The ICT Handbook for Primary Teachers

A guide for students and professionals

David Hall

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781317525578
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Educación general

The ICT Handbook for Primary Teachers will help all those involved in primary education, whether in training, teaching or leadership roles, to develop the ICT knowledge, understanding and skills required to enhance children's learning in the classroom. This new edition reflects the changes to the curriculum from 2014. It includes a new section on the Computing curriculum and an overview of the reorganisation of those online agencies that serve to support ICT.

Covering theory and practise this essential handbook explores and outlines the usefulness of a wide range of up to date ICT resources in a range of primary contexts, and advice is offered on assessing whether ICT is preferable to other approaches for 'enhancing learning'.

With reference to supplementary online resources, providing activities, multimedia resources and further reading, the book covers: the requirements of the new Computing curriculum, the place for ICT in enhancing teaching and learning across the curriculum, using ICT in core curriculum subjects and in cross-curricular contexts, different models of e-learning (interactive whiteboards, tablet PCs, mobile devices, the Internet etc), how ICT can be used to help pupils with special educational needs and using ICT for planning, delivery, assessment and recording.

This book is an indispensible guide to ICT for students on PGCE, BEd and undergraduate teaching courses, along with practising teachers, SENCOs, ICT coordinators and school leaders.

Part I
Introduction

Chapter 1
Introduction

Aim of the book

Technology is a key factor in everyday life and opportunities for its use in children’s education and wider social development should be widely embraced.

ICT has the unique capacity and potential for developing and enlivening all domains of learning and has a significant role in helping to support learning and teaching and in managing both the curriculum and the school as a whole. Despite recent changes to the curriculum, ICT should remain a high priority.

This book will help you to develop the ICT knowledge, understanding and skills required to enhance the teaching and learning of children and the administration and management of primary schools (and the foundation stage).

A promotion of the use of technology within learning environments can only be successful if practitioners in the field have a clear idea of its benefits and are confident in its use. These are the issues which this book aims to address. The book is informed by contemporary issues, best practice in schools and the latest government initiatives.

By the end of the book you will be better positioned to:

• ■ deliver the latest Computing/ICT/Digital Literacy curriculum;
• ■ recognise the many ways in which ICT can enhance teaching and learning across the primary and foundation curriculum;
• ■ incorporate a range of ICT resources (software, hardware and the Internet) into children’s learning activities;
• ■ identify a number of approaches (‘models’) to digital learning;
• ■ appreciate the diversity of available ICT resources and assistive technology that can be used to support children with special educational needs (SEN);
• ■ provide opportunities for extended learning using a learning platform and mobile devices;
• ■ make effective use of ICT in the planning, delivery, assessment and recording of learning;
• ■ effectively manage and lead the improvement of a school’s ICT capability (and achieve the Naace ICT Mark).

Who is this book for?

The book is built around the notion that successful implementation of ICT in a school depends upon the identification, management and operation of a number of key processes. It also maintains that success depends not only on good leadership but also on the involvement of all stakeholders – teachers, teaching assistants, pupils, subject heads, technicians, SENCO, ICT coordinators and the head/deputy head teacher.

There is something in the book for all practitioners in primary schools and the early years foundation stage. It is also suitable for trainee teachers on primary PGCE, BEd and SCITT programmes, students of Education, ICT, Early Years and Early Childhood Studies degrees and local authority ICT advisers.

What does the book cover?

The development of ICT in UK schools

Offers a short, historical perspective on the use of ICT in schools since the early 1970s in terms of the resources deployed and associated developments in the school curriculum.

ICT in the National Curriculum

Examines the current national curriculum for computing/ICT/digital literacy in terms of the knowledge, skills and understanding which should be gained in primary school. This chapter presents some initial ideas for ICT activities and resources, relating them to the National Curriculum.

Using ICT to enhance literacy, numeracy and science

Two chapters that deal with the many ways in which ICT resources, used in carefully planned activities, can enhance children’s learning in the core National Curriculum subjects. Emphasis is placed on the achievement of desired learning outcomes rather than simply the motivational effect of technology. The reader will be invited to participate in a variety of activities (via the author’s website), carefully reflecting on each. The aim is to ascertain when and why ICT-based activities might be comparable, or indeed preferable, to conventional approaches.

