Episode 31: Virtual resources from the Australian War Memorial
Joachim Cohen:
Welcome to the Virtual Staffroom, a podcast made for teachers by teachers and all with a dash of educational technology thrown in. My name is Joachim Cohen, and today I'm joined by Yvette Poshoglian, another technologist in the Technology 4 Learning team.
Joachim Cohen:
We would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we are recording today, the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, and pay our respects to elders past and present, and also pay our respects to other traditional elders and other indigenous people on whose country or through whose country this broadcast will travel.
Joachim Cohen:
So welcome to a new, more focused version of the Virtual Staffroom, a podcast where we pack your virtual backpack full of loads of inspiration and ideas in 10 minutes or less, just long enough to wait for your turn at the pod coffee machine. So let's get this podcast started.
Yvette:
Today's episode is the final in a three-part special delving into the world of virtual excursions and how to make the most out of your digital display in your classroom or your shared space. So we're dialing up the virtual window once again. Joe, where are we headed this time?
Joachim Cohen:
Well, Yvette, it's looking a little chilly outside the window today. So put on your coat and your scarf and maybe even get out that beanie as we are heading to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. And we are lucky enough to be joined by Jo Taplin, their digital learning officer. Let's dial Jo in.
Yvette:
Jo, tell us a little bit about your virtual experiences that teachers, schools and students can access.
Jo Taplin:
Yeah, so the memorial currently offers a variety of different virtual excursions to teachers and students. These are live interactive sessions for school groups, and they're booked directly with the memorial and they're all free of charge. Our virtual excursions are run through the software Zoom.
Jo Taplin:
So we currently offer three different programs for school groups. Our first is called The Story of the Poppy and that one is tailored to early learners. It's a program designed for students from preschool to year three. We then also have our Guarding the Record program, and this is a program for upper primary students and for secondary students. And then lastly, we also have professional development sessions for teachers as well. All of our virtual excursions have a focus on telling personal stories through our collection and a focus on commemoration. And they're all tailored to the age level of our audiences.
Jo Taplin:
The memorial also offers a variety of different online resources too, including our prerecorded virtual visits to the memorial for students. So at this stage we have two programs, one tailored for primary school students and one for secondary students. And that's called Virtually There. We also have some prerecorded segments designed for our younger learners too. They're called Tiny Tours, and these tiny tours tell a story from our galleries and then also involve a craft activity.
Jo Taplin:
In the last year, the memorial has also delivered live webinars hosted by DART, and these have reached thousands of students across Australia. And we plan on continuing these throughout the year. So keep posted by the DART website for more upcoming webinars as well.
Joachim Cohen:
Oh Jo, how exciting. I know as a former history teacher, in the classroom, having those personal stories really helps students to reflect, to remember, to connect with these great parts in our history. So I am so excited by these virtual experiences and can't wait to sign up. But tell me, what is one aspect that everyone raves about in terms of your virtual excursions?
Jo Taplin:
Yeah. So with our virtual excursions, we find that our students and teachers really enjoy seeing items from our collection and then how those items relate to personal stories. Looking closely at our collection, different parts of our galleries in our virtual excursions, along with our commemorative area really helps students understand and learn about the experiences of those Australians and their stories.
Yvette:
Jo, this is a similar sort of question. Are there pre-activities and post-activities that students do when they come in to do an excursion with you, a virtual excursion?
Jo Taplin:
Yeah, of course. So we have lots of links to different ideas for pre and post learning, activities that can be found on our website. So it includes a variety of different ideas and resources for teachers, including different things like creative responses, like making a poppy or writing a postcard to someone who has served, from also different ways to find out more about our collection through research, maybe research a person that you've heard about during the virtual excursion. So all of those different ideas and digital resources can be found under the Learn Hub on our website.
Joachim Cohen:
Brilliant. This is fantastic. So I not only got a virtual excursion, I've got some things to do before and after and get hands on even. Sounds phenomenal. And I can start to see, we already know there's history connections throughout the curriculum, but there sounds like there's some cross-curricular opportunities as well. Tell us all about these curriculum connections, Jo.
