Participation

CTJ Online is delivered via:

• Two workshops located within the participant's region
• Resources on the CTJ Online web site and on CD-ROM
• Discussion on the online discussion board linked to the CTJ Online web site, facilitated by an online mentor

The course

During the 9 weeks of delivery of the project (see Week-by-week for more detail) you will complete a number of activities including an online discussion.

Most of the resources for the activities are either on this site, or taken from Supporting SciTech in the primary classroom; a resource to support the implementation of Science & Technology from Early Stage 1 to Stage 3 which is available on CD-ROM and on the Internet.

The online discussion uses the Webboard software and there are links to Webboard in each week's activities. The online discussion will be facilitated by the online mentors. The mentors are Science & Technology Consultants in the two areas in which the project is running.

Workshops

Workshop 1 will be held at the beginning of Term 1 and will provide you with opportunities to:

• Meet colleagues
• Learn more about the course, its structure and outcomes
• Discuss 'What is SciTech' and the 'big ideas'
• Have an introduction to the technologies used in the course

Workshop 2 will be held in week 6 of the term. Because the project focuses on assessment and moderation of student worksamples, you will be asked to provide a sample of student work from a unit of Science and Technology you are currently teaching. Everyone's worksample will be posted to the discussion board so that you and your colleagues can assess and moderate each other's material. This process can pose technical challenges so Workshop 2 will provide a forum to discuss worksamples on the day. Following the workshop, the facilitators and project manager will assist, if requested, in posting the worksamples to the discussion board for further discussion online.

Interaction with your facilitator and colleagues
The online discussion and communication with your mentor is an important component of the program. The discussion is private, password protected and only available to those registered for CTJ Online, your facilitator and other support personnel. What you write will be for your group’s eyes alone.

Here you will have opportunities to meet and communicate informally as well as ask questions, receive support and guidance and very importantly, learn with and from each other.
So use the discussion in the same way as you would use face-to-face meetings to make friends, share experiences and support each other in your learning.

Read the following articles for suggestions on how to make the most of your online contributions :

• Suggestions for developing productive contributions to online discussion based on Literacy Consultants' facilitation in similar projects
• Online discussions - things to keep in mind

Participation
Online professional development is new to most teachers. It takes time to learn different ways of communicating with one's peers without seeing each other face-to-face. Take the advice of previous participants: be brave, get involved in the discussions. You will 'meet' colleagues you would not have the opportunity to meet otherwise. Hopefully you and your students will reap the benefits.

CTJ Online focuses on assessment and moderation of student worksamples. You will be asked to provide a sample of your student work from a unit of SciTech that you are currently teaching. Everyone's worksample will be posted to the discussion board so that you and your colleagues can assess and moderate each other's material.

It is common for teachers to feel uncomfortable during the moderation process so it is important to express ideas in a constructive way. However the feedback will be invaluable in further developing processes of teaching and learning.

For more information on the structure of the course, click Week-by-week on the left. You can also read Participant information which was mailed out prior to the beginning of the course.

Scheduling your work
Recent participants in this course have strongly suggested that you set aside a regular time at least once, but preferably twice a week. If you don't maintain a regular schedule, it is very easy to fall behind. The weekly discussions are intended to lead you through a progression of learning and it is important to maintain the stimulus and currency of the discussion. The suggestion for more than one online session per week is so that you can post your contributions to the weekly discussion topic, then return to the discussion later to respond to your colleagues' comments.

The role of the facilitator
The mentor is there to support you as you move through the program. Specifically the facilitator:

• leads the online discussion and provides encouragement
• maintains regular contact with all participants
• monitors your progress
• has expertise in Count Me in Too
• has classroom experience in implementing the program.

Evaluation
All participants will be asked to fill in evaluation forms for AGQTP both at the workshop and at the completion of the project.

Please do take time to provide as much feedback as possible as this provides valuable information to inform development and delivery of future projects.