1. +
Unit of
Enquiry Time and
Earth
MITE 6304
Designing shared virtual environments for learning
Group B - Members
Huang Biyun (Lucy) 2013877830
Siu Kwan Wing (Jackie) 2012878344
Kwok Fung Yee (Maggie) 2011872238
Zeng Guangshen (San) 2013877775

2. +
2
Today’s Rundown
 Topic
and focus for the learning design
 Introduction
 Specific learning goals and anticipated
difficulties
 Choice of technology platform and design
overview
 Effective teaching and learning strategy and
learning interactions
 Key technological affordances for this learning
design
 Reflection

3. +
3
Topic and Focus for Learning
Design
 Topic: Unit
 VLE
of Inquiry – Time and Earth
Platform: Active Worlds
 Target
Students: Primary 5 Students
 Duration
for the learning unit: 4 weeks

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4
Learning Goals of the Unit
By the end of this learning unit, students should be able to
Understand
about day and night, and season changes
Know
how places on earth are affected by daily or seasonal
processes
Know
how varying day lengths and seasons in different places affect
the lives of people living there
Be
able to locate the position and features of different places
Be
able to communicate your knowledge and understanding to ask
and answer questions about night and day, seasons and day length
Be
able to find and use information from different sources
Be
able to use new apps to support and present your work

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5
Anticipated Challenges for the
Learners
 Technological


The students may not have previous experience in VLE
The students will use several ICT tools for learning
activities inside the VLE
 Google Spreadsheets, Lino, Popplets, Educreations
 Mastering

challenges
of Science Concepts
The major science concepts, such as the rotation of the
Earth around the Sun, are challenging for the students to
master. Hence, well-designed visual aids and learning
activities are important.

6. + Part 2: Choice of Technology
Platform and Design
Overview
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7. + The VLE is designed as a Science
Museum with learning resources
and collaborative activities
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8. +
8
Information Counter – Learning
goals and site map

9. + The VLE contains four key learning
zones and one final project activity
 Knowledge

Harvest:
Activity for children to reveal what they already know about the
theme. Students think about the word “time” and what it could
mean.
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10. +
 Information

Base:
Students assess here for grade level relevant information
for this unit. They are welcome to revisit this zone
anytime to locate information. Students can evaluate their
learning by engaging in online quiz and games.
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11. +
 Time

Students engage in research activities to explore the reasons of
day time and night time. They also explore and explain
different time of the day in different places in the world.
 All

of the Day:
about Seasons:
Student explore what causes the seasons and climates. They
engage in research activities to explore day length in different
places in the world and the relationship with the climate of the
places.
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12. + Unit project - a group researchbased geography project

Students select a country of topic. The objectives of the project are :



Understand how places are affected by daily or seasonal processes
Understand how varying day lengths and seasons affect the lives of
people living there
The format of the project can be defined by the students

Recreation and Sports

Holiday Planner
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13. +Unit Project – Students record the
project presentation using online
platform - Educreations
Students can access and view all other student
presentations on Educreations
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14. +
Evaluation
 Students
will do a rubric-based self evaluation
and they will write up a reflection for the whole
learning unit in a wiki site.
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15. + Part 3. Teaching / Learning
Strategy and Learning
Interactions
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Summary of Pedagogies
Task-based
Learning
Researching and recording activities for
mastering of key concepts
Quiz and Game
Collaborative Learning
Group or class based activities
Constructivist Learning
Open ended Unit Project
Class based knowledge building and ideas
sharing

17. + Learning Strategies and
Interactions:
Learning Resources

Learning resources are provided for students in each sessions.
The learning resources are organized in a webquest format.
Videos, illustrations and prezi presentations are embedded into
the webquest site.
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18. + Learning Strategies and
Interactions:
Collaborative Learning


Class activities: Teacherled activities . The whole
class participate to
construct knowledge
together
ICT Tools used by students
 Popplet for mindmapping: shared
editing from multiple
devices
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19. +
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Learning Strategies and
Interactions:
Collaborative Learning
 ICT Tools
 Lino: online
pin board for
recording and
brainstorming
activities

20. + Learning Strategies and
Interactions:
Collaborative Learning


Group Activity: Students
form groups to engage in
research activities and final
project
ICT Tools used by students
 Google Spreadsheets:
shared spreadsheets for
online editing from
multiple devices
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21. +
21
Learning Strategies and
Interactions:
Collaborative Learning
 ICT Tools
 VoiceThread:
online voice
and text
discussion

22. +
22
Learning Strategies and
Interactions:
Collaborative Learning
 ICT Tools
 Educreations:
creating online
multimedia
presentations

23. + Part 4. Key Technology
Affordances for this Learning
Design
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24. +
24
Key Technological Affordances for
this Learning Design
 The
design of the VLE is a virtual Science Museum
 Objects
with purposes to minimize false
affordance






Information Counter for overall and help information
Game / Quiz Kiosk
Exhibit boards for learning resources and student activities
Presentation Stage for student presentations
Couches for student discussion
Use of Signage for easy “navigation”

25. + Evaluation using “A Taxonomy of
ICT Accordance in Education” by
Conole and Dyke (2004)
Accessibility
Online access is possible via any internet connected
PC with ActiveWorld software installed
Speed of
Change
Access to up to date information (e.g. websites about
current climates in different places of the world)
Diversity
Learning resources from different sources around
the world by different experts. Access to other
student works (e.g. public presentations in
Educreations)
Immediacy
Simultaneous multiple shared editing (e.g. Lino and
Google Doc) – support knowledge construction
Monopolization
Using of online tools can be seen as monopolization
e.g. Lino, Popplet
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26. +
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Evaluation using “A Taxonomy of
ICT Accordance in Education” by
Conole and Dyke (2004)
Risk, fragility
and uncertainity
The design and choice of tools in the VLE is purposebuilt, with concept similar to WebQuest, to minimize
the risk the students may encounter
Survelliance
Most student activities are done using online tools
(e.g. Google Doc). Teacher can have real time
monitoring and guidance of students’ work
Reflection
Use of brainstorming and mind-mapping tools (e.g.
Popplets) allow students to share and reflect on each
other’s ideas.
Asynchronous discussion forum (Voicethread)
encourage reflection and critique
Online self-evaluation rubric encourage continuous
self-evaluation and reflection.

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Evaluation using “A Taxonomy of
ICT Accordance in Education” by
Conole and Dyke (2004)
Communication
and
collaboration
Inside the VLE, students can see the real time virtual
existence of their classmates. It encourages student
communal and social collaboration.
Other ICT tools used in learning activities have
different communication affordances:
Voicethread: Reflective, Task, Social
Google Doc: Reflective, Analytical, Task, Communal
Popplet: Reflective, Analytical, Task, Communal
Lino: Reflective, Task, Communal
Educreations: Task

28. +
Part 5. Reflections
http://grade5-time-earth.weebly.com/re
vle-project.html
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