Jo Taplin:
Yeah, absolutely. All of our programs have links to our curriculum. For our younger learners, this includes really strong links to civics and citizenship, exploring special days and days within the community. For secondary students, our programs link really closely to the history curriculum, looking at content related to the First and Second World Wars. But all of our programs also explore capabilities and skills within the curriculum, such as source analysis and critical thinking as well.
Jo Taplin:
Our programs also incorporate some of those cross- curriculum priorities too, exploring the experiences and stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have served, and looking at Australia's involvement in the Asia-Pacific region.
Yvette:
Jo, I mean, the war memorial is such an important destination for so many students across New South Wales schools. It's just a seminal moment to do your Canberra excursion and come to the war memorial. But with those schools who are connecting with you virtually, teachers who are looking for and experience some of those, like the tiny tours that you mentioned, I love the idea of that, how can they connect with you? What's the best port of call?
Jo Taplin:
Yeah. So under the Learn Tab on our website, you'll see lots of different resources and ways that they can interact with our digital resources. But if they'd like to book a live virtual excursion with us, our current availability can be seen on the memorial's website, there under Virtual Excursions. And here teachers will see our online booking form and they can submit a request for a virtual excursion.
Jo Taplin:
But of course, if teachers have any other questions regarding the digital resources that we have there or questions about the virtual excursion or the software needed to participate, they can also contact us via our email address, which is just virtualexcursions@awm.gov.au. And that's virtual excursions with no dots or spaces in there, virtualexcursions@awm.gov.au.
Yvette:
Fantastic. Thank you so much for joining us today, Jo.
Jo Taplin:
You're most welcome. Thank you for having me.
Joachim Cohen:
So Yvette, we are coming to the end of our three-part special on digital displays and virtual excursions. So got a bit of a different challenge for you today. I have the digital teleporter at the ready, AKA your MLD with a camera. Where would you be taking your students tomorrow?
Yvette:
Well, beam me up, Joachim, because we are heading into some bumper virtual excursions coming into term three. We've got book week. We've got science week. I would be jumping back onto DART, DART Learning and having a look at the huge selection of events they've got. It's a really great way to engage your classroom in some of these major events this term. Where are you headed, Joe?
Joachim Cohen:
Look, I absolutely love DART excursions, Yvette. That is definitely the place I'll be going. And I know all of those people we've spoken to are on there as well. And there's so much more to choose from. But look, I think you've got this amazing resource inside your classroom. Think outside the box, think outside the square. Maybe you're going to dial in your local council. Maybe you're going to dial in passionate scientists or community groups to get students thinking about a real-life problem that they could solve with a real audience. How exciting would that be? Beam in an expert from anywhere to develop those skills of tomorrow inside your students. So get started, get emailing, get connecting with those experts, and get them beaming into your classroom. And have a blast.
Joachim Cohen:
Yvette, golly, what a way to begin 2022. I hope this series has inspired and enabled every one of our listeners to bring the world to their classroom and to realise that digital displays are way more than just a big television set. Don't forget to make sure you check out all the resources in the show notes, all the MLD links, and make the most of those MLDs or Main Learning Digital Displays in your school. And of course, New South Wales public school teachers make sure when using the ideas in this series you and your team follow all the necessary departmental guidelines contained in the Using Live Video with Students page linked in the show notes.
Joachim Cohen:
But what's next? We have something special, something new, and something even more exciting from you. Let's just say it involves taking something we usually view in 2D into a 3D format to not only make it more accessible but really enhance learning experiences understanding across the curriculum. The whole T 4 L and Virtual Staffroom team wish you the most amazing start to the year. And we look forward to hearing from you, walking along beside you, and helping make your 2022 magical.
Joachim Cohen:
This podcast has been produced by the masterful Jacob Druce with the assistance and supreme coordination of many more members of the Technology 4 Learning team. Stay supreme, everyone. Thanks for joining us.
Yvette:
Just a little note. Please be aware that all views expressed by the podcast presenters, that's us, are our personal opinions and not representative of the New South Wales Department of Education. Discussions aren't endorsements of third-party products, services, or events. And please note that as much as we sound like it, we are not experts in legalese, tech speak or anything in between. We're just passionate people keen to boost technology for learning in the classroom and to help build the skills in your students and you to solve the problems of tomorrow. Do your due diligence, read further, and if we've got something wrong, let us know. We too are always learning and always improving.