Experiences, Achievements and Issues in 2011-12
This page contains extracts from trainees' contributions to a page on the Diipo social networking website. It provides examples and insights into their experiences of ICT on professional placements so far. Contributions will continue to be added in the run-up to the Project.
Clip art and an IWB issue
I was in a Yr1 class and managed to regularly use Easi-speak Microphones, flip cameras and Bee-Bots in my lessons. The school had an ICT suite with 15 laptops which I used to teach ICT sessions. I managed to teach 31 five and six year olds how to insert clip art into files. The downside was the IWB which was less than useless and I couldn't use it throughout the majority of my placement. It was replaced one week before I left so I managed to have a quick practice, but wouldn't mind this being revisited in an ICT session.
MYMaths and the VILE
I made a photo montage of a school trip to Liverpool Museum, using free-for-schools photo montage making software (I set up the account for the school). I was the first to link such a montage to the school's VLE and showed other staff how to do it. I was also the first to use MyMaths in the school and set up my year group's four maths groups, printed out information sheets for all the parents and separate ones for the children. I used the program in lessons and was the first to set up homework for my maths group using the program. I showed my teacher how to use it to monitor the children's progress and evaluate the children's performance against AAP levels.
Issues: the standard of hardware in the school wasn't great and I only witnessed one ICT lesson whilst there. I got the laptops in for the children and used them in a number of subjects, including maths and English. The school VLE was full of bugs and was far from 'intuitive'. My teacher called it the 'VILE'! There was one school 'super-user' as far as I'm aware and everyone relied on that teacher for even quite mundane tasks.
Issues: the standard of hardware in the school wasn't great and I only witnessed one ICT lesson whilst there. I got the laptops in for the children and used them in a number of subjects, including maths and English. The school VLE was full of bugs and was far from 'intuitive'. My teacher called it the 'VILE'! There was one school 'super-user' as far as I'm aware and everyone relied on that teacher for even quite mundane tasks.
Excel issues
Whilst teaching 'how to transfer information from a frequency chart into a bar chart using Excel' with a year 4 class, I struggled with the varying abilities. I ended up resorting to the Woodlands Junior website which has a 'bar chart maker', where by using one click, columns can have one unit added, until the correct information is in place. However, this missed the lesson objective of making bar charts using Excel. This difference in ability was a recurring problem throughout my ICT lessons.
iPads, newspaper reports and times tables games
One of the best experiences of ICT, whilst on SBT, was the use of iPads. The children loved them and were really engaged. However, the down side of this was I felt that the children knew more about how to use them than the teachers.
Children liked using laptops during literacy, especially making newspaper reports using particular software. The children also engaged well using the laptops in numeracy to practice their times tables. This was more of a game, and some children didn't realise they were learning at the same time. I think the main issue I have come across whilst on SBT, was the fact that children were more knowledgeable than adults, and that some staff were very worried about using new and unfamiliar equipment.
Children liked using laptops during literacy, especially making newspaper reports using particular software. The children also engaged well using the laptops in numeracy to practice their times tables. This was more of a game, and some children didn't realise they were learning at the same time. I think the main issue I have come across whilst on SBT, was the fact that children were more knowledgeable than adults, and that some staff were very worried about using new and unfamiliar equipment.
Laptops issue
An issue in my placement also happened to be an achievement in a way. There was a mini suite of about six computers with varying software and six to eight laptops per class. I believe the idea was that classes would timetable in when they needed other classes' laptops for a full class ICT session, but this was not always possible. This was partly due to the amount of ICT I taught, in that it was used at various times for various reasons and children could have regular access to it for other subject lessons. Just not on a whole class scale.
Laptops again
One of my issues was access to laptops/computers. There was no 'booking' system for the 30 laptops which the school had, and it was based on a first come, first served basis, which meant it was almost impossible to plan for using ICT! I found that I would plan for ICT, but always had to have a back-up in case there were no laptops left.
Network Issue and 2Simple Success
Teaching my first ICT lesson did not go well at all! To set the scene I had prepared a template of Gruffalo's party invitation on Publisher for the children to access from the computers and laptops. They were to enter the information from the planned invitations they had written in a previous lesson. I saved the template to the 'Work Share' which is a space that can be accessed from the children's accounts. The problem I encountered was that once one child accessed the template it then locked out everyone else because it could only be accessed by one child at a time. The solution to this problem (I later found) was to create a template for each child and save it as their name so they all accessed a different template and then were able to modify it at the same time. My class teacher did apologise as she forgot to tell me about this problem!
On the other hand, I had very positive experiences with the 2Simple program. The children found 2Publish very easy to use and we also used 2Graph to create simple block graphs. The school also used the program 'Education City' which had a variety of literacy, numeracy and science games/activites for all year groups.
On the other hand, I had very positive experiences with the 2Simple program. The children found 2Publish very easy to use and we also used 2Graph to create simple block graphs. The school also used the program 'Education City' which had a variety of literacy, numeracy and science games/activites for all year groups.
