Week 5 Group Task--Explore curriculum in IPPUT: Qi Yang (Carol)

According to English (2000), “curriculum is any document that exists in a school that defines the work of teachers by identifying the content to be taught and the methods to be used”. Curriculum innovation can hardly be successful unless teachers ‘conceptions and beliefs about teaching and learning are taken into account. Teachers and administrators often focus on the Big Three, the written, taught and tested curriculum, in order to maximize the learned curriculum (Glatthorn, 1987).

Improved curriculum types generally include:

-Aligned: use the right methods to bring the written, the taught, the supported, and the tested curriculums into closer alignment, so that the learned curriculum is maximized;

-Concept-Based: the conceptual transfer of knowledge includes the application of concepts or universal generalizations across time, cultures or situations;

-Differentiated: teacher proactively plans varied approaches to what students need to learn, how they will learn it, and/or how they can express what they have learned in order to increase the likelihood that each student will learn as much as he or she can as efficiently as possible;

Week 3 Group Task---Qi Yang (Carol)

Task question of week 3
Identify an innovative classroom and Analyse teacher roles in the classroom

I’d like to share my experience of using Google Docs in my course 6023. I think it is one example of innovative classroom. The application allows students to create and edit documents online while collaborating in real-time with others as well as the teacher. Google Docs helps promote group work and peer editing skills, enables students and teachers to decide exactly who can access and edit documents. Teachers can use Google Docs both to publish announcements about upcoming assignments and to monitor student progress. Students that it can help them stay organized and keep on top of their assignments. They never have to remember to save their work; it happens automatically. It's easy to collaborate online with others, even when they are in different places, and they can get feedback easily from teachers, parents, relatives and tutors, and enter updates anytime from anywhere. This innovative classroom extend teaching & learning functionality, make teacher and student fully involved, stimulate learners to use technology effectively and make whole classroom tight connected. For me, I really enjoy such kind of learning.

Depending on the 6 dimensions, I identify an innovative classroom as follows:

For the curriculum goals, students are expected to gain or experience:

- Collaborative and organizational skills