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 .

1b_4 Activity 6: The Role of the Teacher

Rapid changes in technology will ensure that ICT will flourish in the classroom and provide many advantages for both learners and teachers, including the promotion of shared working space and resources, better access to information, the promotion of collaborative learning and fundamentally new ways of teaching and learning. It will be crucial for teacher’s to amend their roles and acquire other technological skills and responsibilities. Ultimately, the use of ICT will enhance the learning experiences for children, helping them to think and communicate creatively.

Technology should form an integral part of all instruction for use by both the teacher and the student. This may include the use of computers, overhead projectors, televisions, tape recorders and, of course, calculators. Computers provide immediate access to worldwide resources, visual stimuli and simulations of activities, and contact with learners in other places.

Moreover, technology enhances the motivation of the learners as well as  their creativity. Individual students can determine the pace at which to proceed and thus gains more control over the learning that takes place. Technology is undoubtedly an asset for both the teacher and the students.

1B_4 Activity 5: Myths of Computer Literacy

Integrated approach is the best way to introduce students to ICT. Students need to be able to see connections between the content in all subject areas and real life. It emphasises learning by doing, learner-centered learning in learner-interest contexts. This is the only way in which they would view learning as a meaningful activity. Professor Bransford put forward the view that  if children learning formation out of contexts they would not easily and readily be able to transfer information and skills to real life contexts. Therefore, educators need to re-assess the nature of the learning process in their classes because the integrated approach places information technology in a pivotal role in the learning process and its success will be determined by the ability of educators to set appropriate tasks to suit the needs of the learning environment.The ideas postulated by Eisenberg and Johnson (1996),

“It has become increasingly popular for educational technologists to advocate integrating computers into the content areas. However, when learners learn isolated skills and tools without a basic understanding or rationale for their use in problem-solving endeavors, these skills are of little value. Therefore, it is critical that we teach learners how to use computers in a way that allows them to be creative, flexible, and purposive in their pursuits. While there are specific skills that learners should learn, the transfer and application of skills from situation to situation should be recognized as the most beneficial part of any curriculum. As most technology scholars note, learners develop true ‘computer literacy’ when they have genuinely applied various computer skills as part of the learning process.”

  provide much food for thought. Therefore we must all aspire to facilitate an integrated, collaborative approach to teaching and learning. Using the Internet alone will not ensure that this happens - to be truly effective we need to ensure that our students also have access to interdisciplinary skills across the curriculum. To implement this may require changes in how teaching and learning occurs with, for example, much more collaboration between teachers of all disciplines, integrating learning across the curriculum can also involve the community as a learning environment and the downloading of Internet-based materials.

2A_5 Activity 7: Using Spreadsheet

Why bother to teach students what they do not need to learn? The principle of just-in-time learning is a very

 important one for us as educators. We sometimes bombard our  students with skills and knowledge that we

 think they  will need to learn at some time in their formal schooling years but we never took the time to ponder

 about their necessity and  timeliness. Some activities are useless and non contextual and as a result students 

are unable to see their connections to real life.  We should teach our students just-in-time what they need to

learn so that they can learn just-in-time, when they are ready to learn. Some students can suffer from information

overload and confuse concepts.The integrated approach was used in the spreadsheet lesson. This Approach to ICT

offers the following advantages:

• Flexible delivery schedule on an a just in time basis
• Emphasis on learner control
• Training that is specific, modular, and flexible
• Active learning
• Activity based