b. Managing Learning in the Classroom

There were a number of aspects of management which required decisions. The first was the allocation of pupils to computers. Since there were more pupils than computers, one-to-one allocation was not an option, but the teacher decided anyway that this work would be best carried out in pairs. This would give pupils a chance to talk about their ideas and to help each other. He thus planned in advance the exact seating arrangements, though inevitably he had to make adjustments owing to the absence of two pupils.

Questions for Consideration

• How would you allocate pupils to seats:
  • free choice?
  • mixed ability pairs?
  • equal ability pairs?
  • mixed gender pairs?
  • keep difficult pupils apart?

The next question was whether they should log on as they came in, or whether they should sit at the tables in the centre of the room first until all had arrived. The teacher chose the former because he wanted them to load the spreadsheet files before he briefed them on the task; if he had wanted to have their attention for a briefing before they used the computers, he would have sat them in the middle initially.

He decided to give them instructions on loading and using the spreadsheet in two ways: step-by-step orally with the whole class, and on a help sheet as back up. Working with the whole class step-by-step is difficult to manage, as there are always some pupils who do something wrong and get behind, and some who try to get ahead, but if the number of steps at each stage is small and the pupils are well trained to help each other, it can be effective. Indeed, the help sheet is rarely used.

With a smaller class, particularly with less able pupils, he would have gathered them around a large screen to do a whole class demonstration with pupils making their own notes. This is particularly helpful for important but complex stages such as formula entry, but the size of screen available and the difficulty of movement in the classroom made a demonstration unrealistic for this class.

Questions for Consideration

• Another alternative is to require pupils to refer to a printed sheet with step-by-step instructions. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this approach?
• What approach would you use in your own situation?
• How does your choice vary according to the room/resources, age of pupils, class size, ability level?
• Is there anything else which affects your choice?

Pupils' progress was monitored whilst circulating the class to help pupils with difficulties. Inevitably, there was a high degree of troubleshooting needed, particularly during the early stages of entering formulas. The technician was very helpful in dealing with these difficulties, as well as the usual problems of faults in the equipment.

Question for Consideration

• There will be a lot of request for help at certain times. How would you manage the situation with no help?

The made sure that he checked each pupil's work at the end of the first function to ensure that were entering formulas rather than just values and that they were recording their results on paper. He then kept an eye out for pupils reaching the more difficult functions. Even the quickest ones struggled with the first of these, and he intervened to ask strategic questions which reminded them of the strategy they had used before in the classroom and prompted them to think how to put it in as a formula. They soon adapted the classroom strategy to the spreadsheet work. When most pupils were reaching this stage, he decided to stop the whole class and use the quicker pupils to explain the strategy and formulas for two-operation functions.

This pattern of monitoring and intervention continued throughout the unit, and worked well in combining some pupil autonomy with whole class teaching.

Questions for Consideration

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of using some pupils to help others?
• How can you minimise the disadvantages?
• Do you feel that the balance between pair work and whole class teaching was suitable for this topic?

In summary, you have four issues to consider in managing learning:

• The mixing of abilities when you set pair or group work.
• The arrangement of people in the room, including yourself.
• Keeping on top of intervention, and ensuring that all pupils get equal attention.
• Managing a room full of pupils waiting to use ICT to learn when the power fails.

c. Helping Learners Develop their own IT Capabilities