Make technology work

Technology is a given. Each of these learning spaces is equipped with wireless technology and allows multiple ways in which students can connect with each other and outside of the classroom using technology. Students can access library databases, co-create documents, create webpages, showcase their work and use video, to give some examples. Technology engages students. It also prepares them for a world of work which is increasingly technology driven.

http://online.cofa.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/episode-pdf/Resources_LTTO.pdf

Get to know each other

• Use polls to find out aggregated information about students backgrounds and get to know them as a class. 
• Ask students to create a Pinterest board under an alias with 10 pins that have influenced them to be who they are today and then get the rest of the class to guess which belongs to each person
• Create a classroom blog and ask each student to write a short blog post and upload a picture, introducing themselves to the rest of the class.

Work in groups

• Use wikis to work on group projects. Each group could have a page of a wiki to work on and then share their page with the rest of the class.
• Use Google groups/drive to discuss topics and share and edit documents

Build ideas together

• Use Padlet to post sticky notes with ideas/comments etc to a central location. These sticky notes can then be bundled into themes.
• Brainstorm or mindmap a topic together. Refine branches of the mindmap by giving groups a particular branch to go deeper.
• Use think, pair, share to work on problems - use Google docs to record thinking

Think deeply

• Use the Plus/Minus/Interesting tool to push your thinking - use Google docs or a wiki
• Use the Ingenium tool to break down a task and think through how you will solve a problem
• Use the 5 whys to get to the bottom of problems - use Google docs or a wiki

Reflect

• Use the muddiest point in a class blog
• Use Padlet to post sticky notes with ideas/comments etc to a central location. These sticky notes can then be bundled into themes.
• Use the KWL chart to find out what you know, what you want to know and how you will learn it - use Google docs or a wiki
• Use Four quadrants – what new knowledge have I learnt/ what new vocabulary have I learnt/what new skills have I learnt?/what have I learnt about my own learning? - use Google docs or a table in a wiki
• Use a learning journal or blog

Connect with industry

• Use a wiki and invite an industry expert as a guest commentator (Blackboard wiki will not be suitable for this, as it is internal to QUT, behind security.)
• Use Skype or a Google Hangout  to have a live video conference

Give feedback to each other

• Present and comment on each other's blogs or wiki pages
• Get students to use the Blackboard peer-assessment rubrics to give formative feedback on student work

Use discipline terminology

• Use a wiki page to list discipline terminology. Ask three students a week to add two words to the list with definitions or examples of practice. Definitions and examples could be visual or links to youTube videos etc.

Conduct research

• Look up resources in the library 
• Do a web search

Self-manage

• Ask students to keep a blog or a personal journal of their learning and what learning strategies they have used

Give me feedback

• Have a quick pre-class Blackboard quiz or use third party polling to assess student knowledge so you can target what the class is unfamiliar with or challenge assumptions
• Use a class blog to record student's muddiest point
• Get students to write anonymously on sticky notes in Padlet about what they have learnt in class today and/or if they have any questions