ICT CAPABILITY ACROSS THE CURRICULUM LEARNING AREAS

What is ICT?

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a very common feature in our everyday lives. People today are progressively seeking new information and data about various things and the air is literally full of it. ICT according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is a “means by which we transmit, detect, access and reply to this information.” It consist of computers, smartphones, televisions, radios, tablet computers and many other things (see diagram). They have “great potential for knowledge dissemination, effective learning and the development of more efficient education services” (Semenov, Foreword, 2005).

ICT plays a significant part in the way in live, learn and play. It has impacted economies of all nations including key aspects of society such as education where teachers and students interact. For teachers, the challenge is therefore to harness these ICTs that exists in the learning environments of their workplace in such a way that serves the interests of learners and the larger teaching community (UNESCO, 2017).

Figure 1. What is ICT - UNESCO (2017)

General Capabilities – What are your teacher responsibilities?

In the Australian Curriculum, General Capabilities are embedded and addressed throughout the content of the Learning Areas. They are 21st century skills required by students in order for them to live and work successfully in their future endeavours.

If you teach the Australian Curriculum, you are required to teach and assess general capabilities “to the extent that they are incorporated within Learning Area content” (Australian Curriculum, 2017).

ICT capability as a General Capability is recognised as a necessity for students to “participate in a knowledge-based economy” (ACARA, 2017). Today, knowledge work has just not become another sector but a “cross-sectional drive, a main carrier, and a cutting edge for contemporary economic activities” (Semenov, 2005). It has been well documented that industries, organisations, professional and business occupations are already calling for knowledge-based and skilful intellectual work. Students, therefore, need to be empowered within an ICT-dominated society by being proficient users of ICT and using ICT fluently in any occupation they pursue.

Throughout the Learning Areas, students will develop ICT capability when: • Learn to use ICT effectively and appropriately to access, create and communicate information and ideas; • Solve problems and work collaboratively in all Learning Areas at school and in their lives; • They make the most of the digital technologies available to them, adapting new ways of doing things as technologies evolve and limiting the risks to themselves and others; • They use ICT for tasks associated with information access and management, information creation and presentation, problem-solving, decision-making, communication, creative expression and empirical reasoning. (ACARA, 2017)

In what context can ICT Capability be assessed?

Teachers are provided with ample opportunity to teach and assess ICT capability as it supports and enhances all student Learning Areas across the curriculum. According to the Australian Curriculum throughout this process students will “develop and apply ICT knowledge, skills, investigate, create and communicate, as well as developing their ability to manage and operate ICT” (ACARA, 2017).

In the Primary Curriculum, ICT capability can be found but not limited to the following Learning Areas.

• Technologies: Digital Technologies – Develop and understand the characteristics of data, digital systems, audiences, procedures and computational thinking; • The Arts: Engage with digital and virtual technologies when making and responding to artworks; • Humanities and Social Science: Learn to build discipline specific knowledge about history and geography; • Mathematics: Investigate, create and communicate mathematical ideas and concepts using fast, automated multimodal technologies; • English: Interpret and create print, visual and multimodal texts. Use communication technologies when conduct research online; • Science: Research science concepts and applications, investigate scientific phenomena and communicate their scientific understandings. ICT capability is developed then they access information, collect, analyse and represent data; • Health and Physical Education: Effectively and safely access online health and physical activity information and services to manage their own health and well-being.

ICT capability development can be facilitated throughout any curriculum learning provided that the correct software is used by the students.

What software should students use to assess their ICT Capability?

The software that enables you as a teacher to fully develop and assess student ICT capability is best known as content-free software. Software such as this allows itself to be used by students as a tool in many different © ICTE Solutions Australia 2017

Many schools today already have different types of content-free software that has become generic to its educational settings. These would include word processing programs, painting and drawing programs, databases and spreadsheets. You may already be familiar with some of these in your classroom. However, with more emphasis being placed on schools to integrate ICT coding programs has emerged that allow students to become empowered through their creativity with the tools it encompasses. The challenge is to find ways to integrate them throughout the curriculum in a meaningful way.