ICT in non-core subjects

Follows on from the core subjects and, aside from considering the importance of ICT in each discrete subject, it introduces the notion of a cross-curricular approach to teaching, learning and assessing. In this chapter the emphasis switches toward the ‘reader as researcher’ and promotes an exploratory approach to the discovery of appropriate ICT ‘tools’ to use in other areas of the curriculum.

Models of digital learning

This chapter outlines a number of approaches to the delivery of learning. These ‘models’ of digital learning include interactive whiteboards, the Internet and World Wide Web, mobile learning (including tablet PCs and educational apps), learning platforms, computer-mediated communication, podcasting and vidcasting, video conferencing, computer games, subscription websites, play-based learning, visualisers and document cameras and computer configurations.

ICT and special educational needs

Investigates strategies for using ICT to support learners with a wide range of learning needs including: communication and interaction; cognition and learning; behavioural, emotional and social difficulties; sensory, physical and medical; physical disabilities; English as an additional language (EAL); and gifted and talented (G&T).

ICT management and leadership

Leadership is a crucial component in the effective application of ICT in schools. This chapter provides knowledge and skills for those with educational management roles and ICT responsibilities. It will help them to make informed decisions about the purchasing and implementation of ICT resources and activities and will consider a range of methods which will help in using ICT effectively in strategic planning, management, and leadership at all levels.

ICT resources

Outlines a process for identifying, selecting and managing software, hardware and web-based resources (including individual and aggregate purchasing). It also addresses the need to properly evaluate ICT resources before using them with children and before committing to buy. A range of possible suppliers is identified and, in addition, the potential for using open source software is explored.

How does this book compare to others?

There are of course other books on the topic of ICT but this edition of the ICT Handbook for Primary Teachers has the wider focus and detailed approach that make it an ‘essential’ read for every teacher from initial teacher training and beyond. It is a well illustrated publication which offers:

• ■ a broad yet detailed coverage of all the important Computing and ICT issues;
• ■ an unusual balance between practical advice and academic rigour;
• ■ access to lots of resources in electronic format;
• ■ listings of important publications and suppliers.

Supplementary materials

The book is supported with a number of activities, some of which require supplementary materials. These are available from the Primary ICT website at primaryict.org.uk/icthandbookv2.htm.

Activity

The activities in the book, which include sample ICT resources, readings, presentations, videos, and audio excerpts, are highlighted by this laptop icon.

The activities are optional but offer you the opportunity to explore some of the issues in more detail.

Hyperlinks

Throughout the book you will find a number of hyperlinks to useful websites. Whilst the future stability of these links cannot be guaranteed, it is better that they are included rather than omitted. You can usually find your way to the intended information via the root of the site if the full path doesn’t work.

A final thought before you begin the book

Imagine that the head of your primary school has provided you with a sum of money to spend on ICT and Computing equipment which is to be used to support the whole curriculum. The amount is limited and you certainly can’t afford everything that you would like.

What would you purchase and what justification could you provide? Would you consider free software? How would you go about teaching ICT/Computing? How might you embed ICT it into the curriculum?

You might like to consider these questions whilst reading the book and, by the end, you should have most of the answers. Read on …

Chapter 2
The development of ICT in UK schools

A brief history of computing in schools

As long ago as the early 1970s, educational researchers could appreciate that the system of didactic teaching was about to undergo a transformation. The notion that most learning is the result of teaching was, even then, an illusion. The reasons for this are many but the advent and steady development of technology has certainly played a major part.

Many teachers once feared that there was a danger of the machine replacing them in the classroom. It is hardly surprising that they were ambivalent about these devices; but the mood is ever-changing and the current model of computing in schools is one of the computer and other ICT resources as tools, rather than as teaching systems, enhancing learning rather than leading it.

The first computer terminals appeared in schools in 1970 in the guise of mini-computers. However, these were very much the preserve of administrators. By 1982 most primary schools had at least one prim...