HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Design and development of ICT-based educational material Tim Brosnan Invited lecture given at the University of the Aegean, Rhodes, May 2003

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Learning objectives of the session To know three issues in the design of ICT-based learning material To understand better why these issues are important and the consequences that follow from the choices that can be made in each area To use this knowledge better to discuss the design and effectiveness of ICT-based learning materials

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Three Issues InvolvementAssessment Approach Computer- based material

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together APPROACH Three possible approaches to the ICT part of educational materials –Skill-based –Ad hoc (no emphasis on ICT) –Capability-based Each gives a different focus (and therefore form) to the material

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Example 1: making a newspaper (1 of 2) Activity: to make a newspaper Question: what do you want the children to learn? The answer to this will provide the approach for the activity’s educational material Answer - ‘skills’ Focus – learning to use Word (or Publisher) Answer - ‘ad hoc’ Focus - writing Answer – ‘capability’Focus – making a newspaper (cf newsletter)

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Example 1: making a newspaper (2 of 2) The skills-based material pays no attention to what the finished product looks like – only to technique The ‘ad hoc’ approach only pays attention to content The ‘capability’ approach starts by thinking what the product will look like – how to achieve the desired effect on the audience Two examples of materials (for year olds) ‘Looking like a paper’‘Reaching the audience’ ‘Looking like a paper’‘Reaching the audience’

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Example 2: making a PowerPoint presentation (1 of 4) Activity: to make a PowerPoint Presentation Question: what do you want the children to learn? The answer to this will provide the approach for the activity’s educational material Answer - ‘skills’ Focus - learning to use PowerPoint features Answer - ‘ad hoc’ Focus - writing slides Answer - ‘capability’ Focus - conveying your message to this audience

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Example 2: making a PowerPoint presentation (2 of 4) How not to do it (1) – fancy animation effect, letters from everywhere and distracting sounds. Takes away from the message. Just in case you missed that – here it is again How not to do it (1) – letters from everywhere, distracting sounds. Takes away from the message.

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Example 2: making a PowerPoint presentation (3 of 4) How not to do it (2) – far to much written material with little thought about emphasising and highlighting the main points or distinguishing between the PowerPoint and spoken parts of the presentations – but children will often do this to make sure they have ‘all the facts’. Worse – they will often value ‘presentations’ like this because they have ‘a lot in them’, and need educating to In order to have ‘all the facts’ you also need to make the font small – again masking the message from the audience. Much better – ‘clean’, simple display which uses Master Slides to ensure consistency

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Example 2: making a PowerPoint presentation (4 of 4) Again the ‘skills-based’ approach thinks only of technique The ‘ad hoc’ approach only to content The ‘capability’ approach focuses on conveying the message to the audience Two products (by 10 year old children): RainforestsVertebrates RainforestsVertebrates

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Summary of approaches: Skills-based This is the way ICT is taught in most schools in the UK – today we do word-processing, tomorrow spreadsheets It has the advantage of being easy to organise BUT it Is an approach divorced from use and purpose Needs an artificial context created for it Emphasizes the easy but trivial (skills) at the expense of the difficult but important (capability)

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Summary of approaches: Ad Hoc This is based on the notion that ICT is ‘just’ a tool and is the way most ‘cross-curricular’ ICT is taught in the UK Easy to develop individual activities and material BUT Fundamental misapprehension about the nature and importance of tools No sense of planning No notion of progression

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Summary of approaches: Capability This is the basis of the UK National Curriculum for ICT and of Hampstead’s cross-curricular approach to its teachingHampstead’s It is difficult to organise and plan BUT it Focuses on what is important Has clear notions of progression and development Grows from authentic contexts and purpose – strengthens involvement

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together INVOLVEMENT Children need to be involved with what they are doing (At least) three aspects: –Purpose –Context –Interaction

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Purpose: but whose? Two types of purpose – the pupil’s and the teacher’s Teacher’s purposes: –What do I want them to learn? –What role do I want the ICT materials to play? Pupil’s purpose –Why should I learn this?

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Teacher’s purposes (1 of 2) What do I want them to learn? –About the subject? –About themselves? What role do I want the ICT materials to play? –To lead them to the right answer or to allow them to explore/express their ideas? –To ‘motivate’ or to do new things Example: ModellingSpace Coastal erosionCoastal erosion

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Teacher’s purposes (1 of 2) Is the material there to replace me or to augment my lesson? What roles could the teacher have when pupils are using this example?MicroscopesMicroscopes How would the effectiveness of the material change as the teacher’s role changed?

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Pupil’s purpose Why should I be doing this? –Because I am told to do so –Because in 10 years time it will help me –Because I see it as interesting –Because I see it as useful –Because I see it as important ‘Useful’ and ‘important’ for what? And to whom? Context provides the answers to these

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Context: the conveyor of purpose Because I see it as interesting –Example: Musical picturesMusical pictures Because I see it as useful –Example: Teaching how to text Because I see it as important: –Example: Crime survey, Messengers.orgCrime surveyMessengers.org Or (ideally) more than one of these!

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Interaction: but of/with what? All educational materials claim to be ‘interactive’ What is the nature of the interaction in these examples? Snowman Minibeasts Free Cell SnowmanMinibeastsFree Cell Key issue: “’Minds on’ rather than ‘hands on’” (Ros Driver) Or if you prefer it in Greek …Greek

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together ASSESSMENT Starts from what you want the pupils to learn –Need learning objectives not (just) activities –To know/understand cf ‘to make a slide’ The materials must allow you to assess that learning The pupils need to be involved in their own assessment

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Materials that allow assessment Material needs to be structured to provide evidence of learning What do these examples let you know about the pupils’ learning? Mr. Zippy Word tutorial Your ‘texting’ material Mr. ZippyWord tutorial Two questions: What evidence will I have of the extent to which the Learning objectives for this session have been met? What could I do to get more evidence?

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Involving the pupils The pupils need to be involved in their own assessment – and that of others –To help them learn –To help you learn what they know Example 1: A pupil’s evaluation of a house he build in Logoevaluation house Example 2: Evaluating presentationsEvaluating presentations

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Three Issues Involvement Assessment Approach Computer- based material

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together Three key foci for successful material Psyches cf Somata Self- evaluation Capability Computer- based material

HAMPSTEAD SCHOOL Learning Together Achieving Together A reference Brosnan, T. (2002) ‘Teaching with ICT’ in Pachler, N. (Ed.) ‘Lehren undLernen mit IKT’. Innsbruck: Studienverlag.