SECTION 2.5 - BLENDING COMPUTERS INTO THE
CURRICULUM
It is worthwhile at this point to take a minute and briefly discuss the nature of literacy learning since this impacts the manner in which programs approach their curriculum. In Canada there aren't provincially determined standards for adult literacy as there is in public education. As such, curriculum varies from program to program, although the basic skill/knowledge areas include reading, writing, spelling, numeracy and more recently, the computer. Generally speaking, there tends to be two 'streams' of learners in programs:
those who want to improve their
literacy skills in general (e.g., employability, help children with homework, be more
independent, etc)
those who are upgrading academically
(e.g., going on to adult high school or General Education Development programs)
Thus, the focus of a program will depend on what goals their learners are seeking to achieve. The integration of the computer into adult literacy curriculum according to 'stream' is discussed in the following subsections.
2.5.1 AUTHENTIC LEARNING AND INTEGRATED CURRICULUM
In the past decade or so there has been a general move in the field of education toward what is termed authentic learning; that is, connecting content to the real world. Previously, material was taught in its most abstract form. For example, in mathematics students were expected to learn various formulas and apply them to abstract problems. As educators have discovered, however, many learners were unable to apply what they had learned to real world problems. By tying content to "authentic" or real world problems, however, learning is more effective because the material is more concrete. And, concrete knowledge is more easily processed into long-term memory, more easily generalized to a variety of situations, and more motivating in that learners can use it in practical ways. Thus, adult literacy curriculum that is framed against everyday living themes such as the cooking example below is quite effective for learners who wish to improve their literacy skills/knowledge.
THEME: KEEPING THE
VAMPIRES AWAY (OR, COOKING WITH GARLIC)
ACTIVITY |
SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE |
| Have
learners read through magazines, newspapers and/or cookbooks for recipes that use garlic |
Use
of reference material, reading |
| Begin
an alphabetical list of unknown and/or hard to spell cooking-related vocabulary words.
Look up unfamiliar terms in a cookbook. |
Alphabetizing,
referencing, spelling |
| Have
learners research and write a story about garlic and vampires, growing garlic, medicinal
uses of garlic, etc. |
Researching,
reading, writing, editing |
| Dictate
phonetically regular and irregular cooking terms. |
Spelling |
| Choose
a recipe and have learners increase and/or decrease the
quantities. |
Numeracy |
| Have
learners type up recipes on the computer using various desktop publishing features such as
borders, clip art, etc. Have learners search for clip art on the Internet to illustrate
the cookbook. |
Use
computer tools such (e.g., software programs such as word processing, spreadsheets,
desktop publishing), Internet searching, |
| Have
learners bookmark several sites which offer recipes,
cooking tips and terminology, etc.
Have learners search for a metric/Imperial measurement converter and an
online calculator. |
Use
the Internet to research and/or gather information |
| Have
learners view a streaming video over the Internet on peeling
and pureeing garlic |
Downloading,
installing and using computer players. |
| Set
up a recipe exchange with
another literacy program and have learners e-mail their recipes to a "cyber pal"
in the other program. Have learners join a discussion group about cooking or set-up an
Internet collaboration
project with another class. |
Use
the computer to communicate. E-mailing with attachments, writing, collaborating,
networking. |
| Put
the recipes together in a cookbook and sell to raise funds for the program. Have learners
design a web page to advertise the cookbook on the program's
web site. |
Fund
raising, motivation of students, disseminating information via the computer. |
| Have
learners cook a favourite recipe at home and bring to a class potluck. |
Just
plain fun! |
Some online extension activities that might be added to the above learning unit include:
Numeracy: Eating Out, Making Change
Reading: Preventing Choking
Computer: Plan a Menu Using the Internet,
Nutrition Inquiry
Map
Some examples of other everyday living themes that might be used for this stream are shown below:
EVERYDAY LIVING THEMES:
EXAMPLES AND RESOURCES
In addition to authentic learning, the cooking example above illustrates the notion of an integrated curriculum; that is, learning units that blend literacy skills and knowledge versus teaching reading, writing, spelling, numeracy and the computer separately. Teaching these in isolation does not reflect how they will be used in real life. A great deal of context would be lost and the material would be much more abstract, making it difficult for learners to generalize what they have learned to a variety of situations.
Some sites with examples of how others have integrated computers into teaching and learning may be found at the following sites:
ABE Class
Conducts Survey Project
Teaching
and Learning with Internet-based resources
Preparing
Resumes and Cover Letters
2.5.2 SUBJECT SPECIFIC CURRICULUM AND CONSTRUCTIVISM
Not all teaching and learning situations will be suited to everyday living themes. For example, if the focus of the program has to do with preparing literacy students to go on to a GED (General Education Development) or adult high school diploma program, then the curriculum must necessarily focus on learning academic content in specific subject areas such as Science, Mathematics, English, Geography, etc. Much of this type of content can also be taught using a theme-based approach, although the themes will necessarily extend beyond everyday living ones. For example, these mathematical learning units have been designed around the theme of flight. This example also illustrates the concept of constructivist learning. This is also referred to as problem-based learning. Rather than transmitting content-specific material to students, content is conveyed through relevant and engaging tasks or problems. Another example is The Yellowstone Wolf Conflict, in which students not only learn content (i.e., about wolves and environmental issues), but process skills (i.e., critical thinking skills).
Some resources for planning subject-oriented curriculum include:
Educational WWW Resources by Subject
Teachnet.com Subject Lesson Plans
General
Educational Development (GED) Links
2.5.3 THE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Although it is not within the scope of this course to cover curriculum development in detail, before closing this module it is worthwhile to review the basic stages and components of this process. These are:
Development of curriculum
- determine goals
- specify instructional objectives
- identify resources and constraints
- select and organize content
- select teaching strategies and learning experiences
- identify/design student assessment tools
- identify/design curriculum evaluation tools
- devise implementation plan