Let’s now investigate some of these options available to you.

Word Processors (e.g. Microsoft Word):

By far, the most widely used software package in schools with its ability to allow students to create and engage with text. It has fantastic features to enhance literacy and as a document creator it can be widely used throughout any Learning Area by both teacher and student for their work.

Word processors such as Microsoft Word can be applied in Maths lessons where students can present results on mathematical findings. Images and graphs can also be inserted to convey mathematical concepts to its intended audience. Similar strategies can be applied in Science and students can use its features to sort and sequence information. Additionally, when used in conjunction with databases word processors can be capitalised on for making their own notes about what they have found.

The same applies to the core subject of English. Editing features within the program offers fantastic possibilities and may be structured in a way that will develop both literacy and ICT capability. Such examples predominantly are to do with the writing process in word processors. However, they can all be taken step further to enhance the technical and presentation of work by using the tools and facilities it brings.

Here are some points to remember: • Encourage students to develop their mouse and keyboarding skills; • Use word processors to engage students in manipulating texts; • Make full use of its provisionality features to draft and redraft writing; • Prompt students to use the spell and grammar checker; • Teach students to use the thesaurus.

Spreadsheets (e.g. Microsoft Excel)

Simply a better way to do calculations of a repetitive nature. Spreadsheets therefore can be applied to any subject that requires students to make calculations and recalculations. It can be introduced to students through the functions it performs and direct links can be made between calculators and spreadsheets.

Despite this, students may not be familiar with its use and so there is a need to provide them with the opportunity to become familiar with the navigation of spreadsheets, the entry of numeric and textual information, and the display of numeric and graphical results. You will also need ensure that students understand the role of the equal sign in formulas. It does not balance the equation but performs a function to effectively instruct the software to undergo the calculations that follow it. The best way to set up spreadsheets is to answer ‘What if?’ questions.

Databases (e.g. Microsoft Access):

A database is a say to store information in a clear and structured format. It really is just a huge table with fields and records down the side. They can be applied throughout the entire curriculum where the collection of data and data-handling is involved.

Databases need to be introduced early into primary education by first providing the opportunity to students to input data into the database and then to display the information in a meaningful way. Later, they can design their own database structures to investigate a particular topic in which they have an interest.

Data-handling forms an integral part of the core subjects and it should be the role of every teacher to ensure that students are taught how to interrogate the data associated with the subject.

Coding Programs (e.g. Scratch):

One of the most widely accepted coding programs in schools today is Scratch. According to its website, it can be applied in Learning Areas such as language arts, Science, Maths, HASS, Digital Technologies and The Arts.

Coding can be used for robotics and is a great way to encourage collaboration in the classroom. In addition, it is recognised by state and federal governments as playing a significant role in the STEM Learning Areas.

I use other software too! Doesn’t that count?

While the use of ICT is encouraged throughout the curriculum it is important to keep in mind that not all ICT resources will fully develop and allow you to assess student ICT capability. For example, there are many educational software being advertised and integrated into school curriculums. However, most of these are referred to as Integrated Learning Systems or subject-specific software.

Research has indicated that ILS do not make a positive contribution towards the development ICT capability as a result of their highly directive nature. They take an instrumental stances towards instructing students about correct methods which must be followed exactly. A good example of this would be the literacy and numeracy software you have at your school. Learning is in the hands of the program and not the student and this has minimal impact on the development of ICT capability.

Do ILS work?

The effectiveness of ILS depends a lot on the quality of teacher intervention. Teachers require to be fully trained in its use. Doing this will allow you use significant amounts of feedback on individual student’s performance to inform future practice. As a consequence, training is paramount if the best results are to be achieved. The feedback that teachers are given is extremely detailed and includes diagnostic material. For teachers it means that you need to be able to interpret and analyse the information in order to make the most of it.

