Dianne Chambers* and Kaye Stacey

Department of Science and Mathematics Education
University of Melbourne

Contact: d.chambers@edfac.unimelb.edu.au

CLICK!: Computers and Learning In Classrooms: K-6 is a teacher professional development resource in the effective use of technology in the primary classroom. It was developed by the Department of Science and Mathematics Education, the University of Melbourne. The Department teaches computer education and has considerable experience in offering professional development for teachers. The core development team consisted of the Computers in Education staff of the Department, a web designer, a content editor, and a graphic designer.

At each stage of planning and development an expert group of teachers and principals of primary schools advised on the content and form of the resource. In total, almost a hundred academics and teachers in Australia and the USA contributed to the project. During this time, thirty professional development modules and thirty case studies about the effective use of technology in primary (K-6) classrooms have been gathered, along with video and multimedia resources to make the final product CLICK!

CLICK is an extensive professional development resource delivered on CD-ROM. Professional development modules address issues related to using technology effectively in the primary classroom. They are designed to assist presenters of school-based sessions and are supplemented by PowerPoint presentations and documents in easy-to-print portable document format for use with the free Acrobat Reader program. The case studies describe how primary teachers are using technology to enhance the teaching and learning processes in their classrooms. Many of them include examples of children's work, both paper-based and electronic. Videos show interviews with teachers addressing issues raised in the modules and case studies and classroom situations where technology is being used effectively. In addition are three 'Virtual Classrooms'. A virtual reality environment enables a viewer to walk around the classroom, seeing what children are doing, catching a little of their discussion and observing how the computers in the classroom are being used for curriculum purposes.

In brief, CLICK! comprises:

• 33 Professional Development modules,
  
• 30 Case Studies,
  
• 3 Virtual Classrooms,
  
• an hour of video clips

The PD Modules covering topics within the areas of:

• research
  
• classroom organisation
  
• professional development
  
• computer ethics and issues
  
• catering for differences
  
• key learning areas
  
• software choices
  
• integrated curriculum; and
  
• future gazing.

For each PD Module there is text of the module (which is also available in portable document format [PDF] for printing), a PowerPoint presentation of the PD Module to support a staff member deliver professional development to their colleagues (also in PDF), and each PD Module is linked to related Case Studies and related video clips.

There are 30 Case Studies which have been prepared by Australian teachers. The Case Studies cover all key learning areas and levels (junior, middle, and senior) of K-6 schools. Sections of each Case Study include: the curriculum focus of the unit, planning for the unit, reflection on the unit, examples of students' work, links to related PD Modules, links to related video clips. The 'units' described in the Case Studies range from a single lesson to a term long unit

There is almost an hour of video on the CD-ROM which includes the 'Virtual Classrooms' which were prepared by the DSME and filmed in three Australian primary schools which use different technology models, and video provided by Apple Computers from their 'Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow' resources and from the 'Technology In Learning and Teaching' (TILT) series developed by the New South Wales' Department of School Education.

The technology models in the 'Virtual Classrooms' are: the two computer classroom; the computer laboratory model; and a mixed model combining both computers in the classroom and a computer laboratory. Video taken in these classrooms show exemplary use of technology and illustrate aspects of classroom management that facilitate effect use of the technology to enhance learning. The three teachers from these classrooms discuss how different models work and the strengths of each model and classroom management techniques that make them work well. In each of the 'Virtual Classrooms' the user can explore the classroom using QuickTime VR (virtual reality) technology, that is, the user can look around the classroom from a central location and zoom into areas of interest and click on aspects of the image of interest to see a video clip of what is happening. Each video clip illustrates a key aspect of using that technology model.