Syrian Refugees In Australia -A future Educational Facility Description

The educational facility will cater to all students from Pre-K to adults.

There will be Multilingual Educators  that foster Arabic and the Dialects of the Syrian people in spoken and written form.

Communal spaces will be built so that people can come together to engage as a community.

Technology will be heavily featured, as it is for all Australian Educational facilities.

In accordance with the Mission statement:

• A place of healing spaces for prayer and religious ritual will be available as well as trained counsellors and group therapy
• A Place of Learning – Australian Curriculum programs    – Community Engagement programs to transition into the Australian way of life    – ESL programs to enhance English for total engagement in the Australian Curriculum and to transition into the new community -Syrian language and Cultural studies
• A place of Opportunity –TVET/TAFE courses for further education in trades    – Work placement to build work skills in the community.     – University education through online courses and personal support

This Educational facility will give all the students the skills to continuing their lives in Australia once the crisis has subsided or to return to Syria, to rebuild their lives and their communities.

Syrian refugees in Australia – Liminal Space

There is not yet a location….

There is not yet any tenants……..

There is not yet any structures……..

There is not yet any rules or regulations……………

There is not yet a time frame to begin or end……

There is not yet a temporary or permanent status…………….

What it does have ……….is the Government, communities and educators of Australia willing to meet this world wide need.

We do not know what the new space will be, before setting off on this journey………..We are in a Liminal Space

Learning Spaces with Web 2.0 Technology

Here is my assignment on learning Spaces.

I wanted to have the Educators watching the presentation, think about what they are currently doing in their teaching, through the questions. Then look at the resources and videos to thinking about what they could be doing  to improve the learning Experience of their students.

I hope that it is a Transformative Experience

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WlKcbc-R5jEEWDflZ8vQ3-RWOEz0EObFMgtecQMF1es/edit#slide=id.p

Future Learning Space/Liminal Space or something else?

I watched this last night. Not for the faint hearted with bad language, violence and sexual references. Some of it is a bit close to home with the attitudes of both students and teachers.

The overall message is about not giving up on what looks hopeless and affecting change.This being done with a positive attitude and making connections with students.

The students in the fictional school are the product or fleeing from wars, being refugees and families coming to Australia seeking a better life.

I feel the school is in a liminal space, as they want/need to make change and have let go of the old ways and are seeking new ways without knowing exactly what they may be. I feel it could possibly be a future Learning Space in reality, if education is not given to everyone about the issues of immigration.

I feel that this is also another type of Learning space but I cannot put my finger on it. I know that it is not about:

• The classroom
• an excursion/incursion
• group
• Individual
• Technology

So what is it called?……….experiential? Role-modelled?authorative?….ideas?

Expedition Pioneer Program-WOW!!!

This is an amazing opportunity.

I wish that I was at the top of the school foodchain to be able to simply organise such an experience. I am at large secondary School so I have emailed our eLearning Co-ordinator, to see if we can get involved.

https://www.google.com/edu/expeditions/

Clouds over Sidra

This immersive experience, just as a video made me want to smell the bread and feel the cold air.Using GoogleCardboard would have to evoke even more of this in its entire immersion.

This experience I felt was twofold, for Teachers and for students.

For Teachers-That children around the world are still the same

• Boys want to play computer games
• Young boys wrestle
• Older boys want to go to the gym and look at themselves in the mirror
• Girls want to join in games too
• Some students want to go to school and others don’t.
• In class students become more involved with encouragement and praise from their peers

For Students:

• To see how children in other parts of the world live
• To be appreciative of their education
• To see that students with nothing, respect their school property

http://www.vrse.com/watch/id/21/

Google Cardboard

What I love about this latest technology is its simplicity.

Google could have made the headsets to market like console acessories eg. wiimotes etc with a hefty price tag. Instead they have gone with cardboard that you can cheaply purchase yourself precut to assemble or even get a template to cut yourself. This makes it more affordable.It will be interesting to see how much the apps will cost, if they match the affordability.

This really links with the Technology Learning Space, where mobile phone technology becomes the main focus. This device allows people all over the world to have greater access to Learning even developing countries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Cardboard

Virtual Reality- The Viewmaster of the future.

This technology reminded me of the attempts of the past. To propel you into a virtual world with dinosaurs and the like with the Viewmaster.

Like the viewmaster you enter a 3D world through each eye having its own view and being surrounded to your peripheral vision. . Using Google cardboard, the modern addition has sound through headphones and the sensory components of the iPhone allowing movement through the environment.

This is an amazing educational tool for:

• Virtual Training,
• experiences in  places like museums and far away cities
• Sense of empathy eg. A disaster zone or a refugee camp.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/tech-review-with-peter-marks/6827326

How to help refugees rebuild their world

I was really amazed at Melissa Flemming’s opening, that when she meets a refugee she always asks them about their story.She asks the big questions: “Who Bombed your house? Where are the rest of your family? How are you coping?”

When I meet new Refugee students I tend to shy away from these questions, to not make the student feel uncomfortable or to bring up things the student would like to forget.

But these are their stories that deserve to be heard. It is part of who they are and their journey. Pretending it is not there, does not mean it does not exist.

I am going to reflect on this, as to how to allow students to share their stories in a way that makes them feel comfortable. If a student does not want to share, they would tell me or show non verbal clues.