I’ve just read Aaron Nelson’s post, on Going Bedouin. It addresses the issues of a classroom without walls. I’m particularly interested in the idea that the role of the teacher will have to change. We will no longer be the world authority in our own classroom on any particular issue. Instead, our role will be to guide students in how to find good information by independant research.
Aaron writes:
Students will need to learn how to function autonomously, and teachers will need to learn how to allow it. We’ll have to learn that it’s not what we know now that matters, but out ability to connect to relevant sources of information to learn more - when we need it, and what we need it about. Teachers need to learn how to do this in front of their students, modeling what you should do and how you should do it.
Comment by Jo Wort
2 October 31, 2006, 6:00 pm o'clock |
Today’s session was very useful in understanding the level of planning that is needed in order to achieve an ICT lesson in which pupils successfully learn.
I have learnt that you need to have all resources “ready to go” in order to maximise the time in a ICT suite. For example, websites, folders and documents need to be prepared so that pupils can locate items quickly and with ease, in order to get on with the actual task they need to do.
I think that as a trainee teacher before this session, I would have planned a lesson in which the pupils will have to gather information and then also produce an end product also. I now realise that this is really difficult to do well. This is because time is limited, but also because children can only deal with a certain number of instructions.
I struggled at times to keep up with instructions as our group tended to “jump ahead”. ICT can be very stressful for pupils who struggle to keep up. This is why “bitesize” chunks and clear instructions are essential.
I would say that “patience is a virtual” in ICT! I have not been discouraged from using ICT but I shall not be so “gun-ho” as there are many obstacles to be dealt with.
Comment by Katie Howell
1 October 31, 2006, 5:55 pm o'clock |
I found today very useful and hope to use some of the programmes and ideas that we have used within my lessons. Some of the most useful aspects were how to use movie maker to create something interesting and exciting. I also found some of the simple but extremely useful short-cuts for windows which I had not known of previously.