Rationale for Assessment # 2: Digital artefact, Web 2.0 tools and PBL

The purpose of these business-oriented lessons is to develop the theoretical business element to the Promotional Campaign which the students will be developing for their Group Project throughout the unit. Prior to these lessons, students will have been introduced to the more traditional classroom pedagogy style of teaching and learning, to understand the theory behind the selling process and product/service promotion strategies. The two lessons developed for this unit are more involved with the practical development of skills through the application of Web 2.0 tools to the group projects.

The idea behind the creation of an edmodo for our lessons is to create a virtual classroom, which allows students 24/7 access to course information, collaboration with fellow students, and teacher feedback potentially outside of classroom hours. This 24/7 access to information and resources lends itself to the idea of ‘flipping the classroom’, which enables students to access and learn course content outside of the classroom. This potentially allows teachers more time to teach the practical application of the lesson, as opposed to majority of time spent on comprehending a topic. Also, flipping the classroom enables students to have access to all classroom notes and other important information at any time of day, which is very convenient and removes a potential barrier to study, and therefore provides a greater chance of academic success. 

The lesson structure used provides students with direct-instruction and demonstration of selected Web 2.0 tools. Through the SmartBoard or projected image, teachers are enabled to demonstrate skills and processes with the tools simultaneously to the whole class, with visual aid. Students are then able to explore the tools, with the teacher present for questioning and feedback where wanted/necessary.  

The idea of project-based learning is brought into the classroom, with students given an assessment task at the beginning of the unit, which they will work toward both within and outside of classroom time in groups, applying knowledge and skills obtained from the course, to the project to satisfy a final set of criteria. This method of learning and teaching is based highly on enquiry based methods, with students learning effectively by doing. The entire assessment is scaffolded by being broken into smaller tasks, all of which are touched on in class, providing students with a framework surrounding activities and tasks. 

The developed lessons bridge the gap between theory and practice. For example, the Monitoring and Feedback activity in Business lesson 2 requires students to first understand the purpose of monitoring, and then analyse different surveys to determine the best way to go about it based on theory elements such as survey bias and formatting. This knowledge is then applied in a practical way, with students developing their own individual survey, using what they determine to be the best techniques found in their analysis. Further analysis of surveys is then required with group collaboration to incorporate the best of all their members’ surveys into one group survey for feedback on their project campaign. All aspects of the promotional campaign are considered during the lessons, with students adapting their knowledge and new skills to suit the needs of the campaign which they have chosen to promote. 

This integration of teaching and assessment with the project-based learning element is designed to engage students on a higher level and allow them more control and creative freedom over the unit, while staying within the specified guidelines of the assessment task.