Students rush to switched-on science lessons

A Darling Downs teacher never thought she would see the day when students were beating down her door for science lessons. But much to Roxanne Robert's surprise that is exactly what her Year 9 students are doing.

In line with the Smart Classrooms strategy, the Charleville State High School science teacher, who holds an ICT Certificate, bid goodbye to textbooks in favour of connecting with the kids through ICT.

'The purpose is to engage students who have switched off from learning and reintroduce them to the learning process using technologies that they are more affiliated with,' says Ms Roberts.

'Students who were constantly dragging their feet to get to class are now waiting for me by the time I get to the classroom.'

Comprising of three stages, the programme requires students to conduct research, collaborate and engineer a solution for a web-business using their IT knowledge.

Designing toys and investigating how they work, the students are divided into groups (IT, research, design and marketing) - each team focussing on a particular part of the project.

All work is then submitted for marking using email, reducing paper wastage and the chance of lost assignments.

Upon conclusion of the project the students share their experiences with other schools via webcams, video conferencing, blogs and chat rooms.

'This project has unexpected and delightful rewards,' says Ms Roberts.

'I watch the students grow in confidence and ability, not only with difficult science concepts and ICT, but also within themselves.'

Witnessing so many positive results Ms Roberts says she is now keen to incorporate ICT into further lessons.

'It's my wish to be able to create units that are cross-curricular and multi-faceted so that students can engage with this (ICT) learning in more than one area of study,' she says.

'[I want to] encourage the depth of learning that [I believe] can't be achieved in discipline specific classes.'