Part 2:
Teaching With ICT

a. Structuring Lessons

The teacher planned a sequence of four one-hour lessons: one to explain the purpose and allow pupils to carry out research into the context; one for them to plan the structure; one for them to implement the databases; one for them to test and evaluate the databases. He felt that the research might continue into the structuring lesson if necessary, and that if the implementation was slow to start with, because pupils were getting familiar with the software, he would let them have an extra lesson to finish the databases off properly.

Case Study Lesson Structure

Lesson 1

• Explain the purpose of the unit of work in terms of learning objectives, and given them a short briefing about the requirements of the ambulance service for a web site.
• Question the class concerning what they know about the ambulance service and how they might use IT in their work.
• Tell them they are going to see a short video about this, and list the points that they should look out for.
• Show the video clip in full, and ask them orally about some of the key points.
• Split the class into groups of four. Distribute the Research Worksheet and give out the brochures, etc. Tell them to complete the worksheet, then look at the other resources to find useful points about the local ambulance service. Each group should compile a set of notes with the main points of interest - not copy out sections of the brochure.

Lesson 2

• Briefly review the purpose of the collection of information which was carried out last time.
• Ask groups in turn to suggest one point, which they would want to include in their web site, and write these up.
• Discuss how a web site is structured, drawing out the idea that they need a list of main headings to form the home page, and then the points to be made should be grouped under these headings. They can be subdivided further if there are too many to fit onto one "page". They must make it easy for users to find the details that they want without reading through masses of text.
• Distribute the web structure planning sheets, and tell each group that they need to plan out the structure (not the detail) by the end of the lesson.
• Tell them that "homework" is to look at the web sites for Lancashire and Sussex - give them the URLs and explain how they can get access to the web at lunchtime and after school.

Lesson 3

• Review the structure of the Lancashire and Sussex sites, emphasising that pupils do not have to use the same structure.
• Remind the class what information they should have on their planning sheets and notes, and explain how they are going to work on implementing their webs.
• Give them a time limit of five minutes before the end of the lesson, to allow time for a review of progress.

Lesson 4

• Remind the class about what they should have achieved last lesson, and that they should test all the links and pages to ensure that they have the intended effect. Give them about 15 minutes to test and complete their webs.
• Bring the class together, either round a single computer with Group 1's web on it, or to view a large display where all the webs can be shown.
• Ask Group 1 to show quickly what they have produced, and explain the ideas they included. Give others the opportunity to ask questions, and add to the questions yourself if there is something important which the pupils have not noticed.
• Repeat for the other groups, giving praise wherever possible but making clear any major deficiencies in content or structure which they need to reconsider.
• Finally, ask pupils to write down individually three things that they feel they have learned from the project - these could be IT techniques, understanding hypertext ideas, project management strategies, etc.

b. Managing Learning in the Classroom