and draw their own conclusions based on the evidence available to them. In this way the work I am planning should make learning more effective and beneficial to the student.

The teacher directed nature of the web based task leads me to question the extent activities need to be teacher directed. On consideration, and from previous experience, allowing the students to surf the web not a satisfactory use of technology. This method is futile, in time wasting and using any piece of information without judging its validity, but one can learn a lot. The user of the Internet needs to be able to discriminate between useful, reputable sites and material and those many sites that have little credibility and validity. While it is essential students learn to evaluate web sites, which can be done using this lesson model, I will begin by directing students via links.

In his article, Michael Arnold explores the uses of the Web to augment teaching and learning. One of a number of aspects he examined clarified ideas of my own. Arnold uses top-down curriculum planning at a tertiary level. For secondary students I feel a taste of this through units of work will expand their ways of learning and provide varied experiences. "Top down" learning starts with the ‘big picture’ outlined on the web page, giving an overview with links placed within the overview to support the deconstruction of content. Activites that relate and draw out the learning are also situated at appropriate points.

Acting

In an attempt to engage students actively with historical material and attempt to enable them to operate at a deeper level I looked at areas of the Year 12 Core Syllabus "World War One and its Aftermath 1914 — 1921". My aim was to find areas of controversy that would engage the students. Once they were involved in the study, expand the knowledge by providing closely related and some more remotely related links and activities.

This first attempt begins with an assessment of General Sir Douglas Haig, titled "Lions Led by Donkeys." After viewing relevant, appropriate web sites I constructed a cluster of lessons that in assessing the role of Haig, also

• Studied a number of battles on the Western Front
• Looked at the use of technology and its impact on the war
• Engaged the students in assessment and evaluation activities.

The Year 12 students have been engaged in introductory aspects of World War One — including the failure of the Schlieffen Plan, early battles and trench warfare. This has taken three weeks. The estimated time frame for this web based unit would be one week, with an additional week allowed to complete the written activities. As an introduction, the Haig debate was introduced, using a variety of quotes. This continued with an overview of the problem Haig has been associated with. The class broke into pairs to create a list of factors that Haig may have had little or no control of and those factors he may have been responsible for. This was discussed as a group and the web based lesson was introduced and demonstrated.

The school has created a learning centre which is a computer filled room with Internet access, video editing and television monitors. The first part of this lesson "the development of the trench system" was examined and material read. This initial part is brief and was designed to be a class activity. Here students saw what was expected and participated orally in the activity they would need to complete later.

Students then worked on the web based unit of work for four lessons and were able to continue their work at home. The teacher’s role was to ensure each student was on track, was not having technical or other difficulties and remained within time constraints.

Collecting Evidence

At the completion of this unit of work the students were asked to evaluate the web material, method of delivery and activities through a survey. As a class we discussed the positives and negatives aspects and I collected student work samples to assist in evaluating this unit of work.

The responses could be split into two groups and I will discuss them in this way. There was an overwhelming response from most students via the survey. Of the sixteen students involved, eleven were enthusiastic. These students saw the web lesson as ‘different’, interesting, easy to use and in particular, liked the portability — where they could continue with the work at home if necessary. These students were confident in navigating the site and showed a preference to being guided through the web and not having to find their own sites. They recognised the time consuming nature of sifting through the junk on the net and appreciated this. This was reinforced in the class discussion and reflected in the work samples. The ability levels of these students differed somewhat but these students were all eager and very keen about the subject.

The less enthusiastic students had a number of complaints, but no serious objections. Overall, they felt there was too much material to read and did not like using the links as they lost their place. Such comments also reflect their attitude to aspects of their school work. They were not as confident with their computer skills and were much more comfortable with printed material in front of them. I thought this factor needed to be addressed and with the class there was agreement that if completing work via Internet activities, students would probably print all the material off, including the links to us as notes and study guide. This is an interesting twist, and one that maintains that interaction with text generally requires use of something tangible that can be written on, highlighted etc.

These students were given the opportunity to explain what would suit them better, and they felt that less links more pictures and some animations would be an improvement. I say this tongue in cheek, but recognise the importance of web design. I also see the advantage of this form of lesson delivery in adding of links and activities that will extend students. On the other hand it may be necessary to explain that links are not essential. The design of the work must also reflect this. I also question whether some activities are extension or optional.

Reflection

When considering this project I feel that one of the better ways to use technology in the history classroom is through web based learning. As with all types of learning it may not suit everyone, but is adaptable. As with all types of learning it is ONE of many methods and cannot replace the teacher/facilitator. It does, however, place the student at the centre of the lesson and gives them greater responsibilities for their learning, a valuable strategy in itself. The lessons can be designed to meet the different needs of students and this is reflected in the planning and activities.

This project aimed to provide students with an area of controversy, and in debating this, lead students to learn other associated material. This appears to have been successful. I will take the factors discussed in the evaluation into account when planning related activities, beginning with the Christamas truce.

Bibliography

Arnold, M. High technology Supports Low Technology: Using the Web to Augment Teaching and Learning, The Australian History teacher, No27, 2000

Field, Andrew, Using the Internet in the History Classroom, Teaching History Online, No 2, Dec. 2000

Grundy, Shirley Action Research as Professional Development, Sydney University, Faculty of Education 2001 - 2002

Shiveley,J. VanFossen,P Critical Thinking and the Internet: Opportunities for the Social Studies Classroom, The Social Studies, Jan/Feb, 1999

Van Wageningen, Jenni The Internet Re-Visited, The Australian History Teacher, No 2, Dec 2000