Information and Communication Technology a modern tool for Education

1. Information and Communication Technology a modern tool for Education

2. What is ICT? • The study and use of technology to handle information and aid communication • Includes machines (eg computers, phones, printers), as well as networks (LAN, WAN, Internet) and software(ms-word, powerpoint, paint, windows, browser etc). • Information and communication technologies are today playing a very important role in transforming the mode of imparting education. • Today these are common in the classroom: Laptops, Interactive whiteboards, projectors, Audio-Visual content, on-line exams etc.

3. Fear of the unknown • …and technology • Sends shivers down some spines! Why? • Scary • Intimidating • There’s too much to learn • If I press the wrong button, I’ll break it • The children know more than me

4. An intoduction to I.C.T. • However, the trend is changing: • Booking flights on the Internet • Typing a letter • Copying CDs (legally!!!) • Googling to find out information • Sending emails • All everyday occurrences.

5. An introduction to ICT • Computers are good for what you use them for. • Computers can help you do anything from helping you to boil an egg to taking over the world! • As long as a PC can go on and do the jobs you want it to do, that’s plenty.

6. Tools of ICT • Computers Laptops/Desktops • Networking devices Hub/Switch/Router • Media Wireless/Fiber/Copper • Multimedia Microphone/Speaker • Operating system Windows/Linux/Unix • Software MS Office/Excel/Browser

7. Activity! • Discuss and list the things that you use a computer for. • Call out different areas where computers are used now a days. • List out jobs that specifically deal with using computers. • List various activities that are done on a computer.

8. I.C.T. and Education • Traditional teaching methods • Whole Class • Timing controlled by teacher • One or two learning styles catered for at a time • Visual (black/whiteboard, posters, art class) • Linguistic (reading, spellings, writing words) • Kinesthetic (stopped by end of Junior Infants) etc. • Teacher usually teaches in the way he/she was taught

9. Let’s do a tables test (traditional) Teacher calls out tables Children write down answers Teacher corrects Child gets feedback eventually. Let’s do a tables test (ICT) A visual list (appropriate to particular child) is presented Children enter answers Computer gives instant feedback. Computer vs Tradition

10. Computers vs Tradition • Children could work at their own pace • The computer program could be tweaked to differenciate child’s needs. • Computer gave instant feedback rather than having to wait

11. Other advantages • Other advantages of ICT • More motivating • More fun • Caters for differing needs at the click of a mouse • Saves paper • Can provide detailed assessment records • We’ll see more as we go on

12. Uses of ICT in Education “researchers found that students studying language arts in a multimedia environment gained more auditory, language, decoding-in-context, and story-composition skills than did students in a control group who did not use computers” Computer based Training Animated books Interactive Learning software Audio Visual impact Live Videos Remote Guests Online! - The Internet

13. ICT as a teaching aid Storyboards for teaching subjects like history Games like scrabble, hangman for languages Word-processors, instead of notebooks, for storing notes. Presentation software, instead of colored photos, for presentations E-mails for communication Desktop Sharing software for assisted learning Virtual Classrooms Interactive White boards Tablets for art and drawing Many more....

14. Common tools The following are the most commonly used tools in schools where ICT is an active part of teaching: Microsoft Word – create, edit and save documents and formats. Microsoft Powerpoint – create, edit and save presentations. Microsoft Excel – create, edit and save spreadsheets. Microsoft Publisher – create edit and save content specific page layouts and design. Browsers – primary software to access content on the Internet

15. Microsoft Word MS-word is a document creating and editing tools with a lot of features for text formatting, linking images, audio and video with the text to make it lively and effective. You can create informal as well as professional documents for your class and save them for later use. You can also use it for repetitive tasks like label printing etc.

16. Microsoft Powerpoint PowerPoint presentations consist of a number of individual pages or "slides". Custom animation can be used to create small story boards by animating pictures to enter, exit or move. Each slide can be automatically called using a timer, for timed presentations Movies, audio clips and even MS-word documents can be embedded.

17. Microsoft Excel Electronic spreadsheet program that can be used for storing, organizing and manipulating data. Spreadsheets are often used to store financial data. Graphing or charting data to assist users in identifying data trends. Sorting and filtering data to find specific information.

