Digital Technology and the Online Teaching and Learning Environment

DT1000 is one of the first wholly online courses offered on the OTLE (online teaching and learning environment) at Te Kura this year. At this stage almost all the NCEA level 1 work is available online, with assessments also submitted and marked online, allowing the digital technology teachers to provide nearly immediate feedback to students.

The process for developing DT1000 started in 2009. With technology rapidly changing, we wanted to teach students about layout, design and the look and feel of organisational documents instead of teaching basic content like Microsoft Word 2007. 

The OTLE has also given us the opportunity to ‘talk’ to our students using discussion forums. We have students who take part in discussions on a regular basis, discussing anything from ‘I am short and when I lower my chair I can barely see over the desk, how can I fix that,’ to ‘what is the benefit of touch-typing, I can type very fast already.’ The ‘news’ section allows us to place news items on the online environment.  It could be anything from ‘how to access your online feedback’ to ‘recommended reading materials.’

It also allows teachers to keep track of student progress and breaks down the geographical barriers of distance learning.

DT1000 provides for students with different learning styles by using text, animations and interactive activities and quizzes. Facilities like blogs and ePortfolios help students stretch the boundaries of their knowledge in real world situations and help them to become confident users of technology as well as effective online communicators.

At this stage six topics are available online:

  • digital technology information
  • ergonomics
  • keyboarding
  • legislation
  • the personal computer system
  • file management
  • spreadsheets (going live soon).

Feedback from students has been both positive and negative and we always critically assess input and make appropriate changes to the content.

Te Kura is excited about the opportunity for online education and look forward to seeing it grow.