Deputy Principal

I write to verify and support the application of Mrs Jan Clewett to receive recognition for her work at Oakey State High School.

HISTORY

In 2006, Mrs Clewett came to OSHS with a primary school teaching background. She was employed part-time as a Business Teacher. She was required to teach Certificate II in Business and Certificate II in Information Technology as well as a Year 9/10 Business class.

The school had spent $2000 in 2005 to employ a consultant to assist a business teacher merge the two Certificate II courses (Business and Information Technology) into one subject which could be taught to Year 11 and 12 students. Unfortunately this merger did not satisfy QSA guidelines.

In her days off Mrs Clewett managed to

• Map the two Certificate II courses into one stand-alone vocational education subject
• Upskill herself in:
      competency-based assessment
      the Australian Quality Training Framework
      Oakey SHS procedures as they relate to the AQTF

In 2006 she was required to teach the new course to Yr 11s and the old course to Yr 12’s. The school believes it is the only school in Queensland to have mapped these two certificate courses into one course.

Mrs Clewett began her early professional development in ICT’s by buying a laptop and beginning to teach herself.

USE OF ICT’S IN THE CLASSROOM

Because Mrs Clewett was only working three days a week in 2006 and some of her students were on traineeships, she decided that it was important to incorporate e-learning into her classroom. This way she could better manage the studens' use of ICT’s, course information, tasks and lessons,  and the students were able to access this information and work while she wasn’t present. She was also able to communicate with them at home while they were being supervised by another teacher on her non-working days.

This was achieved by creating a virtual business “Quantum Computers” using Blackboard. Students use discussion boards, locate learning materials, files, links, tasks, use emails and participate in quizzes to test their knowledge, skills and understanding. Students then submit their learning tasks into the digital drop box and access their results in the grade book. This enables her to keep account of their assessment and be compliant under the AQTF.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

In 2007 to further her education, Mrs Clewett enrolled in a Master of Education Technology at USQ. In one of her subjects, as an assessment piece, she created a Webquest by the name of Lorikeet Lodge. This unit revolves around a virtual Ecotourism business. ICT’s are integral to this learning unit where students develop and enhance their skills over an 8 week period. Her webquest was given full marks by her lecturer.

PEDAGOGY

From a pedagogical perspective this project is ideal as it allows students to demonstrate a large number of their Business and IT skills which have been taught during the last 18 months in this culminating activity. Students are also involved in authentic experiences. Students in Mrs Clewett’s class are provided with cutting edge learning experiences because of her knowledge of ICT’s and the time she spends on planning and preparation.

Her business ownership has allowed her to incorporate authentic learning experiences into her units of work. She has planned her teaching activities using the constructivist theory and also incorporates the concepts of higher order thinking from Bloom's Taxonomy and at developmentally-appropriate ages. Students are challenged to recognise both appropriate and inappropriate sources of information. They are able to exit the course with the latest technological skills which they can take into the workforce and use in their future education.

Her involvement in the ICT Pedagogical Licence, has allowed her to reflect professionally and critically on her teaching practice. She has been able to use these new found pedagogical skills and her university studies (including good aspects of web design) to design “Lorikeet Lodge”.

Her future university studies will include all aspects of “Computers in Education”, “Emerging Environments for Learning” and “Interactive Multimedia”. This will provide her with added skills to provide more exciting and inspirational learning experiences for students.

MENTORING

Mrs Clewett developed a series of spreadsheets to record student competency results. Each element of competency is recorded as it is completed: then the spreadsheet automatically updates until it finally shows that the unit of competency has been achieved. The spreadsheet then updates the student individual profile.

This design has been expanded into other departments within the school. Oakey State High School's award winning “Transport and Logistics” program has used Mrs Clewett’s expertise to develop Blackboard allowing students from two schools to access the theory part of the course.

In 2007 Mrs Clewett has mentored teachers to integrate ICT’s into their classrooms and to support colleagues completing their ICT Pedagogical Licence.

Shelley Treasure
Deputy Principal Oakey State High School
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