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Introducing the GTC Networks.

Good teaching needs good networks and good networks need good teachers.

The GTC Networks provide support by linking teachers nationally and putting them in touch with the latest research and evidence. They let teachers have a voice at national debates on changes to education.

Could ICT be put to better use in your school?

Find out how to get the best from new technology with these two resources on ICT in the classroom.

Pedagogies for E-learning Resources Project (PELRS)

While there are many examples of good practice in the use of ICT in our classrooms, far too often teachers are not using these expensive resources fully nor recognising their huge potential.

By contrast, pupils are often very comfortable with ICT and freely experiment and explore with many types of new technology outside school.

There is often a gulf between their own creative use and enjoyment of technology and the way ICT is used in schools.

The PELRS project, funded by the GTC and Manchester Metropolitan University, has brought teachers, pupils and researchers together to share pupils’ expertise and to find exciting ways of exploiting the learning potential of new technologies in the classroom.

PELRS website:
www.esri.mmu.ac.uk/resprojects/pelrs/index.htm

Resource review: Learning and Teaching Using ICT – Practical Support Pack

Liz Kitts, an experienced primary teacher and ICT consultant, suggests that staff will benefit from working collaboratively when exploring this useful resource. She writes:

The scope
The online collection of lesson plans and downloadable resources helps teachers develop the use of ICT to support teaching and learning.

Initially, the pack offers literacy and mathematics materials for primary teachers and all national curriculum subjects for secondary – but further modules are expected.

The structure
The resources are organised into year group and term modules. Each module contains:

an overview
lesson plans including homework and assessment
extension activities
guidance on evaluating the impact of ICT
curriculum content of lessons, and
resources.

Getting to know the materials
When I first started to explore the resources, I was frustrated by the fact that some were created using ‘Textease’, a piece of propriety software which was not installed on my computer.

However, after reading the very useful ICT skills guidance, which is integral to each module, I discovered that it was possible to download a free ‘Textease’ viewer to enable me to see the document. I was then able to adapt it to fit with the software I regularly use.

On further exploration of the site I found resources in a variety of formats.

Primary mathematics
This section includes some promising interactive programs, for example: ‘Vending Machine’, in which children are invited to choose items and then select the coins required to make a purchase.

Conclusions
The site is a useful starting point for extending practitioners’ understanding of how ICT may be used to enhance teaching and learning.

I feel that good practitioners will take a module, adapt it for their individual needs, and deliver the lesson. They will then evaluate the impact that the ICT has had on teaching and learning and use this as a basis for developing improvements to their teaching.

Learning and Teaching Using ICT – Practical Support Pack:
www.teachernet.gov.uk/supportpack/


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