Spreadsheets and video
While I was on SBT, the main module we were covering was Spreadsheets. The main issues were catering for all of the abilities in the class and the fact that the children hated spreadsheets and didn't see the point of them! We finally reached a point where they were quite enjoying the sessions because I allowed them to plan a party using the Excel skills we had learned so they could browse the internet and pick things that they wanted off supermarket websites and then put the Spreadsheets into context.
A major success was that I managed to sneak in some video editing to one of the ICT sessions. We were looking at newspaper reports, so I borrowed some FlipCams from the University and the children recorded their own reports in groups. We then edited the reports using Windows Movie Maker, so it was pretty basic stuff, but the class really really enjoyed the session and the freedom that they could have when editing their own work however they liked. Was really gutted because the class teacher decided to have a grand showing of the children's reports while I was back in University on a Friday so I didn't see many of them!
A major success was that I managed to sneak in some video editing to one of the ICT sessions. We were looking at newspaper reports, so I borrowed some FlipCams from the University and the children recorded their own reports in groups. We then edited the reports using Windows Movie Maker, so it was pretty basic stuff, but the class really really enjoyed the session and the freedom that they could have when editing their own work however they liked. Was really gutted because the class teacher decided to have a grand showing of the children's reports while I was back in University on a Friday so I didn't see many of them!
ICT in subjects
ICT was used for research purposes in science investigations; a concept cartoon was displayed, the children discussed various ideas for what the answer might be and then had to find out the answer online. ICT was used to create presentations for the class assembly where the children had to reformulate what they had learnt about features of animal groups and give examples. In literacy some pupils who found writing difficult, used the laptops to type as the focus wasn't on the writing itself but the content. I also used it in art, asking to the children to find a starting point for their work by finding a myth or legend and gathering information about it. I observed it being used in history for research and presentation purposes and there was some sound and video recording and editing going on in other classes.
Windows woes
Here is a brief summary of my experiences of teaching ICT to a KS1 class (Y2). The biggest issue by far was the user-friendliness (or lack thereof) of the notebooks. The school had about 30 notebooks, and the children did enjoy using them - and they were quite robust. The problem was that there were so many hurdles to jump through in the form of popup type messages (e.g. Do you accept Adobe as your default...Cannot configure Windows...make Explorer your default... etc.) that by the time these had all been clicked and resolved there was not much time left for the lesson! Likewise, the children had a 'Y2' folder on the system, but this required quite a few steps to get to, again causing problems. Therefore, some of the time the children didn't save their work (or only bits of it). Additionally, the teacher laptop ran Office 2007, the notebooks ran 2010 so when it came to modelling how to save, copy, paste etc., the children's version wasn't the same which caused major issues. If all of these could have been resolved then the whole teaching and learning experience would have been improved immensely.
Literacy, Maths and Science
There didn't really seem to be any set ICT lessons at my school. I think this was partly due to there only being enough laptops for one between two or three . However ICT was incorporated into other lessons, for instance I used a literacy hour (or 2!) for my year 4's to type up and create a newspaper article about the moon landing. They chose which program they used, font, title design - the only thing that was specified was that it looked like a newspaper article, i.e. in columns! The children seemed to really enjoy this. For most, it was a fun and interactive way to learn literacy - for some, the typing was a bit of a stretch! It took some almost an hour to type a few sentences, so more practice needed, Ithink!
I saw ICT used in maths for co-ordinates - the children absolutely loved this - finding dinosaur bones on a map! And I used ICT in science for research which again they seemed to enjoy - filling out a fact sheet, working in mixed ability pairs. I think often they don't realise they are learning if they are on the computers!
I saw ICT used in maths for co-ordinates - the children absolutely loved this - finding dinosaur bones on a map! And I used ICT in science for research which again they seemed to enjoy - filling out a fact sheet, working in mixed ability pairs. I think often they don't realise they are learning if they are on the computers!
Pirates and Purple Mash
My experiences of ICT in school really cemented the importance of this type of learning for children's continual progression. I used ICT to support my "Pirate" topic, in which children made their own basic game on Purple Mash based on their prior learning of pirates. I supported this activity with the ICT Co-ordinator and it was great to give children some freedom to create their own game. Children were drawing on their previous knowledge of pirates and framing this in a new and interesting way. Great stuff!
Smart
During SBT I didn't teach any ICT lessons, although I did introduce laptops in Science and Maths lessons. We spent a couple of hours after school one afternoon running through the uses of the Smart software which I found really helpful, but after being told the version on my laptop may not work with the schools version I was very hesitant to use the Smart software to help plan my lessons. I had a couple of issues with using the laptops during those Science and Maths lessons - mainly issues relating to the software used. I felt that the software was pretty much giving the answers to the children and that there wasn't much learning actually taking place, although they were all fully engaged. Therefore in future I will think twice before using particular websites. I feel I still have a lot to learn in ICT - especially when it comes to using the best approach to teaching it as a subject lesson.
Successes and issues
Successes
Bee-Bots with Year 2 in Geography, morph animations with children aged 5 and 7, IWB for children to complete maths arrays, counting on, sorting, data handling activities, digital video for SEAL bullying movies with Year 3, design your own homepage with hotspots, gifs and animation with Year 2.
