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 Key Skill Communication
skills but also their ICT skills. It is important to distinguish
between one thing and the other, and also for us as Key Skill
Communication specialists to know when a pupil is learning to
use ICT as well as learning to understand Key Skill 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.
- Accessing
the World Wide Web.
- Searching
for information - on the CD or the World Wide Web.
- Copying
data from the web into other applications.
- Basic
skills of mouse and keyboard manipulation.
- Printing
- if the pupil was allowed to print from the CD or the World
Wide Web.
- Using
a spreadsheet package to store, manage and manipulate data.
- Using
a word processor package - if pupils transferred data into Word
documents for project.
- Managing
files - if pupils gained access to the folder of images and
used this to create their new work.
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 Key Skill 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
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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