Part 2:
Teaching With ICT
a.
Structuring Lessons
In
the case study we are dealing with, the teacher has a fairly regular
pattern to her sessions. She tends to start with a teacher-led
introduction to the topic away from computers, outlining the area
for coverage in the sessions. In an hour-long lesson, she will
restrict herself to just one topic. From the introduction, she
will set pairs or small groups work to do, using printed worksheets,
templates created from Microsoft Excel or she will provide references
to web sites she would like the students to visit on the Internet.
The students can rotate their tasks so that all students have
an opportunity on each discipline. The work is structured, and
she monitors progress around the class, assisting students who
are struggling with any of the tasks.
Again,
you might not work exactly in this way, but you probably do have
a pattern that you favour as a teacher. Characterise this pattern
to yourself now, and consider how the use of ICT as a resource
might fit into it.
Over
a four-week period of preparation, spending two or three hours
a week on the topics, the teacher in the case study has wanted
to introduce the ICT based work at the beginning. First let's
recall the main learning objectives the teacher has for her pupils
in this area.
- Select
information and methods to get the results you need.
- Carry
out calculations involving two or more steps and numbers of
any size, including use of formulae, and check your methods
and level of accuracy.
- Select
ways to present your findings, including use of a graph, describe
methods and explain results.
The
topics the teacher has selected for the analysis are:
- Volumes
and Area.
- Commercial
Decision Making.
Below
is a summary of how weeks one-four are structured to use ICT to
meet these objectives. Take a look at this summary and then produce
your own account, and your own lesson plans, showing how you would
use the ICT resources we have been discussing to do the same jobs
on the topics. You might wish to extend or contract the time,
and to fit the plans, duration and work around your own experience
of working with this type of activity.
Case Study
Lesson Structure
Week
1 - Three Hours.
-
Introduce the method for the four-week phase of work. Explain
the rules of algebra and discuss examples where algebra is used
to make decisions.
- The
teacher visits a variety of Web sites to see different examples
of commercial use of a calculator or spreadsheet eg. www.giardino.it/arte/index.htm
Visit the Web site and discuss the formula that is used to exchange
currency.
- Students
to carry out the calculations on paper.
- Introduce
students to a spreadsheet. Students to create a spreadsheet
template to calculate currencies.
Week
2 - Two Hours.
-
Introduce students to the commercial use of geometry in a classroom.
- Visit
the second Web site www.dulux.com/calc
Discuss with the students how the equations are formed.
- Students
to carry out the calculations on paper.
- Students
to use a spreadsheet to solve geometrical problems.
Week
3 - Three Hours.
- Students
to answer a number of problems using a spreadsheet refer to
appl num worksheet cs2.xls. which you should have downloaded
earlier. The use of templates will enable students to receive
automatic feedback on their progress.
Week
4 - Two Hours.
- Students
to solve a variety of problems using worksheets that test their
understanding of the topic.
 b.
Managing Learning in the Classroom
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