Can using a computer be injurious to one's health?
The most important tool in a teacher's kit bag is the ability to question. Yet much of the time this is very poorly done -- when it's done at all. How can a teacher do her job, if she does not understand the do's and don't's of questioning?Unfortunately, the answer is “anything”. Here is a checklist of things to do in the short-term (eg from about a week beforehand) in advance of using the computer room.
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This was the question debated at the recent BETT show. Three well-established colleagues in the field of educational technology in the UK each talked for up to 10 minutes on the theme, and I acted as Chair. Some spice was added to the proceedings by the use of a "voting" system provided by Quizdom to determine whether members of the audience changed their own minds as a result of the debate.
Read on to find out more, and to obtain the link for the podcast.
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
(Ofsted) in England recently published a summary of its findings from
inspections of the ICT (information and communications technology)
provision in schools.
In these documents I have taken these findings and summarised them
in the form of a table, and used them as a starting point for
self-evaluation. My view is that by taking what Ofsted has found to be
good practice and poor practice, one can improve a particular school's ICT
provision. Although the inspections took place in England, I am sure that
there are generic issues here which will be relevant for colleagues from
other countries too.
There are two documents (in one zip file), one for primary/elementary and one for
secondary/high. I hope you find them useful.
This publication is available only to subscribers to the Practical ICT eJournal. Click the link to find out more about this low-cost subscription.
In a post entitled "The Ten Pillars of Successful Technology Integration in K-12 Schools", internet veteran Bernie Poole suggests some good ideas, although the list could be improved.
Use his list as a starting point by all means, but don't stop there, and don't accept it all without question.
Columns and Light by Grant Mitchell
