This presentation was originally prepared for the Global Education online conference November 2011. It was also presented as a workshop at iMoot11 in May 2011

1. Nigel Mitchell
Kleo Dokas
Parvathy Balakrisnan
Emily Parker

2.  We are a group of year 10 English teachers at
Open Access College in Adelaide, South
Australia.
Kleo
Emily
Parvathy
Nigel

3.  Open Access College is the distance education
school of the South Australian government
Department of Education and Children’s
Services.
 The school provides education for over 2000
students from K-12, all of whom are isolated for
reasons including distance, medical,
psychological and family circumstances.
 Classes are conducted by internet, telephone,
and snail mail.

4.  The four of us collaborated during term 3
2010 on a year 10 English unit we titled
“FreedomWriters”.
 Multidisciplinary approach – an English unit
which could just as easily been a SOSE
(Studies of Society and Environment) unit.
 Main themes: Racism and Identity

5.  Could the Holocaust happen again today?
 How can my schoolwork make a difference in
the world?

6.  Communication – class discussion
 Digital literacy – participation in an online
discussion forum
 Formal essay writing skills

7.  June 2010
Students and staff attend an exhibition “Remember the
Holocaust” at the SA Migration Museum
 July 2010
All students watch the 2007 film “FreedomWriters”
 Students were provided with additional resources on the
Holocaust and the events depicted in the movie through
the course Moodle

8.  An exhibition curated by local
artist and Holocaust survivor
Andrew Steiner.
 The exhibition included artefacts,
descriptions and multimedia
presentations of the Holocaust
 Many students had little or no
prior knowledge of the Holocaust
 Andrew Steiner generously spent
time with the students after they
had viewed the exhibition and
answered their questions

9.  Set in Los Angeles in the
aftermath of the 1992riots
 A young teacher inspires her
class of at-risk students to
learn tolerance, apply
themselves, and pursue
education beyond high
school.
 One of the activities she
employs with her students is
taking them to a Holocaust
exhibition.

10.  Students will understand that words are
powerful, and that education can change
your life.
 Students will understand the consequences
of racism on their own lives and the lives of
others.

11.  Classes meet weekly for 30-50 minutes, with
individual contact by phone and/or email between
students and teachers between classes.
 Class discussions focussed on the content material
(Holocaust and the Movie) and the written tasks.
 Three main assessment tasks:
▪ Interactive forum on the Moodle
▪ Text response – student response to short answer questions
▪ 800-1000 word Essay:
What did the 'Freedom Writers' learn about themselves in Erin
Gruwell's class? In your essay, refer to the themes of racism, gang
violence and alienation.

12.  Students were required to make a minimum of 6
entries on the forum during the term.
 First two posts: responses to the film and
exhibition/what you have learnt about the Holocaust
 Other posts can be in response to your thoughts
during the unit.
 Students who were struggling for inspiration were
encouraged to write about the themes of racism, gang
violence and alienation (i.e. chunking the essay)
 Students were also encouraged to respond to
posts by other students

14. Wordle courtesy of www.wordle.net

19.  Increased awareness of racism and related
issues, both historically and in their own
communities.
 Students explored other sources, including
books, films and websites, for more
information, and shared that information
with each other through the forum.
 Very pleasing level of student engagement
with the whole unit.

20.  Our students know very little about the
Holocaust, but once they learn a bit they
develop a thirst to learn much more.
 Students do respond to sensitive and
controversial topics.
 Students can engage with issues of racism and
identity.
 An asynchronous online forum is an ideal way to
allow students to express their ideas and interact
with each other on a controversial topic

21.  Engage with students in another school who
were doing a similar study.
 Draw more explicit links between historical
examples of racism and racist attitudes in
contemporary society.
 Encourage students to move from thought to
action.