c.
Selecting ICT Resources
The
teacher in the case study is completely at home with the skills
behind most of the options we have looked at above. Although she
does have a copy of the CD 'Writing with Symbols', she is able
to photocopy symbols from a rebus book that she has. She has used
newspapers and videos, she already has some word-processed materials
that she has created by using cut and paste techniques to create
worksheets with symbols and text to support some to the learners.
You
may not be in the same position as she is, so we shall look at
the options in the context of your school and your experience.
Think about the following points as they apply to you:
Use
discussion only, and not use any ICT (or other technology) at
all.
I have a bit of a problem with this (I would say that, wouldn't
I?) in as much as my own experience of working with discussion
alone is that it can be hugely enjoyable, but that learners often
have limited knowledge to develop discussion. Sometimes their
ability to recall topics is limited unless they produce some form
of record of their discussion. Often some learners will dominate
discussion overpowering those that lack confidence in speaking
in group situations. In terms of the objectives set for this case
study, there is such a wealth of material available from the World
Wide Web and CD-ROM. I really would want to get the most out of
the discussion opportunities, the technology and the pupils by
combining some of the options. Using IC provides the learners
with positive self -esteem when they view the final copy of the
work that they have produced. Technology can support those who
would other wise be fearful of any literacy exercise due to their
lack of confidence.
Use
a word processor package to create worksheets of wordlists using
words relevant to topics in the news at the present time.
The learners could select those relevant to their write up and
then use a worksheet containing words supported with relevant
symbols that the learners would need to include in their write
up One or more similar suggestions may need to be added to these
to support the literacy needs of some of the learners. Some learners
find it difficult to accept support that they need with literacy
skills and tasks involving the creation of written text create
barriers to the learner's work ethic. My own opinion is that support
in the form of a list of words on a worksheet is readily accepted
when the leaner realises they have the opportunity to create word
processed text rather than the usual hand-written efforts.
Use
symbols that the learners could cut and paste to illustrate the
main points of their story.
This isn't strictly an ICT option, but it would be if it were
carried out by using a CD such as Writing with Symbols where the
learner would input all the words relevant to their news story.
The activity could be carried out by brainstorm of all the relevant
words associated with the story that could be later rearranged
into order creating a newspaper layout format using cut and paste
techniques.
Use
some video or print materials that the learners could use to identify
the main points of their story.
This isn't strictly an ICT option, but it would be if it were
done in conjunction with the word-processed worksheets or some
work on the World Wide Web looking at other views on the topics.
The best thing about it is that looking at video or print material
provides a range of stimuli to the learner so that any information
deficits that exist for reasons beyond the scope of the teacher
can be neutralised.
Use
a CD-ROM to illustrate important news events in the past.
Almost any CD-ROM encyclopaedia will give you some information
on important news events in the past that could be demonstrated
to the learners. You probably know about Encarta and Britannica,
and other products such as Hutchinson's and Compton's provide
inexpensive if inconsistent sources of data. The point here is
that you are not looking for thorough, exhaustive and expert treatment
of topics - in some ways, the briefer the better. The biggest
problem that arises with mass market CD-ROM resources is their
US orientation - good European, British or Welsh focus is very
difficult to find.
Use
the World Wide Web to gather materials from a range of newspaper
web sites.
The World Wide Web is a useful source of pictures and graphics
that can be copied into Words documents to support the learners
understanding of written text. The problem with using the World
Wide Web with SEN is that the sites can display many added sources
of information, which distract the attention of the learners.
A positive way to support the learners to use this resource includes
accessing sites with known addresses rather than carrying out
search functions.
The
following web addresses can be used to provide print outs from
which the learners can identify keywords to be used in their interpretation
of the story. Pictures can also be copied and pasted into the
learner's word-processed document where relevant. It may be an
idea to lead the learners through the activity of browsing the
different web pages as on many of the sites there is a menu of
the different headlines that need to be select to reach the story.
www.thisissouthwales.co.uk
The web page of the Evening Post. It contains the main local stories
in an all text format with no photographs to support the learners
needs.
www.mirror.co.uk
The main national headlines in the Mirror supported at the bottom
of the homepage by Mirrorpix - the Mirrors online picture library
providing a catalogue of pictures associated with the topic entered
in the search function.
www.thesun.co.uk
The format of this web site looks more like a newspaper. There
are pictures adjacent to the stories making the headlines on these
pages.
www.guardianunlimited.co.uk
This does not resemble a newspaper format, on the homepage there
is an index of all the headlines for the day - written text only.
There are no pictures to support the text on this web site.
www.express.co.uk
This web site is set out like a newspaper, it contains the UK's
news stories under the latest news hyperlink. This hyperlink lead
to the BBC news web site with detailed descriptions and relevant
pictures to support the stories.
www.bbc.co.uk/news
The homepage of the BBC news, containing stories making the headlines
in the newspapers and on the TV. A very useful web site in that
it contains pictures, some shortened versions of the main stories
and video links.
Use
a word processor to create a variety of text formats for the headlines
chosen by the learners.
This option is useful to support the learners to make their stories
more like a newspaper article by experimenting with a range of
text fonts available and changing the size of their chosen heading.
There are two ways that this can be carried out, having input
a number of words for the heading changes can be made using the
text options on the format toolbar. Alternatively learners can
input the heading of their choice into a variety of WordArt formats.
Have
the learners to put stories together to form a newspaper.
If this is the end intention then it maybe an idea at the beginning
of the activity to allocate learners to different types of stories
to obtain the standard newspaper layout at the end, including
sport, current affairs etc. However learners have gathered information
they can print out their account of the events and physically
compile this using cut and paste techniques. If you feel confident
you could paste all the learners word-processed documents into
one file and have a collective word-processed newspaper.
Now
that you've looked at my ideas about the options available, you
need to make your own choices. The teacher in the case study has
decided to use all options except WordArt to produce the headlines
for the learner's stories. In this instance the teacher takes
the learners for all their key skills needs and is therefore able
to cover the activity in a week using on average a one-hour session
each day. You need to plan to do something of this sort. On the
next page, make a copy and fill out the summary to help you get
focus on what you will do. I've put in some suggestions - you
can use these as you like. Think of some uses of your own, and
make a short note on what you will have to do to make it work,
what you expect the benefit to be to your learners, and what difficulties
you expect to encounter when you do it in the classroom.
Resources
Selected for Work on Discussion of Topics
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