Convincing+school+administration+of+QA's+value

Share your strategies here...

 * Christine Haynes**
 * Immanuel Primary School**

I started by attending the PD myself to get a better feel of what learning opportunities QA provides. I needed to first understand where QA might fit into our curriculum. Convincing our Assistant Principal Teaching and Learning was easy! The research articles http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu/site/view/Researchers#56 are a great place to start. Especially Sasha Barab's, //Why Educators Should Care About Games//. My next step was to attempt to map where QA fits into our Primary Years Program curriculum. For us it was easy to see the CyberSafety missions would fit in with our Year 5 //Who we are unit// on //Being Choosy.// I also soon found the Mesa Verde unit tied in well with our //Where we are in place and time// unit on civilisations. Once I could demonstrate these connections, I knew QA was worth a try.

Next, I needed to get QA up and running on our computers. As we run Macs in a managed environment, there were technical hurdles. At the time we only had external engineering services and this part of the implementation proved the most challenging. We ended up with a compromise - creating a new Quest Atlantis account on the computers (rather than students own accounts).

As soon as QA was up and running, we set-up accounts for a selected group of Year 6 students to explore. Since these students had already experienced the Year 5 curriculum, they were in a position to give feedback not just on their enjoyment of QA - but also how it fit with their learning. This group was able to help me understand the level of support, guidance and feedback I would need to provide. Once I was confident that a class could be successful with QA, we were then able to look at a Pilot Project with a class.

At this point, the Assistant Principal and I found a Year 5 teacher willing to take on a new challenge. This teacher attended the training and was given release time to plan with me. This time was essential as we worked through the permission forms, cover letters and resources we would need and how we would work together to facilitate learning in the Mesa Verde Unit.

The pilot was a success! Students learning within Mesa Verde accessed the same learning outcomes as students who did not. Students were engaged and they got to experience simulated time travel and gain perspectives on their place in time. This led to further consideration of where to place QA in the curriculum. We have targeted QA in the Year 5 curriculum. We still face challenges as staff year level placements can change each year, requiring PD and convincing teachers of the value of QA. I became a buoy so I could better support our staff - but convincing teachers is another topic again!

We have been using Quest Atlantis in our district for just over a year. Some principals like to know a little more than others but generally when they hear that the environment is monitored and secure they warm to the program. In September 2010 half a dozen of our Quest Atlantis students won over our administrators. They presented their summer camp project to the School Board and every administrator in the district. We no longer have to convince our administrators as they are coming to us to have their teachers trained.
 * Janine McGrath**
 * Seminole County Schools**