b. Deciding Whether to Use ICT

There seems to be a wide range of options for dealing with this topic. The teacher could:

• Not use any ICT (or other technology) at all.
• Use textbooks and circulate around the room facilitating the students learning.
• Use a word processor package to create worksheets for the topics, perhaps placing some prompts to guide the student through the skills they require to complete a task.
• Use a video to present students with a case study on which they are able to demonstrate their ability to interpret information from real situations.
• Use the Internet to present the student with commercial and up to date charts and tables that test the student's ability to interpret data.
• Use a spreadsheet package such as Excel or Lotus 123, to present the student with a range of charts and tables that test the student's ability to interpret data.

Of course, any combination of the options is also possible, but we shall discuss them all, and your work will involve using several of the options alone and together.

Questions for Consideration

• How many of the options above do you feel comfortable about at the moment, and could you suggest any others?
• What are the benefits to using recently published print and broadcast data?
• Look again at the objectives for this case study - how do they equate with the options listed?

Keep a short record of your responses to these questions for discussion with your mentor.

c. Selecting ICT Resources