c.
Helping Learners Develop their own IT Capabilities
Whenever
the pupils in the case study are using a computer to learn, they
are of course not only developing their Business Studies but also
their ICT skills. It is important to distinguish between one thing
and the other, and also for us as Business specialists to know
when a pupil is learning to use ICT as well as learning to understand
Business. ]
If
pupils used all possible resources - and maybe one or two extra
that you thought of - the very least they would have developed
is the following range:
-
Loading software - logging onto the system through password
protection and then onto the web browser and the Bized modeling
site
- Accessing
the World Wide Web
- Searching
for information - on the World Wide Web if you asked them to
find other economic or business information for themselves
-
Basic skills of mouse and keyboard manipulation
- Printing
- if the pupil was allowed to print from the World Wide Web
or if they printed from the local Virtual Factory
- Using
a word processor - if pupils undertook copy and paste activities
in recording their findings as they went along
- Generating
and interpreting models - in the Business Studies work using
the model
It
might be interesting to look back over your own lesson plans to
see where these things happened, and even to look at the IT curriculum
as it applies to pupils at Key Stage four and/or the relevant
Key Skills level to see what they are doing in your subject that
is contributing to their development in the IT arena. All case
studies in all subjects in this series make this same statement,
so crucial is the pupil's awareness of and use of ICT to his or
her own learning in other subjects using it.
It
is worth trying this exercise:
- Identify
what pupils are doing with ICT in the Business Studies tasks
you have set them.
- Identify
whether what they are doing is a basic motor skill such as moving
a mouse, a technique where they have to follow steps or a higher
order skill where they have to plan and make decisions.
-
Identify the areas of the IT curriculum at the pupil's key stage
or Key Skills level to see whether work you are doing with him
or her can be linked to learning in the IT area.
 d.
Assessing Learning
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