I agree with the thematics and logic of Robert's well argued analysis
but note that it is confined to some well established applications,
PowerPoint and Word.<br>
<br>
Nevertheless, I believe through observation that many non IT
specialists do not actually know the features of these applications
very thorougly at all - the problem of generational change<br>
<br>
Furthermore, there are many new applications ideal in theory for
integrated curriculum that are even less well known by most teachers.
Here are some such activities / lessons:<br>
<br>
1. simulate buying something through amazon or eBay, explain about
cookies, notice and comment on the various features available at these
sites<br>
2. ask questions and find answers on wikipedia and post your own entry to wikipedia<br>
3. conduct advanced search using google and explain the use of AND, OR, NOT, ""<br>
4. create and account and upload pics to flickr, discuss appropriate image formats and importance of compression<br>
<br>
All of the above could be in the "integrated curriculum". None of these
questions / tasks is particularly hard for students provided they have
a teacher who is web savvy. But it would be a huge mistake to put it
into the integrated curriculum because many teachers do not have this
knowledge.<br>-- <br>
Bill Kerr<br>
<a href="http://billkerr.blogspot.com/">http://billkerr.blogspot.com/</a><br>
<a href="http://intranet.woodvillehs.sa.edu.au/kerrbi/index.htm">http://intranet.woodvillehs.sa.edu.au/kerrbi/index.htm</a><br>
<br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 6/28/05, <b class="gmail_sendername">Robert Timmer-Arends</b> <<a href="mailto:timmer@melbpc.org.au">timmer@melbpc.org.au</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Hello Roland<br><br>I am not sure what you are refering to when you write:<br>>>I lament to date the lame use of this slideshow software to organise so<br>called 'research projects' by my non-IT colleagues.<<<br>
<br>but I do agree that many (most? all?) teachers allow PowerPoint (or<br>equivalent) to be badly used by students as a presentation tool for<br>projects. More importantly though, by doing this they miss what I think is<br>
one of the powerful learning opportunities that something like PowerPoint<br>offers: the need to summarise and to capture and express succinctly key<br>ideas.<br><br>There has been a lot of discussion lately about VELS and the place of IT
<br>education in it. To me there are two separate issues:<br>1. who teaches the skills?<br>2. what do students do with IT (ICT?) in non-IT classes.<br><br>As far as I can tell all the anecdotal evidence suggests that the answer to
<br>the first question is "an IT teacher, or at least someone who knows IT and<br>gives a damn about efficient and effective use of the 'tool set' that IT<br>provides.<br><br>For education more broadly, however, it is the second question that is the
<br>more important. I don't think it's good enough for anyone to insist that<br>students use computers 'across the curriculm' if there is no educational<br>benefit in it - using IT in English, Maths, Geography ... for the sake of it
<br>is not good enough! We have to ask: how can a particular peice of software<br>add value to my teaching? or what is it that this software does that will<br>allow me to enhance the learning of my students; for example, what does the
<br>humble word processor allow us to do? Well, mainly to edit text very easily<br>(and then present it beautifully - but I'll ignore this aspect). So how can<br>this be used to enhance learning? In English (and other areas where report
<br>writing takes place) students could improve their writing skills by producng<br>drafts for which they then get feedback and then edit to get a better<br>document - the computer makes this process easier; no laborious rewriting
<br>required. Eventually (hopefully) the student will learn to draft, critique<br>and edit their own work. Instead, it seems to me that the word processor is<br>used purely as a presentation tool.<br><br>Similarly PowerPoint and the rules of good presentation should be used to
<br>make students work toward a series of summary points about whatever it is<br>they are writing - being able to summarise something means that it has been<br>digested and understood. Producing slabs of text on a screen is not just a
<br>poor use of PowerPoint but also suggests that very little learning of the<br>subject matter has taken place (and it really annoys me when teachers show<br>off this kind of thing as some superior example of student work just becuase
<br>it was produced for use on a computer rather than printed on paper! - this<br>to me is where the real ignorance of IT use by non-IT teacher somes into it:<br>they are to easily impressed by the 'gee whizz' instead of looking at the
<br>content ).<br><br>So, when it comes to CAC I believe IT skills among the teaching profession<br>are not so much the issue, but, knowing how best to make use of any given<br>piece of software in the teaching of a particular subject is (although there
<br>may be a chicken and egg effect here!)<br><br>Regards<br>Robert T-A<br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br><a href="http://www.edulists.com.au">http://www.edulists.com.au</a> - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe
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</a> - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association Inc<br></blockquote></div><br><br><br><br>