Group items tagged

n 2005-06 the DfES funded 20 local authorities to research good practice in the use of ICT in the Foundation Stage, the results of which have been published on the DCSF website. This article summaries some of the good practice highlighted in this study to serve as an introduction to the vibrant and exciting full accounts available on the website.

A wonderful glossary of ICT terminology compiled by Grham Davis and Fred Riley

Thanks Louisa, this will come in handy! :)

This weeks task on EDC3100 involving The Decoding Learning report gave me some inspiration about my reasons for using ICT... Creativity in my drama class is something that ICTs will definitely help with I think. This link shows the relationship between ICT and inspiring creative thinking. Uni computers wont allow me to use my diigo toolbar on this piece so I cannot make highlights or annotations unfortunately.

Although the history will show that the posts to this blog are sporadic, they are rich in information, ideas and contain great links, resources and ideas for ICT use in the Early Childhood setting.

I have been following educator Martin Burrett@ICTMagic on Twitter for the past 2 weeks as part of my PLN. Recently he has posted this great link to a range of ICT resources for the classroom which I wanted to share with you all.

Great post that talks about the learning enabled through Minecraft that moves beyond using it to build something related to a curriculum. Also a good illustration of using a theory to make an argument about why you might use an ICT to enhance/transform student learning. Perhaps not directly applicable to a class setting due to the constraints of the current education system, but useful for expanding your concepts of ICTs and their impact on learning (as opposed to education).

Blog post summarising research into the impact of short, frequent quizzes on student learning and offering some observations and implications on the common planning practices used in schools (and universities). Obvious links to unit and lesson planning and also the use of ICTs. ICT-based quizzes likely to be the best way of implementing short and frequent quizzes.

Not directly related to ICTs, but definitely pedagogy and some of these can be enhanced through ICTs.

This is a blog about ICT in the classroom with a particular focus on iPads in the classroom.

Blog site combining ICT with Special Ed needs

A free course from Stanford University focused on how to learn mathematics as a student. The ICT connection is how they use ICTs to teach this Massive Online Open Course (MOOC). But beyond this, the course might be useful for those of you slightly phobic of maths and beyond that I'm sure there will be some interesting pedagogical suggestions you could pick up for your own teaching.

Article talking about the use of a 3D simulation (a game basically) in an attempt to help students develop empathy. The comments include a couple of interesting perspectives, especially in terms of do you really need ICT to teach this? Aren't there other ways? Does ICT offer anything in this context?

My teaching and learning journey using ICTs

This link displays ideas and strategies on how to use ICT in classroom and in the general schooling environment. And also shows how materials provide approaches to ICT curriculum integration with practical, step-by-step examples of technology use across a range of areas and year levels and more. Take a look.

Great use of a variety of ICTs here

Nice work, you certainly have a handle on some effective ICTs to engage and connect with your students :-)

I think the idea of flipped classrooms is something to explore for those working with older students who can take some more responsibility of their learning

This is from a modern theorist referenced in the Australian Curriculum. I have not finished the article yet but sharing as it has some great information for assignment 1

Thanks for sharing the resource. It clarifies key stakeholders' perspectives regarding ICT skills and the (in-)assessability of such through current testing options. Although Dede expresses cautious cynicism over the self serving nature behind each stakeholder contribution, it does indicate shared emphasis upon the importance of ICTs for the development of transferrable life skills which are reflected in the Australian Curriculum's General Capabilities. As with anything in the curriculum, interpretation of how these capabilities should be taught and assessed is subjective. Be it an impossible task or not, the key edict seems to be that educators are to provide integrated ICT/core content learning episodes that allow learners to develop universally current skills in personally authentic contexts but to also alert the learner to the transferable use of such skills for a global context.

Article talking about a different perspective (and examples) of how to teach mathematics. Not directly related to ICTs, but will likely be used in the Week 2 learning path and later to make a number of important points.

''They also miss the essential point-that mathematics is fundamentally about patterns and structures, rather than "little manipulations of numbers,"....'' How true this is! I had to go to uni in order to be exposed to the beauty of numers and maths, learn about Fibonacci and see the world differently! If anyone is interested here is a very nice video about the simplicity and beauty of our world and I am sure that ICT has its place in it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahXIMUkSXX0

This is a great blog from a prep classroom that shows how play-based pedagogy can work with the Australian Curriculum. Also some example of using ICT in the play-based ECE context.