Well, I can't believe it's February already and this is possibly my last blog!! However, I think I will still keep up this blog (or other blogs) as much as I can because I really do think that they are a useful ICT resource. I have found that keeping this blog about my ICT experiences, both in school and out, has helped me to analyse how ICT is used in education and how it perhaps should be used in education.
Considering that I didn't really know what a blog (or Wiki) was before I started the course, I am amazed that I have now been converted into a blogger!! For our science directed activity, my group decided to write a bean blog and found it to be a really useful way of writing our results up in a way that primary school children could use and understand. I will definitely consider using such tools as blogs and Wikis when I become a class teacher, especially with pupils from KS2.
My blog has made me reflect on the use of (or lack of) ICT I have seen used in schools and has made me realise that so much more could be done in schools in terms of ICT. Hopefully, when a teacher, I will be able to introduce some much more 'of the moment' ICT resources into my lessons and am aiming to do this in my coming school based placements.
Overall, it seems I have been converted: into a blogger, a Twitterer (rachfo) and a IWB user! May I continue to use new and innovative ICTs in my classroom to support and benefit my pupils. YAY!
love rach
xxx
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Sunday, 15 February 2009
ICT in School
Having finished my first placement in KS1 I'll just say a few words about the ICT I encountered whilst there.
The main uses of ICT are the interactive whiteboard (IWB), computers (there were 3 in our classroom and around 18 in the ICT suite), and digital cameras. I used all three of these mediums whilst teaching at school and found all of them to be useful items of equipment for learning.
The interactive whiteboard is used at least twice a day. In the morning and at the beginning of the afternoon, 'Wake Up, Shake Up' is played to the children. These are exercises to get children's 'blood pumping, oxygen to their brain and ready for the day'. The DVD shows a woman going through the exercises, the children watch it on the IWB and copy themselves. The IWB is also used in lessons, although mainly in numeracy lessons. I found that it was useful for activities such as sorting things into groups (which children can do themselves), showing visual activities like pictograms and hundred squares. Due to this, I found the IWB to be an invaluable piece of ICT equipment in the classroom, although I did find it was useful to have a 'normal' whiteboard to scribble things down on - I still haven't quite got the hang of writing neatly on the IWB!
The children in my class also use the computers in their classroom everyday. They play on games such as Dazzle (a painting program), Ace Monkey (literacy and numeracy) and various storybooks and internet games. The children are very competent at computer skills and when on a program or game they know well, can whizz through what they want to get done. However, often the learning content of the game is lost on them as some cannot read the games' instructions and so on. They tend to merely look at the pictures and the videos! Dazzle the painting program is also used a lot in lessons, for example, they were asked to draw pictures of a bonfire and fireworks when looking at light in science and this is the kind of activity they do a lot. I question whether working on the same program, doing the same kind of activity can really be constituted as real ICT work. Perhaps there need to be games that really are aimed at Year 1 pupils with minimal reading required but still a learning content. I wonder if this is possible? It's probably already been done!
Digital cameras were also a useful part of classroom life. When children were completing jobs where there was no written or drawn outcome, pictures were taken of their work and shown later, in the plenary, as feedback. This also gave children the opportunity to appraise other pupil's work and to take pride in their own work. I found this method of recording work and of assessment to be useful and it shows that learning does not necessarily mean writing something down.
Overall, although the available ICT equipment in school were used fairly regularly, I still don't think they are being used to their greatest effect. Teachers (and myself) are still unsure of just how to utilise ICT in a modern day classroom, especially when concentrating on the learning objectives given to us by the framework/national curriculum etc. Furthermore, schools just don't get the funding to give their pupils the newest ICT equipment (e.g. electronic books, Nintendo DS's etc) which leads to older methods being used. For example, although having 20 laptops at my placement school, all the batteries were dead and to buy 20 more would have been £1000. Schools just don't have the money to buy this kind of equipment and that, I think, is the main reason as to why ICT in schools is so far behind what it should be.
