Empowering
inquiry
based
learning
with
“web2.0”
mash-ups.
paulreid.id.au

connect//
collaborate//
community

quotes
Jimmy Wales
• “Imagine a world where everyone had access to the sum
of all human knowledge.”
• “Thinking of all the bad things that people could do,
that makes bad society.”
• “Monocultures are dangerous.”
• “Authority comes from respect.”
• “..... a good starting point for students - that’s all.”
• “We need to learn to contribute and disagree in safety”

What do I need?
•Acceptable use policy
• Student email addresses
• Internet access

Quick fix
• Teachers can quickly generate and assign
separate email address for each student. To
do this, just add a + sign and the students
first name after your gmail address.
• Example mr.reid+student1@gmail.com
• Each student’s username and password for
these will be emailed to you.

SAFETY, SAFETY, safety
• •
Although every K-12 student Next, consider using a blogging
must be kept safe, the age and program/online tool that
emerging critical skills of primary requires a password to publish.
students make ensuring their That way, you as the teacher
online safety paramount. First, have final say about what goes
find out what your school online, and you can edit out any
Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) identifying information (such as a
says about posting student work student's home address!) before
and names online. Often, it becomes public.
students' first names may be
•
published, along with group Blogging in the primary school is
photos, as long as there is no an exciting and doable activity.
indication which name belongs Tap into places like the
to which student. Be sure to edublogs.org generous support
check your Education Dep’ts community before beginning
AUP before proceeding, your blogging adventure!
however.

* How much do schools
really value students' views?
* How much do organisations
really value their stake-holders?

What is the Inquiry Process?
Creative
Critical
Caring
From Michael Pohl Teaching Complex Thinking:Hawker Brownlow Education 2000

Effective Inquiry Based Learning
Higher order thinking skills Co-operative Learning
Multiple Intelligences Integrated Learning
Learning Styles Effective Questioning
Reflective Thinking Negotiated Assessment Criteria
Blooms Taxonomy Brain Theory
Effective Use of ICTs Anywhere/Anytime
Inspired by Mark Dixon former Project Officer Apollo Parkways Primary in Melbourne. Apollo Parkways is the most successful school in the Navigator School Program in Victoria.

1. Define
Defining information needs
2. Locate
Locating information sources
3. Select
Selecting relevant information
Text
4. Organise
Processing & organising the info selected
5. Present
Creating and sharing resulting work
6. Evaluate
Evaluating and reflecting
© 2003 Leonie McIlvenny (Curriculum Officer - Library & Information Services)

The ability to find and use
information is expressed in the
Curriculum Framework as one of the
Overarching Learning Outcomes.
“3. Students recognise when and what information
is needed, locate and obtain it from a range of
sources and evaluate, use and share it with others.”

1. Define
• DEFINING - What do we want to know
about this topic?

Open and Closed Questions
When formulating questions a useful approach to use is to consider them as
either open or closed.
CLOSED questions have very short answers.
The answer may be the name of a person or place. It might have an answer that
is just Yes or No.
Examples are:
Who invented electricity?
Does Saturn have an atmosphere?
What is web2.0?
OPEN questions usually have more than one answer and there are often many
different answers possible.
Examples are:
What are 10 Australian animals that are not mammals?
What would happen if we didn't get any rain this Winter?
What would happen if we used dynamic web2.0 tools instead of
static software in our classrooms?

Fat and Skinny Questions
Another way to consider questions is by calling them FAT or skinny questions.
“Skinny” questions usually only have a very short answer, usually yes or no answers.
They have their uses for recall of facts but don't stretch students' thinking skills.You
can add \"describe\" or \"give reasons for your answer\" to skinny questions.
Example: When did the First Fleet arrive at Sydney?
“Fat” questions contain more depth of thought and broaden students' thinking skills
and are recommended for research.
Example: What impact did the First Fleet have on the Aboriginals who lived near
Botany Bay?
Students should be encouraged to develop both ”fat” and “skinny” questions when
doing their initial planning.

what is
wikipedia.org?
A culture of sharing
and creativity which
is not based upon
market exchange but
rather on intellectual
exchange.
• an encyclopaedia anyone can edit
• 8th most popular site on the internet
• 6.19% of all internet users visit daily
• a base layer of raw cultural materials
• a self organising, bottom-up community
• the wisdom of crowds

2. Locate
• LOCATING INFORMATION - Where do I go to
find my information?

http://del.icio.us/paulreid
add me to you network

Text
Goo:
twitter.com

• Google: YouTube custom Player

3. Select
• How do I select appropriate information?

4. Organise
• How will I organise my information?

5. Present
• How will I present my information?

6. Evaluate
• How does my finished product compare
with the criteria set at the beginning of the
process?

Drinking can recycler
I planted a lot of trees at my house to
reduce the toxic fumes in the air.
None of the appliances in my house
give off toxic fumes
I have a pond out the front of my
house to attract frogs and I have
This house recycles drinking
lots of plants to attract butterflies
cans then sends them of to
and birds.
hospital's for limbs
This house was made of 80% of
the stuff found on the site
This house has a grey water
system.
The waste goes into a compost
and after a will is then spread over
This house has a rain water tank
my garden.
Solar panEls
Air filter This Sustainable House design is
called the super sustainable house
This house is a sustainable house
that saves power, reduces pollution,
saves money and collects its own
rain water.
All together this house cost
$900,999.00 to make and is a good
Every thing in my house runs on solar
This house has a air filter that gets all the house house to raise a family in. power
fumes out of the house.

7. Reflect
• How can I improve my inquiry process?
• So what?

Skitch
• See it…
• Say it…
• Share it…

Multi Literacies in the classroom
There is power and potential in Inquiry Learning
using social software in the classroom
Linking Thinking and Information Literacy

•Linking Thinking and
Information Literacy
•There is power and
potential in Inquiry Learning
using social software in the
classroom
•Multi Literacies in the
classroom
flickr.com/photos/wrichard/1119280736/

http://paulreid.id.au