Information and Communication Technology in the Australian Curriculum

Julie KingSenior Project Officer, Technologies

Overview

• The work of ACARA• The Australian Curriculum• ICT in the Australian Curriculum

– ICT capability– Digital Technologies

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Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)

• ACARA’s mission is to develop a world class national curriculum and national assessment and reporting programs for the common goal of delivering better outcomes so all young Australians become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens.

ACARA is responsible for:

• a national curriculum from Foundation to Year 12 in specified learning areas

• a national assessment program aligned to the national curriculum that measures students’ progress

• a national data collection and reporting program.

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Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)

• ACARA commenced its work on 1 June 2009

• COAG (Council of Australian Governments) decided an independent body was needed

• Independent Statutory Authority under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997

• SCSEEC (Standing Council on School Education and Early Childhood) is responsible for setting ACARA’s work program through a charter

ACARA Board13 member boardAppointed by and reports to SCSEECChair – Prof Barry McGaw

Deputy Chair – Tony Mackay

ACARA Board

The Australian Curriculum

Learning for life

Australian governments committed to working in collaboration to promote equity and excellence in Australian schooling, with school sectors supporting all young Australians to become

• successful learners• confident and creative individuals• active and informed citizens.

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The Australian Curriculum

• Sets out what all students are to be taught (content) and what students are typically able to understand and able to do (achievement standards).

• Affirms the central importance of discipline-based knowledge and skills as well as general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities.

• Acknowledges that classroom teachers are best placed to organise learning for students; they will make decisions about the pedagogical approach intended to achieve the best learning outcomes.

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A curriculum for all young AustraliansA world-class curriculum for the 21st century

General capabilities• Literacy• Numeracy• Information and communication technology

capability• Critical and creative thinking• Personal and social capability• Ethical behaviour• Intercultural understanding

Learning areas• English• Mathematics• Science• Humanities and social sciences – history, geography,

business and economics, civics and citizenship• Arts• Languages• Health and physical education• Technologies

Cross-curriculum priorities• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories

and Cultures• Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia• Sustainability

Dimensions of the Australian Curriculum

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Shape of the Australian Curriculum v3.0

• Referenced to the Melbourne Declaration.

• Provides a context for the current Foundation to Year 10 Australian Curriculum and guides the next stage of curriculum development.

• Describes what has been agreed about the structure and development of the Australian Curriculum.

• www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/curriculum.html

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Australian Curriculum Development

The Curriculum Development Process outlines four stages in the development of the Australian Curriculum:

1. Curriculum shaping

2. Curriculum writing

3. Implementation

4. Evaluation and review.

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Development of the learning areas

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Learning areas Timeline

English 2008-2010

Mathematics 2008-2010

Science 2008-2010

Humanities and Social Sciences• History• Geography• Economics, Business, Civics and Citizenship

2008-20102010-20122011-2013

The Arts 2010-2013

Languages 2010-2012/13

Health and Physical Education 2011-2013

Technologies 2011-2013

Australian Curriculum development timelines

ICT in the Australian Curriculum

ICT in the Australian Curriculum

Information and Communication Technology is represented in the Australian Curriculum in two ways:

• ICT Capability ‒ one of seven general capabilities – broad skills addressed across all learning areas

• Specialised knowledge and skills in the Technologies learning area (writing phase has commenced)

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General Capabilities• Addressed through the learning areas • Identified where they

– are developed or applied in content descriptions– offer opportunities to add depth and richness to

student learning in content elaborations

• More strongly represented in some strands than others

• Identification of general capabilities in content descriptions is indicative

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Literacy

Numeracy

ICT capability

Critical and creative thinking

Personal and social capability

Ethical behaviour

Intercultural understanding

General Capabilities

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ICT capability

• Students develop ICT capability as they learn to use ICT effectively and appropriately to access, create and communicate information and ideas, solve problems and work collaboratively in all learning areas at school, and in their lives beyond school.