The main uses of ICT are the interactive whiteboard (IWB), computers (there were 3 in our classroom and around 18 in the ICT suite), and digital cameras. I used all three of these mediums whilst teaching at school and found all of them to be useful items of equipment for learning.
The interactive whiteboard is used at least twice a day. In the morning and at the beginning of the afternoon, 'Wake Up, Shake Up' is played to the children. These are exercises to get children's 'blood pumping, oxygen to their brain and ready for the day'. The DVD shows a woman going through the exercises, the children watch it on the IWB and copy themselves. The IWB is also used in lessons, although mainly in numeracy lessons. I found that it was useful for activities such as sorting things into groups (which children can do themselves), showing visual activities like pictograms and hundred squares. Due to this, I found the IWB to be an invaluable piece of ICT equipment in the classroom, although I did find it was useful to have a 'normal' whiteboard to scribble things down on - I still haven't quite got the hang of writing neatly on the IWB!
The children in my class also use the computers in their classroom everyday. They play on games such as Dazzle (a painting program), Ace Monkey (literacy and numeracy) and various storybooks and internet games. The children are very competent at computer skills and when on a program or game they know well, can whizz through what they want to get done. However, often the learning content of the game is lost on them as some cannot read the games' instructions and so on. They tend to merely look at the pictures and the videos! Dazzle the painting program is also used a lot in lessons, for example, they were asked to draw pictures of a bonfire and fireworks when looking at light in science and this is the kind of activity they do a lot. I question whether working on the same program, doing the same kind of activity can really be constituted as real ICT work. Perhaps there need to be games that really are aimed at Year 1 pupils with minimal reading required but still a learning content. I wonder if this is possible? It's probably already been done!
Digital cameras were also a useful part of classroom life. When children were completing jobs where there was no written or drawn outcome, pictures were taken of their work and shown later, in the plenary, as feedback. This also gave children the opportunity to appraise other pupil's work and to take pride in their own work. I found this method of recording work and of assessment to be useful and it shows that learning does not necessarily mean writing something down.
Overall, although the available ICT equipment in school were used fairly regularly, I still don't think they are being used to their greatest effect. Teachers (and myself) are still unsure of just how to utilise ICT in a modern day classroom, especially when concentrating on the learning objectives given to us by the framework/national curriculum etc. Furthermore, schools just don't get the funding to give their pupils the newest ICT equipment (e.g. electronic books, Nintendo DS's etc) which leads to older methods being used. For example, although having 20 laptops at my placement school, all the batteries were dead and to buy 20 more would have been £1000. Schools just don't have the money to buy this kind of equipment and that, I think, is the main reason as to why ICT in schools is so far behind what it should be.
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Christmas Holidays
Hello! I did get a Nintendo DS for my birthday and have been playing Brain Training for about 10 days now, and I think I am really getting better at mental maths. There are several games with one set of 20 mental maths questions and one with 100 questions and you have to beat your time to get high scores. At first I was rubbish but now I'm getting quicker and quicker and using strategies to work out the questions (for example, using number bonds to ten, partitioning etc). The game is also good for improving memory and practising reading so all in all I think it's doing me some good!
School starts next Monday eeek! I'm looking forward to it but also quite nervous...I'll update on the ICT I see being used soon....bye bye and Happy New Year!
Love rach
xxx
School starts next Monday eeek! I'm looking forward to it but also quite nervous...I'll update on the ICT I see being used soon....bye bye and Happy New Year!
Love rach
xxx
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Wow
Hello, guess what?! Hopefully I'll be getting a Nintendo DS for my birthday/Chrimbo! (see below how they can be used in school). This is a good idea because I had a practice for my QTS Numeracy test yesterday and I was RUBBISH! So if I get the game called Brain Training then hopefully I shall be able to practice my mental maths (which is awful at the moment).
I'll let you know how it goes...
Love rach
xxxx
I'll let you know how it goes...
Love rach
xxxx
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Look at this!!!
I wish we'd have used Nintendo DS's when I was at school! This is the kind of ICT we need to be looking at...of course only if it has a positive effect on children's learning :)
Although the lady who came in to talk to us about her research said it did. All very encouraging.