Issues
Does ICT have the right prominence in school? If no, this seems to be due to lack of confidence on part of teacher. Also, found that if no ICT suite then ICT is very much in background. Some good use of ICT in art and literacy; maths-use tends to be games/RM maths. Not seen up-to-date use (iPads, etc.) or breadth of technology which is available.
Bee-Bots with Year 2 in Geography, morph animations with children aged 5 and 7, IWB for children to complete maths arrays, counting on, sorting, data handling activities, digital video for SEAL bullying movies with Year 3, design your own homepage with hotspots, gifs and animation with Year 2.
Issues
Does ICT have the right prominence in school? If no, this seems to be due to lack of confidence on part of teacher. Also, found that if no ICT suite then ICT is very much in background. Some good use of ICT in art and literacy; maths-use tends to be games/RM maths. Not seen up-to-date use (iPads, etc.) or breadth of technology which is available.
Issues and successes
KS1 issues from SBT - introducing Year 1 to basics of ICT, such as turning on computers/laptops, using school log-on details and navigating windows to locate software. A particular issue was some children's fine motor skills which caused problems with the use of a mouse or touch pad. In comparison to the majority of KS2 children I found that a number of KS1 children had little home experiences in using computers/ laptops and lacked confidence in their ability. 'Afraid to break it' was a phrase often mentioned. The main issue during this placement was the fact that the IWB was broken and only fixed on the final day of placement.
KS1 successes from SBT - creation of child initiated 'ICT rules', development of an ICT 'buddying system' to build confidence, nomination of an 'ICT Monitor' for peer support and to assist in setting up of equipment/small computer issues. Use of flip cameras in literacy to support children with SEN in communication and numeracy; to challenge G&T to explain mathematical thinking. Links with CLC to provide children with extended ICT facilities and opportunities.
KS1 successes from SBT - creation of child initiated 'ICT rules', development of an ICT 'buddying system' to build confidence, nomination of an 'ICT Monitor' for peer support and to assist in setting up of equipment/small computer issues. Use of flip cameras in literacy to support children with SEN in communication and numeracy; to challenge G&T to explain mathematical thinking. Links with CLC to provide children with extended ICT facilities and opportunities.
Embedded ICT and Ikea
My experiences of ICT so far have not been what I was expecting. The school which I was at had a full cross curricular base for their teaching so I have not done any separate ICT lessons. The ICT which I have done has been incorporated into other lessons, for example I was teaching my Y5s how to use Publisher as we made a magazine about ABBA so we were in putting pictures from the internet and making the text flow into or around the photos. We looked at the different ways of using photos and text to get different effects.
In other lessons i have had the children doing research and fact finding, and in these lessons we looked at making our searches safe and precise, so that we only found relevant and age appropriate information.
Finally we used Excel to make spread sheets of costings and pricings for kitchens which we had designed using IKEA catelogues. In the end we used formulas to calculate the amount of money spent, how much was left and also the area of floor that had been used.
In other lessons i have had the children doing research and fact finding, and in these lessons we looked at making our searches safe and precise, so that we only found relevant and age appropriate information.
Finally we used Excel to make spread sheets of costings and pricings for kitchens which we had designed using IKEA catelogues. In the end we used formulas to calculate the amount of money spent, how much was left and also the area of floor that had been used.
Using library resources and more
Not as much use of ICT in school as I'd hoped for. There was an IWB in class that was usually used as a whiteboard to show teaching points, handwriting and occasionally used for ICT games, Mr Phonics, etc.
The class teacher had a really, really useless laptop that frequently froze and sometimes wouldn't even switch on and, wouldn't you know it, wouldn't work on the days I'd decided to do some ICT games etc!
I borrowed recordable peg microphones, recordable speech bubbles, Easispeaks and Tuffcams from library for Literacy traditional tales and got the children to make their own version of a traditional tale using ICT. All took photos and either wrote and recorded dialogue onto speech bubbles/pegs and some also did a PowerPoint with sound buttons. This all went really well and the class teacher ordered all those resources the next day for the school's own use - she was very impressed with the children's work and all the technology available and seemed keen to use it in future.
Also used Easispeaks in Science to record children's observations instead of writing in books which they really enjoyed.
Used IWB for TES iBoard games, to show trip photos and video clips about inventions too. Relieved to find I felt quite comfortable with it really.
The class teacher had a really, really useless laptop that frequently froze and sometimes wouldn't even switch on and, wouldn't you know it, wouldn't work on the days I'd decided to do some ICT games etc!
I borrowed recordable peg microphones, recordable speech bubbles, Easispeaks and Tuffcams from library for Literacy traditional tales and got the children to make their own version of a traditional tale using ICT. All took photos and either wrote and recorded dialogue onto speech bubbles/pegs and some also did a PowerPoint with sound buttons. This all went really well and the class teacher ordered all those resources the next day for the school's own use - she was very impressed with the children's work and all the technology available and seemed keen to use it in future.
Also used Easispeaks in Science to record children's observations instead of writing in books which they really enjoyed.
Used IWB for TES iBoard games, to show trip photos and video clips about inventions too. Relieved to find I felt quite comfortable with it really.