ICT Training for Teachers

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Secondary Core - What is ICT?

Module 1	Contents
	Introduction Activity OBJECTIVES QUESTIONS SELF EVALUATION  Forward to Module 2 Back to Secondary ICT Core Map Back to T@LENT Web Site Map

• Introduction

Information and Communication Technology is a term that is used a great deal in general and particularly in education. To teach with and about Information Technology the teacher must be clear about her or his intention.

In Education the phrase ICT is marked by a lack of attempts to define it, including within the statutory documentation for the National Curriculum. Since the term is not universally understood here are a few definitions that have been published by various groups or individuals:

ICT is .....

‘the acquisition, production, transformation, storage and transmission of data by electronic means in forms such as vocal, pictorial, textual or numeric, such as to facilitate the interaction between people, and between people and machines. it also includes applications and implications (social, economic and cultural) of these processes’ The Further Education Unit (1987) defining IT

‘new communications and computing technology, mainly based on microelectronics, and used for creating, storing, selecting, changing, delivering, receiving and displaying many kinds of information’ Council for Educational Technology (1987) [precursor of NCET] defining IT

‘the scientific, technological and engineering disciplines and the management of techniques used in information handling and processing; their applications; computers and their interaction with men [sic] and machines; and associated social, economic and cultural matters’ UNESCO (1984) defining IT

‘the technology associated with the communication, storage and retrieval of data’ Chandler (1984) defining IT

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Activity

Information and Communication Technology is now a common phrase, particularly in education. As teachers we need to have some background understanding of the term and what it means to be able to incorporate the use of information technology in our teaching appropriately.

OBJECTIVES

1. To know what people mean by information and communication technology.
2. To understand the agreed elements of the range of definitions.
3. To develop an appropriate definition of information technology.
4. To see some of the potentials and possibilities of using ICT in the classroom.

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QUESTIONS

 

• What is ICT capability?

Use the definition of ICT capability given by DfEE to write down what you would expect an 'average' pupil in your age group to be able to know and understand about ICT.

List the ICT skills you think your 'average' pupil should be able to demonstrate without help, at the beginning of your age range and at the end.

• What are the strands of progression in ICT capability?

Use the Programme of Study for your age group to locate your responses within the strands of progression described. This will also identify other elements that need to be to be addressed.

• How can we describe attainment in ICT capability?
• Using the Attainment Target level descriptions identify the levels your responses might include.

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SELF EVALUATION

• What previous experiences, knowledge or understandings did you find useful in this activity?

These might be from a wide range of sources, some not at first related to ICT or education at all, but nonetheless relevant.

• What new knowledge or understandings have you gained?

You might not have gained any, perhaps you have just had the opportunity to see things in a new light, and perhaps you feel you have learned a great deal.

• Has your perspective on Information Technology changed, and if it has, how?

You might consider you have changed your perspective very little if at all, or perhaps you are now more critical about ICT. It might be useful to consider ICT in its positive and negative effects or influences and list these. This might help to identify where you ‘stand’.

• Do you have a rationale for teaching aspects of Information Technology and can you start to identify opportunities in your teaching for incorporating this into your curriculum?

You might see teaching ICT as an imposition or as a necessary part of preparation of learners for life in the twenty-first century. In either case it is useful to ‘brainstorm’ possibilities, in the first instance without worrying about exactly how they might be accomplished. This ‘wish list’ can then be revisited and refined with more pragmatic perspectives.

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