7 Must-follow ICT teaching strategies

Today, most classrooms are becoming more digitalised with the increase of technology incorporated into the curriculum. It has always been my view that as a consequence you should just not aim to use technology just because it is there and as an ‘add-on’, but to develop student ICT capability. That is, to make technology transparent in its use when students are using it to achieve the learning goals that you have set in the subject. This is what developing student ICT capability is all about.

However, the right technology teaching strategies must be employed and not only this, they need to employed by all teachers as they share the same perspective and understanding on developing ICT capability in the curriculum.

Already, I have outlined appropriate ICT teaching and learning strategies that need to in place and occurring in your classroom. The following are also important strategies for teaching with technology.

Use mobile learning and social media

Many students have their own mobile device and even social media accounts. So why not use it to engage them further in the learning process. Tablets and smartphones will allow you to expand the learning boundaries past the classroom walls and this will encourage a strong sense of community.

Embrace formative assessments strategies in primary schools

The development of ICT capability is significant and as its components are practical it calls for you to accurately assess student ICT learning throughout the year to inform your planning well. Using formative assessment in primary schools will enable you to identify struggling students and you can target these the next lesson.

Put

Communication And Clarity First

The use of Information and Communication technology (ICT) encourages students to become more autonomous in their selection and use of ICT tools and resources. You must communicate your intentions with the use of ICT well and set clear expectations.

Clarify them to the students

Encourage

Handwritten Notes

A key component of ICT capability is the promotion of higher order thinking skills and by getting your students to plan first on paper and use handwritten notes will be important in starting this process.

Personalise instruction

If you employ formative assessment strategies appropriately this will enable you to determine a child’s capabilities in ICT at the starting point. You can then help each individual child to plot a course for their own ICT capability learning journey. Additionally, the understanding of the ICT capability Learning Continuum is significant in personalising instruction and learning for children in your classroom.

Having

A Brainstorm Session

You can help the planning process by conducting a class brainstorming session. In this time, you can model the appropriate train of thought. These sessions encourage students to be free in their creative ideas and express their ideas.

Diversify projects

One of the best strategies for teaching with technology is to embed it into meaningful and subject-related learning activities. Diversifying your projects will help this course.

You can use all these strategies to increase student engagement and develop student ICT capability alongside subject learning.

The use of ICT in the classroom should always be accompanied with these ICT teaching and learning strategies so to prepare students to learn to use ICT as a tool not just for their school learning, but throughout life and employing these ICT teaching methods in subjects for curriculum learning is your best option.

How to Best Apply Teaching Strategies that Enhance Student Learning now?

Today, there has been widespread acceptance of the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in all sectors of education. To date, there has been many new technological developments for education use. However, there have not been many good ICT teaching strategies examples.

In my mind, teaching strategies for primary school are a lot different from technology use in the classroom because that is my area of specialty. There is a distinct difference between the two.

So in this article, I will not only prove this to you through effective teaching strategies with technology but will highlight the ICT teaching strategies in primary school classrooms for you to apply. Each of them has been proven to be effective and fundamental in its application as they are derived from credible ICT teaching strategies studies that develop student ICT capability.

To start it is significant to help you to hone in on your aim as a primary teacher. When integrating technology in classroom activities it is vital that your aim should be to develop ICT capability. Your ICT teaching methods for primary classes should such that you enable students to make the technology transparent in its use. The students in your class should hardly notice that they are using it whilst achieving the learning outcome you set for them.

As an ICT teaching strategies example this sets you up for the rest that will follow. ICT should always be used as a tool for learning and when done in meaningful context-driven activities you can develop their ICT capability. Here are some effective strategies for teaching with ICT throughout the curriculum.

English Learning Area

Teaching and learning with ICT in primary English presents you with many opportunities and without going too much detail, as this is covered with my literacy with ICT teaching strategies examples in my online workshop, you can apply effective strategies for teaching literacy quite easily as it is a primary focus in this sector.

As an example, you would word processing programs to edit text, draft or publish an informative or persuasive text. Why word processors as an ICT tool for classroom teaching? It is because they are closely linked with literacy and language development at all levels. It can also be applied across the primary curriculum.

Past ICT teaching strategies studies have indicated that teachers who have successfully developed ICT capability would question the whole class or group prior to ICT activities to clarify their expectations, focus the students on what they were doing along with to generate ideas on how they might go about using the technology.

Other ICT teaching strategies for primary school teachers would be to ensure that they will develop highly structured tasks to introduce particular ICT techniques that students can use subsequently use those ICT techniques in more open tasks in which they could make decisions about the choices of ICT techniques.

You can apply this type of ICT teaching methods for primary classes when you want to enhance literacy with ICT and develop ICT capability.

Science

Another example of using ICT teaching strategies for primary school teachers can be applied in science teaching. In this key learning area, students may be asked to make and record observations accurately. An ICT tool here could be a word processor, but another one is also spreadsheets.

There are many ICT techniques that can be used here so what are the effective teacher strategies here? Here is a little excerpt from my online workshop featuring effective teaching strategies examples in science teaching.

4 of the Best Evidence-based Teaching Strategies with Technology

Research has indicated that the use of technology in the classroom is in danger of becoming a medium more employed for fun than for learning. Evidence based teaching strategies with technology is imperative if technology integration in the classroom is to make an impact on student learning. Teachers must apply instructional strategies appropriately in order to truly see and understand the benefits of technology in education. The development of student ICT capability will only occur when technology is transparent in subject learning and these instructional strategies are employed.

These ICT teaching strategies are evidence-based as they come from the most ICT capable classrooms around today. As a result, you know then that if employed appropriately, student attainment levels in ICT capability should increase for your school.

So, what are evidence-based technology teaching strategies? If ever you were after teaching strategies for the classroom, then you need to the ones that are backed by research. Just like the ones below. They were derived from research several years ago (Kennewell, Parkinson & Tanner, 2000) from the most ICT capable schools and classrooms and teachers in the UK. While a few decades have passed since then, these core teaching strategies with technology have been proven to work and remain the essential methodology that grounds you in the development of ICT capability today.

High Impact Evidence based Technology teaching strategies

Here are my top four evidence-based teaching strategies:

Plan for Learning Progression in ICT capability

This involves you planning ICT activities in meaningful activities, embedded in purposeful subject-related contexts that will develop their ICT capabilities.

Develop each component of ICT capability

For routines it means providing focused practice tasks. Techniques would require you to have a checklist. Associate the name of the technique with the effect it achieves. With processes you will need to discuss with students what they are doing at the process level rather than discussing the next technique. Higher order skills are typically planned, monitored and evaluated by yourself as the teacher, but later this responsibility can be transferred and owned by the students themselves.

Focus on concepts behind the skills

Challenge naïve ideas about particular ICT tools and techniques both in whole class teaching, where appropriate, and when monitoring learning progress.

Provide effective scaffolding in the classroom

You could use methods such as demonstrating using descriptive commentary, monitored instruction, monitored repetition, guided repetition and the quick fix which is when you would generally solve a problem without an explanation.

Source: ictesolutions.com