Love rach
xxxx
I wish we'd have used Nintendo DS's when I was at school! This is the kind of ICT we need to be looking at...of course only if it has a positive effect on children's learning :)
Although the lady who came in to talk to us about her research said it did. All very encouraging.
Love rach
xxxx
ICT in school
Having done a week now at school, I feel the need to comment on the ICT use I observed whilst there.
I was working in a Year 1 class and they used a fair amount of ICT. The teacher used the Interactive Whiteboard every day for a number of tasks. For example, using a programme to match pictures to captions, using it as a normal whiteboard, brainstorming, watching videos from the internet etc. It really is a very versatile tool! Note to self: must get to grips with the IWB programmes but heard rumours we'll be doing that in ICT next week anyway!
The children in the class were also given a task to draw a bonfire and fireworks picture using the programme, Dazzle. I was given the responsibility of taking half the class to the ICT suite and supervising them throughout this task which was quite daunting but I was pleasantly surprised as the majority of them knew the programme inside out, despite being only 5 or 6, and I didn't need to help them at all really!
The children are fairly au fait with the computers as at some point during the day they usually have 'signing up time' where they can choose to do different activities and one of these is to play educational games on the computers. The game set by the teacher for the week I was there was called Superstars and was all about phonics. I played the games with a couple of the children and although the games seemed to be fun and educational, I'm not sure the children took it all in as they just seemed to be pressing any button just so the speakers would make a sound or play a tune or the characters would move! I think Marc Prenksy should think about the value of educational computer games such as these as I'm doubtful as to how much the children are actually learning whilst playing these.
Apart from using computers and the IWB, I didn't really see use of any other ICT equipment. It's all very well supporting this new gadget and that new invention but most schools don't have the money (or the inclination to learn about) the new and swish technology which will probably be 'past it' in a few years time.
However, saying this, I do think it is important to slowly incorporate ICT into schools as the children going through the education system now will inevitably be adults living in a technologically advanced world. Judging by the children I saw at school, I think they can definitely cope with this. They are digital natives after all!
Love rach
xxx
I was working in a Year 1 class and they used a fair amount of ICT. The teacher used the Interactive Whiteboard every day for a number of tasks. For example, using a programme to match pictures to captions, using it as a normal whiteboard, brainstorming, watching videos from the internet etc. It really is a very versatile tool! Note to self: must get to grips with the IWB programmes but heard rumours we'll be doing that in ICT next week anyway!
The children in the class were also given a task to draw a bonfire and fireworks picture using the programme, Dazzle. I was given the responsibility of taking half the class to the ICT suite and supervising them throughout this task which was quite daunting but I was pleasantly surprised as the majority of them knew the programme inside out, despite being only 5 or 6, and I didn't need to help them at all really!
The children are fairly au fait with the computers as at some point during the day they usually have 'signing up time' where they can choose to do different activities and one of these is to play educational games on the computers. The game set by the teacher for the week I was there was called Superstars and was all about phonics. I played the games with a couple of the children and although the games seemed to be fun and educational, I'm not sure the children took it all in as they just seemed to be pressing any button just so the speakers would make a sound or play a tune or the characters would move! I think Marc Prenksy should think about the value of educational computer games such as these as I'm doubtful as to how much the children are actually learning whilst playing these.
Apart from using computers and the IWB, I didn't really see use of any other ICT equipment. It's all very well supporting this new gadget and that new invention but most schools don't have the money (or the inclination to learn about) the new and swish technology which will probably be 'past it' in a few years time.
However, saying this, I do think it is important to slowly incorporate ICT into schools as the children going through the education system now will inevitably be adults living in a technologically advanced world. Judging by the children I saw at school, I think they can definitely cope with this. They are digital natives after all!
Love rach
xxx
Sunday, 9 November 2008
BEAN BLOG!
Seeing as I'm trying to get into blogs, have a look at our Bean Diary Blog that we're doing for our science activity - we'll try and keep it updated on all things bean related...
Love Rach xxx
p.s. I'm going to post more soon...something actually related to ICT!
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