Rationale4design

Making explicit links between the research and our design. The previous section is a rationale about using Social media on a more general scale. This section will address our specific choices in terms of features and functions of our community Modif start RF 28/5  **Rationale for the inter-school G & T e-learning space. ** In an interview conducted by Robert, in Blackheath on Sun, 8 May, 2011, a ‘gifted and talented’ mentoring teacher, Judy Tyson, pointed to some findings from her ongoing action research conducted by her and her gifted and talented mentoring colleagues. Judy is often seconded by Catholic Education Office, Bathurst, to help to plan the "G & T" regional excursions for students who are relatively isolated in their schools. She explained that the kids would get together for group activities several times a year but wouldn't see each other until the next meeting. The high school students are in Year 7 to 12 schools in Dubbo, Orange, Mudgee, Bathurst and Lithgow. However, there are many other central schools in places such as Oberon and Molong. Judy said, “We have found that G & T students often have may have poor social skills and do not enjoy group work because they find it hard to engage in meaningful communication with their age-based peers. For the same reason they usually shun involvement in social networking media.” Developing a sense of belonging, communication skills and the commensurate development social intelligence has often been denied by their higher order thinking skills. The e-Learning space provides a access to peers, and a networking forum leading to social acceptance and supportive communication in an non-threatening environment of more evenly matched peers with similar interests, abilities and issues. Redmond and Lock’s (2006 pp. 270-274) set out a //A flexible framework for online collaborative learning//
 * The Theory - Rationale for our Design**
 * 1) Fostering social presence
 * 2) Creating and sustaining a learning community
 * 3) Developing and maintaining teaching presence
 * 4) Scaffolding learning
 * 5) Exploring cognitive presence
 * 6) Participating in critical discourse
 * 7) Knowledge in action

Engagement in all of these seven activities is achieved through the investigative “Clubs content” the content is incidental and determined by the mentoring teachers’ skill base and their ability to sustain engagement on these given topics. As different teachers become involved and as the student’s locus of control stretches to the level of deciding investigative pursuits then the Clubs will fold and others take their place. The knowledge in action dynamic is an important component in a feed-back loop building on successful engagement and preparing for the next challenge/investigation. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">According to Garrison and Anderson (2003), the resolution phase will often “raise further questions and issues, triggering new cycles of inquiry and, thereby, encouraging continuous learning” (p. 60). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Redmond and Lock’s (2006 p. 273) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Students are expected to engage in one or many clubs. The Ning will be set up so that all participants can see all transactions and can be reviewed. This gives students access to everything that happens and allows them to join, leave and re-join when. The Ning set up in this way also helps to prevent cliques forming and prevents teachers’ being trapped into closed one on one interactions that could ring child protection alarm bells. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Judy Tyson pointed to the thrust of Howard Gardner’s (2006) book //Five Minds for the Future// saying that her gifted and talented work was now being couched in terms of these five minds. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">We can see the ‘Five Minds’ frame work operating in the design of our __GnT connect__ design using all the modalities available in the Ning. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Disciplined Mind <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Synthesising Mind <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Creating Mind <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Respectful Mind
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Mastering compter programming, reading, researching new vocabulary, writing reports (blogging), (Gardner 2006, p. 154)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">preparing material for publication, within the Ning or in school or for wider consumption,
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">using collaborative wiki space
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">finding new information and skills and integrating them into one’s knowledge base. (Gardner 2006, p. 155)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">going beyond the set inquiry or brief to produce unexpected acceptable alternatives in programming, expressing insights within characters’ relationships expressed in on line chats and blogs, …
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">formulating and pursuing new visions (Gardner 2006, p. 156)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Working collaboratively while seeking to understand peers when gifted and talented students strategy is often is to retreat from social engagement and just get done by themselves. The social and teaching presence is so important here engaging and encouraging more interaction. (Gardner 2006, p. 157)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Ethical Mind
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">On-line netiquette, avoiding plagiarism
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> assuming appropriate roles and allowing others to fulfil theirs, understanding the core values of the __GnT Connect__ and being prepared to speak up when needed to defend these and other values (Gardner 2006, p. 158)

Modif end RF 28/5