d. Developing Your Own Knowledge of the Resources

Having made decisions about using some of the resources and opportunities in tandem, it is important for the teacher in the case study to get to know the resources well enough to feel confident about using them in the classroom. It is also important that the pupils will feel comfortable about using resources.

We can focus on this with a specific exercise. Searching the World Wide Web for sites about document layout could lead the student into new avenues re: aspects of document design and layout. As an example, consider the word processing materials provided by SBOLP (accessed in the IT Skills section).

When you have studied them, answer the following questions - just to give you some focus to begin with:

1. The text document has a number of prearranged 'hyperlinks' in it. What is their purpose and what effect do you think they will have on students learning how to use ICT effectively?
2. Linked documents on design, typography etc might contain still photographs (perhaps a typesetting machine), or video footage illustrating the process of producing documents through the ages. What purpose do you see these having in the way you would use the material to teach the subject?
3. Although the IT Skills section contain both instructions and tasks for using a word processor (for example), you might want to develop some of these yourself, or even copy text from the resource and edit it for your own groups. You are perfectly entitled to do this, so what would you want to do to develop the materials you have and what reasons would you have for changing the materials?

When you have looked at the material in light of these questions, and perhaps modified some worksheets of your own to go with the source material, you should discuss with your mentor what you want to do with the resource in the classroom. This can be done in a mentor visit, over the telephone or by e-mail, and should serve merely to satisfy you that you are on the right track with your use of the materials.

e. Planning the Work of Learners