Building Expertise
Accessing online resources

Twenty-first century teaching and learning present new opportunities for teachers to seek out arts-based resources and expertise available online. Teachers can also contribute to the growing body of available lesson plans, resources and creative ideas they have found useful within their classrooms. As teachers progress within their teaching careers from graduates to leaders, online environments also provide an opportunity for high-level professional reflection and capacity to lead and influence others. Access to digital resource repositories and online teaching resources are foundational assumptions in the implementation of the Australian Curriculum. 

Through modelling the use of online resources, teachers have a great opportunity to tap into arts-based activities and resources as well as demonstrate to students ways to locate, utilise and contribute to acceptable and cyber-safe practices. The Australian Curriculum places significant emphasis on information communication technology (ICT) as a general capability. The Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA) identify the following:

The nature and scope of ICT capability is not fixed, but is responsive to ongoing technological developments. This is evidenced by the emergence of advanced internet technology over the past few years and the resulting changes in the ways that students construct knowledge and interact with others.

Students develop capability in using ICT for tasks associated with information access and management, information creation and presentation, problem solving, decision making, communication, creative expression, and empirical reasoning. This includes conducting research, creating multimedia information products, analysing data, designing solutions to problems, controlling processes and devices, and supporting computation while working independently and in collaboration with others.

Students develop knowledge, skills and dispositions around ICT and its use, and the ability to transfer these across environments and applications. They learn to use ICT with confidence, care and consideration, understanding its possibilities, limitations and impact on individuals, groups and communities. (Australian Curriculum – Information and Communication Technology)

Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs.

This package includes online resources that are specifically designed to assist teachers in gaining, utilising, or co-opting expertise to assist in implementing arts-based education in their classrooms.  These resources are organised according to Australian states and territories, and each resource is annotated in order to help teachers access the online resources. The collection is by no means exhaustive, but forms a useful starting point for improving teacher expertise.

Please refer to the supporting document:  Strengthening teacher expertise annotated weblinks.