The CSCL tasks on this website are designed to help young students improve their reading and writing skills.  Students are able to navigate through the Students page, and follow the instructions for each task.  The tasks are to be completed in order, with each new task building on the previous one.  The Teachers page provides teachers with the direction they need to implement each task within their classroom.

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These tasks are intended to be implemented in a blended learning environment, meaning that the teacher sees the students regularly in the classroom, and is available to help guide them through the online learning tasks.  Chen, Looi, and Tan (2010) state that, “introducing different modes of communication in the classroom provides different kinds of scaffolding and support for enabling the cognitive and social interactions between the participants involved” (p. 1160).  A blended learning environment can provide the advantages of both a face to face environment, as well as the advantages that today's technology has to offer.

 

The tasks on this website are a snapshot of what would be a year long literacy programme.  Prior to engaging in these tasks, students will have had previous instruction and practice using the online tools needed to complete the assignments on this website.  They will have also had previous instruction in reading and writing.  These specific tasks are designed for a Grade 1 class of 15 students.  The students attend a private school in Calgary, and there are no students coded with learning needs. However, the tasks can be easily adapted to suit many learning environments.

 

The intent of this learning design is to teach students how to properly create, edit, and revise a paragraph through collaboration with their peers.  Identifying threshold concepts is key in determining the performances that are desired.  Meyer and Land (2006) describe threshold concepts as “akin to a portal, opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something. [They represent] a transformed way of understanding, or interpreting, or viewing something without which the learner cannot progress” (p. 3).  In this design, the threshold concepts are addressed through the learning outcomes in each task.  The threshold concepts to be taught through these tasks include: learning to write a paragraph, and learning to self edit and peer edit written work.  Using picture prompts, students will synchronously and asynchronously complete tasks in sequence that will result in a written paragraph.  The paragraph itself will be a short story that contains a beginning, middle, and end.  Each task works to address the identified threshold concepts in a systematic way.  Specific lesson plans are provided under the Teachers page, and provide additional information regarding the learning outcomes, and the assessment criteria, for each task.

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Google Slides was chosen as the technology medium for its ease of use, and ability for students to collaborate both synchronously and asynchronously.  Additionally, Google Slides allows the teacher access to see the work progressing, giving them the ability to track the work completed by each student and group.  Another reason for choosing Google Slides is that it allows for collaboration outside of the classroom, meaning that in subsequent tasks students could actually collaborate with other students from around the world using the Google Slides platform.

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The assessment of whether the students achieve understanding will be completed through formative assessment by the teacher, and will be additionally informed through self and group assessments that the students will complete after they have finished navigating through the assigned tasks.