Information Communication Technology (ICT) has become an integral cornerstone to millennial lifestyle and leisure. Slowly, the integration of laptops, mobile devices, apps and wearable technology (tech) have blended with education, as 81% of Australian schools are using "tech" in some way shape or form at least once per week to engage secondary students (Thomson, 2015).
We recognise that teachers must learn how to create immersive lessons that integrate discussion and tech across a number of academic fields in order to captivate the tetchy "digital natives". The ICT integration project (ICTIP) has been designed to both assist and challenge a pre-graduate teacher's understanding of how best to combine ICT tech, the curriculum, pedagogy and classroom management.
This ICTIP assessment piece requires a group of pre-graduate teachers, centred around a common subject, to formulate a forward planning document and three comprehensive lesson plans that feature at least one student-centred ICT activity per lesson. The ICT component must be creative and engaging with a strong orientation toward problem-solving and self-driven inquiry. As pre-graduate teachers, we are required to demonstrate our planning, creativity, pedagogy and ICT competence throughout this assessment and in the preparation of ICT orientated lessons. At a later date, one of these lessons, adapted if need be, will be presented to a class of our peers as a 'small group activity'. During this session, students will experience our lesson first hand so that we may 'test' the effectiveness of what we have produced. Finally, a discussion about the lesson will be undertaken in order to discern its strengths, weaknesses and potential real life application with year eight students.
At the end of the three-day web quest (comprised of three “mini web quests”), students will have to present an infographic displaying not only the information they have acquired, but also the resources they have collected and the ICT skills they have learnt. This infographic, produced on Piktochart, will act as the final informal formative assessment for this series of web quests and would be due at the start of the following lesson.
We recognise that teachers must learn how to create immersive lessons that integrate discussion and tech across a number of academic fields in order to captivate the tetchy "digital natives". The ICT integration project (ICTIP) has been designed to both assist and challenge a pre-graduate teacher's understanding of how best to combine ICT tech, the curriculum, pedagogy and classroom management.
This ICTIP assessment piece requires a group of pre-graduate teachers, centred around a common subject, to formulate a forward planning document and three comprehensive lesson plans that feature at least one student-centred ICT activity per lesson. The ICT component must be creative and engaging with a strong orientation toward problem-solving and self-driven inquiry. As pre-graduate teachers, we are required to demonstrate our planning, creativity, pedagogy and ICT competence throughout this assessment and in the preparation of ICT orientated lessons. At a later date, one of these lessons, adapted if need be, will be presented to a class of our peers as a 'small group activity'. During this session, students will experience our lesson first hand so that we may 'test' the effectiveness of what we have produced. Finally, a discussion about the lesson will be undertaken in order to discern its strengths, weaknesses and potential real life application with year eight students.
At the end of the three-day web quest (comprised of three “mini web quests”), students will have to present an infographic displaying not only the information they have acquired, but also the resources they have collected and the ICT skills they have learnt. This infographic, produced on Piktochart, will act as the final informal formative assessment for this series of web quests and would be due at the start of the following lesson.
The objectives we consider the most important to achieve are directed by both student learning and engagement. Some of these objectives include 'compare and contrast' tasks to assist key analytical skills, critical and creative thinking. Whilst others, such as the proficient use of available ICT services, target motivation through curiosity, creativity and inquiry regarding how these programs are built and used.
Our personal objectives, as teachers, include producing informative, fun and engaging lessons that will help scaffold basic self-directed analytical and ICT research skills in year eight students. After using popular and well loved ICT websites such as Kahoot! to draw students into the lesson, we intend to further incorporate ICT tech into our lessons to flesh them out and maintain interest. We will provide a wide variety of websites so that the year eight cohort gains an understanding of the array of resources available and gains experience in a diverse array of different ICT types. This spectrum of available tools also allows for an inclusive experience at varying competence levels and learning styles through different types of visual platforms. Complementing this, ICT will no doubt motivate the students through provision of tech orientated mediums and will allow them to learn in an environment in which they have a pre-established skill set to lend them confidence.
Finally, the use of ICT means that revision and content is available at any time, especially if the content is kept in a place such as a Weebly website or the Edmodo class portal. Through this means, students will be able to access any content relevant to their lessons or refresh their understanding of the lesson's outcomes, as they can redo web quests whenever they please. In this manner, ICT can be an effective learning and revision tool at school and at home and may encourage appropriate revision if accessible, fun and engaging.
ICT competency is vital not only for teacher's but for students as well. If teachers lack sufficient ICT competencies to guide them, students will not learn the vital traits required for further study and future employment - which may affect their future livelihoods and work opportunities.
Reference List:
Thomson, S. (2015). Policy insights: Australian students in a digital world. Retrieved from http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=policyinsights
Our personal objectives, as teachers, include producing informative, fun and engaging lessons that will help scaffold basic self-directed analytical and ICT research skills in year eight students. After using popular and well loved ICT websites such as Kahoot! to draw students into the lesson, we intend to further incorporate ICT tech into our lessons to flesh them out and maintain interest. We will provide a wide variety of websites so that the year eight cohort gains an understanding of the array of resources available and gains experience in a diverse array of different ICT types. This spectrum of available tools also allows for an inclusive experience at varying competence levels and learning styles through different types of visual platforms. Complementing this, ICT will no doubt motivate the students through provision of tech orientated mediums and will allow them to learn in an environment in which they have a pre-established skill set to lend them confidence.
Finally, the use of ICT means that revision and content is available at any time, especially if the content is kept in a place such as a Weebly website or the Edmodo class portal. Through this means, students will be able to access any content relevant to their lessons or refresh their understanding of the lesson's outcomes, as they can redo web quests whenever they please. In this manner, ICT can be an effective learning and revision tool at school and at home and may encourage appropriate revision if accessible, fun and engaging.
ICT competency is vital not only for teacher's but for students as well. If teachers lack sufficient ICT competencies to guide them, students will not learn the vital traits required for further study and future employment - which may affect their future livelihoods and work opportunities.
Reference List:
Thomson, S. (2015). Policy insights: Australian students in a digital world. Retrieved from http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=policyinsights
Reference List:
Moving at the Speed of Creativity. (2014). 12079947126_3d9c423e38.jpg [Image]. Retrieved from Moving at the Speed of Creativity.
Thomson, S. (2015). Policy insights: Australian students in a digital world. Retrieved from http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=policyinsights
Wikimedia Commons. (2007). Interactive_whiteboard_at_CeBIT_2007.jpg [Image]. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.
Wikipedia. (2013). Globaloria_student_at_computer.jpg [Image]. Retrieved from Wikipedia.
Moving at the Speed of Creativity. (2014). 12079947126_3d9c423e38.jpg [Image]. Retrieved from Moving at the Speed of Creativity.
Thomson, S. (2015). Policy insights: Australian students in a digital world. Retrieved from http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=policyinsights
Wikimedia Commons. (2007). Interactive_whiteboard_at_CeBIT_2007.jpg [Image]. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.
Wikipedia. (2013). Globaloria_student_at_computer.jpg [Image]. Retrieved from Wikipedia.