NEWS DATES EVENTSSCHOOL NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
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September, 2007
Primary students board an eTrain for technological journey through farm and convent Digital storytelling, animation, movie making, web page design, pod casting, QTVR stitching, quiz and game making, creating sound scapes and interactive map making are just some of the activities primary students will embrace at Melbourne Grammar’s eTrain Conference. The Collingwood Children’s Farm and Abbotsford Convent will provide the stimulus for a hive of eLearning activities to be undertaken by over 140 primary students on 6 and 7 September 2007. Melbourne Grammar School’s coeducational primary school Grimwade House is organising the eTrain Conference which will enable Year 5 and 6 students from over 12 schools to partake in a series of eLearning workshops. The students will use various technological tools and programs to tell stories about the surrounding farm and convent. In one workshop children will make animation movies using clay figurines about the historical stories of nuns and orphans who once lived in the convent. Another workshop will involve children filming documentaries about staff at the convent and farm. There will be a workshop where students do scientific studies of the water in the Yarra River using digital microscopes. Another group will create a three dimensional world of the farm and interactive maps using a program called Kahootz. One Year 6 student Hugh, Grimwade House’s computer captain, will even run his own workshop, teaching fellow students about the computer program Pivot. A combination of film makers and animators, representatives from private enterprise, teachers from both the Independent and State systems and teachers from the Australian Children’s Television Foundation will provide a rich learning experience for both students and teachers. Head of Grimwade House Andrew Boyd said, “The eTrain Conference enables students to develop their technological skills under the supervision of experts and work on projects uninterrupted for two days. “The students are given open ended real-life challenges and can use technological tools to communicate what they are learning about the world around them,” he said. “One of the aims of the eTrain Conference is to offer children a rich learning experience that develops skills in teamwork, communication and problem solving whilst using the latest information technology.” “Last year I was in Year 4 and saw what the Year 5 students got to do. I have been looking forward to this year’s conference ever since. I know I will be able to learn a lot more about computers and it’s going to be so much fun,” said Year 5 Grimwade House student James. The eTrain Conference is a Melbourne Grammar School Grimwade House initiative to bring together innovative educators and students to take on eLearning challenges that support a community based program. To educate future visitors to the farm an educational DVD of the students’ creations will be made including quizzes, movies and digital stories about the farm.  Return to news index
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