A Discussion of the Statutory Requiements of the National Curriculum for ICT - Coursework Example

175821 A discussion of the sta y requirements of the National Curriculum for ICT with specific reference to Finding Things Out and Exchanging and Sharing Information. The following is an outline of the statutory requirements for the teaching of ICT in England and Wales under the auspices of the National Curriculum at Key Stages 1 and 2. After devolution took place in Wales the measures and strategies mentioned below predominantly applies to England only.1 The teaching of ICT is widely considered to be essential for developing the skills and advancing the education of primary school aged children. The ability of primary school children to use and to understand ICT equipment is very important for their academic, educational development, and later on the vocational skill levels of school leavers. 2 The British government in consultation with educational groups and schools as well as their teaching staff drew up the statutory requirements within the National Curriculum for the teaching of ICT at key stages 1 and 2. The National Curriculum was developed and implemented to raise education standards in England and Wales to improve the skills of all school children as well as making them more academically, educationally, and vocationally accomplished. As originally devised the National Curriculum was primarily intended to raise the level of standards and achievements in more traditional and well established academic subjects such as English, Mathematics, and the natural sciences.3 However it was ICT’s growing importance in the contemporary world could no longer be ignored, which led to the teaching of this subject becoming a statutory requirement within the already existent framework of the National Curriculum. Other subjects had already used computer technology to assist teaching yet had not specifically designed to teach primary or indeed secondary school pupils ICT as a separate subject in its own right.4 The government decided that it would be very beneficial for primary school pupils to learn about and know how to use the most up to date technology through ICT being a part of the National Curriculum for key stages 1 and 2. The decision to make the teaching of ICT a statutory requirement for all primary schools meant that these schools has to find enough fully trained staff and the best ICT equipment to comply with the government’s wishes as well as the National Curriculum. Making ICT a statutory requirement of the National Curriculum at primary school age demonstrated that only teaching the subject at secondary schools was failing to give enough of the country’s school pupils the well developed computer skills which they need to succeed after they have left full time education.5 Thus the first part to pointed out about being able to teach ICT as a statutory requirement within the National Curriculum is ensuring that all the primary schools in England have enough ICT equipment to effectively teach all of their pupils the subject to a very high standard. To achieve that objective primary schools were supplied with greater amounts of computers and other ICT equipment than before it became a statutory requirement of the National Curriculum.6 Teaching primary school pupils ICT ideally needs to start as soon as possible so that these pupils would be able to commence the process of being computer literate from the onset of key stage 1. Where possible school pupils should start to learn about ICT from their foundation stage, even if they are not expected to achieve a great deal at such an early part of their educational experiences.7 Some pupils may have the advantage of living in households that have ICT equipment yet it usually best to assume that the majority of school pupils do not have first hand experience of using such equipment before they reach key stage 1. At the foundation stage it is most appropriate to start the exchanging and sharing of information at the most basic level. However should it become obvious that some pupils already have well developed computer literacy skills and others have none at all, it would probably be best to divide classes into smaller groups so that pupils of similar abilities are taught together. Using a whiteboard for the whole class means that if small groups have been asked to find out different information then they can share or exchange that information with the rest of their class.8 Therefore teachers and teaching assistants are most likely to have pupils that are inexperienced with ICT, yet if taught properly could soon become good at using such equipment if their teachers familiarise them with computers right from the start. Primary school pupils should be attracted to ICT by giving them computer based and non-computer based learning packages. The main objectives of these computer based and non-computer based learning packages should be to develop basic skills that will allow all the school pupils to be fully competent when it comes down to using computers to find, share, and exchange information. Any of the learning packages used should be as adaptable as possible to adjust to the ages, the abilities as well as the experiences of the school pupils being taught. At the beginning of key stage 1 it is usually most appropriate to start of with more simple learning packages so that the process of accessing, understanding, and subsequently exchanging information within the class does not take too long to keep all the pupils interested in the process.9 Whilst key stage 1 school pupils are undertaking simple learning packages they are developing their skills with using computers at the same time. Simple learning packages mean that key stage 1 school pupils will gain experience of using keyboards, learn to control the mouse, and even use the Internet as well as CDs or DVDs to find out information. Teachers and teaching assistants will have to help their pupils go to the places or the packages that will provide them with the information which they have asked to0 find out and then share with others within their respective classes.10 For teachers and teaching assistants the availability of computers and electronic whiteboards means that they have a more varied ways and methods of teaching all their school pupils the statutory requirements of the ICT element within the National Curriculum.11 The increased availability of computers since the teaching of ICT became a statutory requirement of the National Curriculum provides teachers and teaching assistants a greater amount of scope to ensure that all school pupils are capable of using ICT equipment. The National Curriculum expects that to be the case by the time that these same pupils have completed key stage 2 and before they have gone on to attend secondary schools.12 The statutory requirement of teaching ICT within the framework of the National Curriculum has led to the subject being taught using different methods of obtaining information such as CDs, DVDs, text books, electronic whiteboards, and of course the Internet. One of the best ways to teach key stage 1 and key stage 2 school pupils the statutory requirements of ICT are to get them involved in small and simple research projects to gather and share information.13 Teachers and their teaching assistants need to assess how their classes cope with such ICT projects. Even before the ICT projects are begun teachers and teaching assistants should consider simplifying or making projects more complicated or advanced to reflect the age and the past achievements of the school pupils participating in such ICT projects.14 Teachers and teaching assistants often make ICT projects more interesting as well as useful for the school pupils carrying them out by planing the projects carefully before starting them. Past experience of course could be very important in ensuring that projects succeed in teaching the statutory requirements of the subject under the National Curriculum as well as maintaining the interest of the school pupils involved in completing the projects. One means of increasing the interest levels of the school pupils carrying out ICT projects is for the teachers and teaching assistants to actively consider linking ICT projects with other academic subjects such as English, geography, and history.15 To conclude, linking of ICT with other subjects allows school pupils to gain more experience and more skills when it comes to the use of interactive media to find out, share, and use information to complete project work. Making them find out information about local places, local people, or local events from the past could make project work of more relevance to pupils. It should be easier to motivate school pupils to take part in the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum of ICT as it allows them to use varied interactive media rather than just been taught by traditional non-interactive teaching methods. References DfES (2000) ICT The National Curriculum for England London: HMSO Galloway, J (2004) ICT for Teaching Assistants London: David Fulton Potter, F. and Darbyshire, C (2005) Understanding and Teaching the ICT national Curriculum London: David Fulton QCA (1998) A Scheme of Work for Key Stages 1 and 2 (ICT) London: QCA Sharp, J., Potter, J, Allen, J& Loveless, A (2002) Primary ICT: Knowledge, Understanding and practice. Exeter: leaning Matters Read More