BEFORE YOU BEGIN – WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW? Teacher competence in ICT plays a crucial role in the development of student ICT capability. Studies have indicated that the “extent to which ICT was effectively to support the development of literacy and numeracy depended to a large extent on the teacher’s own personal capabilities in ICT and in literacy and numeracy teaching” (Kennewell et al., 2000, p.105). It is important to note that in such studies it was also revealed that where teacher’s capabilities in ICT were lacking, in most cases there was a haphazard effort in the development of student ICT capability. Integrating ICT into teaching and learning is not straightforward. So to help you explore teaching approaches that integrate the use of ICT in the spirit of structured literacy teaching, we have compiled information to aid you in your teaching practices.
Exploiting available technology in the Australian Curriculum
Integrating ICT into teaching and learning is about exploiting the here and now of the available technology in the classroom and not waiting for the next big technological development to come along and solve your ICT problems. The Australian Curriculum encourages Primary teachers in particularly to implement this key strategy into their teaching practices. The Australian Curriculum emphasises the use of digital technologies throughout the development of literacy. For this particular age group, it is recommneded that students develop their literacy skills with the help of these technologies. • Word processors - both online and offline programs such as MS Word, Pages for iPads and Google Docs; • Digital forms of communications such as presentation programs such as MS PowerPoint and MS PhotoStory.
Teacher Knowledge of Resources
It is more important for you to be knowledgeable about one program that your students will use than it is to have an acquaintance with a large number. This won’t hamper their development in ICT capability as it is better for them to work with a small number versatile programs and to progressively develop their skills and confi-dence in these through carefully structured ICT activities. Being familiar with a program will help you to identi-fy when students may encounter a problem and enable you to plan for strategies to overcome them. Also, it will allow you to identify when students are ready to move onto a new feature or to use the software for a more de-manding task (Kennewell et al, 2000). Being familiar with a program should take you beyond just knowing how to use the program for a variety of tasks. ICT capability for a teacher is the same as it is for a student – it is about developing an understanding and judgement about how to use those ICT techniques appropriately. Therefore, it is important that you reflect on the “processes it helps the user to carry out and the ICT techniques with which particular effects can be achieved” (Kennewell et al., 2000, p. 97). Consider then how you will introduce the program to the students along with what ideas need to be clear before they start. Word Processing in Primary Education Being proficient in word processing skills is something which students will continually use and build on throughout their school career. Programs such as this can be actively used to encourage students to draft and redraft their written work. Interacting with text is just part of what it can allow students to achieve, but it also has other features like spell and grammar checker which structured carefully can used by teachers to develop a student’s spelling and grammar. Such features can be used to enhance a student’s presentation and because of its editing features it facilitates a stronger engagement with text by students. © ICTE Solutions Australia 2018
2