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The elements of ICT capability

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Extension of learning continua

• Learning continua extended– Literacy and Numeracy – end Foundation– The rest, including ICT capability, end

Foundation, Year 4, Year 8

• Worked with 20 schools to collect student data on assessment tasks

• Teacher surveys• Targeted consultation

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General capabilities online

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http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/

ICT capability in English: Year 2Content description and elaboration

ICT capability continuum

Text structure and organisation

Know some features of text organisation including page and screen layouts, alphabetical order, and different types of diagrams, for example timelines 

• learning about features of screen texts including menu buttons, drop down menus, links and live connections

Investigating ‒ locating and accessing data and information

Locate and retrieve textual and graphic information from a range of digital sources

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ICT capability in Science: Year 6 Content description and elaboration

ICT capability continuum

Planning and conductingWith guidance, plan appropriate investigation methods to answer questions or solve problems• following a procedure to design

an experimental or field investigation

• considering which investigation methods are most suited to answer a particular question or solve a problem

Investigating ‒ defining and planning information searches

Use appropriate ICT to identify and represent patterns in sets of information and to pose questions

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ICT capability in History: Year 8Content description and elaboration

ICT capability learning continuum

Use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written) and digital technologies

• creating an oral presentation, supported by audio-visual material, to recount the life of Temujin (Genghis Khan) and to explain his contribution to the Mongol world

Creating ‒ generating solutions to challenges and learning area tasks

Design and modify creative digital solutions, for particular audiences and for a range of purposes

Communicating ‒ collaborating sharing and exchanging

Select and use a range of ICT tools efficiently and safely to share and exchange information and to construct knowledge collaboratively

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ICT in the Technologies learning area

Digital Technologies is designed to assist students to become confident developers of information solutions by applying computational thinking skills

• Digital technologies knowledge and understanding

• Digital technologies processes and production skills

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ICT in the Technologies learning area ‒ Shaping Phase

Position Paper

Appointment of Lead Writer and Advisory

Panel

Initial Advice Paper

Draft Shape Paper for national

consultation

Australian Curriculum: Technologies writing process

Appointment of Writers and Advisory

groupWriting Consultation and

Trialling

Technologies Shape paper

• Australian Curriculum: Technologies is designed for all students in Australian schools

• Outlines a proposal for the curriculum design of the Technologies area

• Provides a contemporary, conceptual direction for Technologies

• Proposes core learning Foundation to 8 in Design and Technologies and Digital Technologies with elective subjects from Year 9

Subjects and strands

Overarching idea: creating preferred futures

Design and Technologies Digital Technologies

Design and Technologies knowledge and understanding

Digital Technologies knowledge and understanding

Design and Technologies processes and production skills

Digital Technologies processes and production skills

Digital Technologies

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• provides students with the knowledge, understanding and skills to safely and ethically use digital technologies to create and interact with digital information and systems for specific purposes and/or audiences.

Digital Technologies curriculum will enable students to: • pursue specialist knowledge in the field of digital

technologies• precisely define problems• identify the steps and processes required to create

solutions• realise solutions through the application of computational

thinking and the use of information systems.

It will also contribute to students developing a set of critical thinking skills and ICT capability.

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Australian Curriculum website and

aligned resources

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM ONLINE

Australian Curriculum aligned

resources

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• Resources aligned with the Australian Curriculum• Efficient discovery of existing digital resources• Curriculum metadata (including ScOT terms) to allow an

accurate connection to resources• Available through Scootle• To become available through local portals

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Australian Curriculum aligned resources

Getting involved

• Subscribe to ACARA update: The ACARA Update is an e-newsletter that highlights ACARA’s activities. The update is sent periodically. To receive the ACARA Update subscribe here: http://www.acara.edu.au/news_media/subscribe.html

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Contact

Julie King, Senior Project Officer, Technologies

Email: julie.king@acara.edu.au