1B_4 Group Activity 7 - School staff development

An effective School staff Professional development programme must be systematic and sustained as well as should provide the expertise that teachers need in order to make the ICT vision a reality. ICT cannot be successfully integrated in the classroom without the appropriate professional development, irrespective of the number of ICT tools that are available at the school. Teachers need to acquire both the knowledge and skills( technical and pedagogical) to effectively integrate technology as a teaching and learning tool. Hands-on training with easy access to resources should be provided. The training should focus on staff development as opposed to specific applications training. Appropriate evaluation and feedback should be provided so that the success of the training can be ascertained.

2A_5 Activity 10:Social media as a professional development resource

I am of the view that we can all be smart workers but there must be certain conditions that need to be satisfied. We must seek to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge where technology integration is concerned. Additionally, we must share our ideas and thoughts with others so that we can learn from each other and develop professionally. Finally, we must collaborate and engage in continuous learning via the use of social media network that we have at our disposal. We do not have to leave our jobs to share ideas and engage in personal development with our colleagues neither are we restricted to interacting with persons in our local environment. The world has become a global village as a result of technological advancements and it is up to us to use the new technology to our advantage.

2A_5 Actitvity9- Evaluating web-hosted information

It is all good and well to get information from the internet to use in teaching and learning. However, we sometimes do not take the time to examine the materials and ensure that they are purposeful, the sources are credible, accurate and free from bias.Standards for publishing information are absent from the internet. Hence, we need to evaluate sites and information before presenting them to our students and in the same vain we need to teach our students how to evaluate information that they get from the web and other sources. Some criteria would include: Source, Content,currency, Authorship, bias/Intention, Site Design and access.

2A_5 Activity 8: Integrating Spreadsheets with learning.

 

Spreadsheets are useful tools for individual or group work. Once students understand what a

spreadsheet is and the ease at which  variables can be manipulated,  they would see the effects of this manipulation.They are able to manipulate a spreadsheet by changing values in cells, and will also, perhaps, change formulas to see the effects. Graphs, based on the values entered in the cells, may be generated automatically. Students would also be able to understand the various uses of a spreadsheet in their daily task. They can be taught to get ready for the real world using spreadsheets to keep track of all sorts of things. They can also learn how to keep a list of bills, when they were received, when the bills were paid, and the amount paid. The spreadsheet can be arranged so that the bills are listed by month and by category such as utilities, groceries, clothing, health care, and so forth. This can be made into a year-round project. They could also be given a monthly “income” and a sheet of what type of bills to pay and how much they cost.

Overall, spreadsheets can be seen as a very effective learning tool which provides vicarious experiences for our students .