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 English skills but also
their ICT skills. It is important to distinguish between one thing
and the other, and also for us as English specialists to know
when a pupil is learning to use ICT as well as learning to write
well.
If
pupils used all possible resources - and maybe one or two extra
that you have thought of - the very least they would have developed
is the following range:
- Loading
software - the CD
- Accessing
the World Wide Web
- Searching
for information - on the CD-ROM or the World Wide Web
- Basic
skills of mouse and keyboard manipulation
- Printing
- if the pupil was allowed to print from the CD-ROM or the World
Wide Web
- Using
e-mail - for the drafting and checking exercises
- Using
a word processor - if pupils undertook the sheets for house-description
on computer
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 Stages three and four 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 English 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 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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