18. Microsoft Publisher  Helps you create, personalize, and share a wide range of professional-quality publications Use improved picture-editing tools—including the ability to pan, zoom, and crop your images and picture placeholders Insert and customize prebuilt building blocks of content

19. Browser Lets you access sites on the Internet. Lets you view load videos and audio clips using plugins. Allows filling of forms and other forms of interactions. Allows saving files from the Internet to be viewed later.

20. Common areas of use • Using a computer game to learn about counties of Ireland • Using spell checking and thesaurus on a word processor • Use google to see meanings of words • Gathering data to automatically make a colourful graph / pie chart • Choosing from a web site’s list of activities to learn about homophones • Talking about a photo downloaded from Internet • Using PowerPoint to present a project • Instructional videos

21. Activity! • Discuss and list the activities in your school that can be done on using ICT. • List which tool will you use as a teaching aid and why. • Which tool do you think is will be used the most in your school.

22. What it’s not… • ICTs shouldn’t be used: • To simply do something that could be more easily done without a computer • Do children learn anything if you put them on a word processor to type out a story they’ve already written? • Do children learn anything if they play a game that you haven’t tested yourself? • Do children learn anything by using software in isolation from class work?

23. Planning • Like traditional methods, in order to use ICT sucessfully, it takes planning • I use the following steps: • What do I want the children to learn? • How can I help them learn this? • How can I integrate ICT to enhance this?

24. Note • Focus on what you want children to learn first • Focus on how to teach it next • Finally integrate ICT to further enhance it.

25. An example approach • I want to children to learn the rule about the magic ‘e’ (hate, late, bake, etc.) • Let’s brainstorm… • Flashcards • Magic wand with ‘e’ on top • Sorting activities • Games such as BINGO, etc. • Now how can ICT be integrated?

26. Easier than you think • Make the flashcards on a word processor or spreadsheet • Find web sites that test/teach the magic ‘e’ rule • Let children type in magic ‘e’ words. If they type in a word that doesn’t exist – red line • Sounds to Words software • Word Processor – find magic ‘e’ clipart and type the word underneath • Using microphone, record children reading a list of words. Play it back and children assess themselves. • Children make PowerPoint presentation of magic ‘e’ words.

27. Making resources • Making flashcards using Excel • Using Word Processor to check magic ‘e’ words exist • Use your browser to search for the magic ‘e’ • Look up meanings of some magic ‘e’ words • Look up images related to some magic ‘e’ words

28. It’s all about confidence • We have assessed our own computer skills and identified areas we might research. • This is our starting point.

29. Ideas • Identify concepts / skills you would like your classes to learn • Identify skills you’d like to learn to enhance the children’s learning • Identify skills you’d like to learn to ease administration • Create timetables • Make lists • Make worksheets

30. Reminder • The following are some ICT tools for learning • Word Proccessor • Spreadsheet • Presentation • Content-rich software • The Internet • Sound / Video recording • Projector • Digital Camera, Camcorder, scanner

31. Web-Sites worth visiting • Google – http://www.google.com • 5min – http://www.5min.com • WolframAlpha - http://www.wolframalpha.com/ • Youtube – http://www.youtube.com • For Kids – http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/ • Khan Academy – http://www.khanacademy.org • How stuff works – http://www.howstuffworks.com • History – http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com • How-To – http://www.wonderhowto.com

32. Activity! • Choose any activity that is currently being used as a teaching aid and see if you can use ICT to increase the quality of teaching.

33. Task • Take 5 minutes to decide 2 – 3 things, you would like to learn this week. • Ideas to teach a particular subject? • What to look for when buying ICT equipment • Using different equipment? • Using Office to make timetables, leaflets, posters, assessment sheets and other administrative work? • Make a quiz in Powerpoint? • Downloading good educational software from the web & saving to CD?

34. Thank You

36. PowerPoint • The following is an example of a magic ‘e’ book children could create using PowerPoint. • Children could make one page each or a whole book each.

37. cake • I like cake. • This cake has 4 candles. • My favourite cake is chocolate.

38. face • A face has 2 eyes, a nose and a mouth. • This is a girl’s face.

39. hole • He cannot put the shape in the hole because it is a square. • I can dig a big hole on the beach.