b. Deciding Whether to Use ICT

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

• Use a course book only, which offers model letters, and not use any ICT (or other technology) at all.
• Use a word processor package to create worksheets for the topics, perhaps making the worksheets simulate the kind of product pupils need to produce.
• Use some video or print material as a stimulus for writing production.
• Use the World Wide Web to gather information of use in the writing exercise.
• Have pupils e-mail others with the draft versions of their letters to test their accuracy.

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 video or print material to provide stimulus for this kind of writing exercise?
• What are the pitfalls as you see them to using the World Wide Web to gather information?
• Look again at the objectives for this case study - do you think any of them match up with the options listed?

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

c. Selecting ICT Resources