Another issue is the extent to which a student can fit into the approach decided by the computer.

“Effective teaching is assumed to mean employing strategies which meet the needs of the student and enable students to develop transferrable intellectual concepts and skills as well as social skills. If ILS is to be effective, it too must employ strategies which meet the needs of the students, rather than the student having to meet the strategies of the machine.”

Tutorial software can provide evidence of the units of work a student has completed and produces information pertaining to that matter. However, they are of no use when assessing ICT capability and should never be used to present evidence of a student’s attainment of ICT.

TPACK and SAMR: Where does it all fit in?

TPACK means Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge and is essential for effective teaching with ICT. The three main elements that constitute effective teaching in TPACK include technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge as can be seen in the below diagram.

The over lapping area of the three aspects in the middle of the diagram represents the makeup of TPACK.

Assessing ICT Capability is a combination of PK (Pedagogical Knowledge) and PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge). PK requires that you have good understanding of cognitive, social and developmental theories of learning that apply to how students’ learn in the classroom. It is recognised as a type of generic knowledge that relates to how students learn and student evaluation. On the other hand, PCK has more to do with learning effective assessment strategies as it comprises of elements of knowledge about teaching, learning, curriculum assessment, reporting, assessment and pedagogy. It requires you to have an awareness of any common misconceptions, different teaching strategies and exploring different ways of t looking at the same idea (Koehler & Mishra, 2008).

While TK (Technological Knowledge) is important in some aspects of assessment of learning, the focus of this information presented here is mainly the above. Teacher knowledge of ICT does play a significant role but it is not necessarily needed and is not goal of this book. The ICT capability of yourself as a teacher will have an impact on how you teach and assess students. However, being ICT capable is not about knowing all there is to know about ICT including the range of ICT resources that exist. It is about having a working knowledge of how ICT be best integrated into your classroom activities to both support the subject learning and remain transparent as a tool for learning that will also help develop student ICT capability. It is for this reason why this domain is so hard to pin down as it is always in a state of flux (Koehler & Mishra, 2008).

Figure 2. TPACK Model

TCK (Technological Content Knowledge) refers to how technology impacts your teaching disciplines. In other words, how technology and Learning Area subject content can either influence or constrain each other. How can the subject matter be changed with the use of technology? Which specific technologies is best suited for subject learning? How does the subject content dictate the technology? These types of questions are mainly to do with being capable of teaching ICT capability as is covered in more detail in that specific book. It is essential in this aspect of learning that your experiences with technology need to be specific to different content areas (Koehler & Mishra, 2008).

Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) requires you to have an understanding of how teaching and learning changes when particular technologies are used (Koehler & Mishra, 2008). In other words, being able to know the “pedagogical affordances and constraints of a range of technological tools as they relate to disciplinary and developmentally appropriate pedagogical designs and strategies” (Koehler & Mishra, 2008, p. 16). It is of particular importance as most software used in schools are not designed for educational purposes. For this means that if such technologies is to be used in the classroom then you need to develop skills to reconfigure it for your own pedagogical purposes.

SAMR Model

The SAMR model is to do with effective planning of ICT integration and is designed to be implemented in four levels. These include:

• Substitution – technology is used as a direct substitute for what you might do already, with no functional change. • Augmentation – technology is a direct substitute, but there is functional improvement over what you did without the technology. • Modification – technology allows you to significantly redesign the task. • Redefinition – technology allows you to do what was previously not possible. (Department of Education Victoria, Australia, 2017)

As assessment is closely linked to forward planning, it is possible to determine how the assessment of ICT capability will play a role. For example, by examining the SAMR model it is noticeable the use of the terms associated with its development. Word processing by students is a good example and is present throughout most of these stages. Therefore, you can take advantage of this type of integration that occurs regularly by planning for assessment. Whenever you intend for students to use content-free software in your planning for ICT integration, whether it be for an assignment, activity or a task that requires them to do so you can aim to assess their ICT capability at these point of time.