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 Communication skills but
also their ICT skills. It is important to distinguish between
one thing and the other, and also for us as Communication specialists
to know when a pupil is learning to use ICT as well as learning
to understand Communication.
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 - a CD-ROM
- 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 expert/peer investigation/exchange
- Using
a word processor - if pupils undertook copy and paste activities
- Using
a presentation package - if pupils created a PowerPoint presentation
for the final phases of the lessons
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 (or at Key
Skills IT levels one, two and three if you are working with GNVQ)
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 Communication 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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