Readings

Like any other part of the curriculum the ICT work must be structured and planned. This should be done in conjunction with school policy, the skill level of the teacher, the availability of suitable software and considering pupil/ computer ratios. A number of practical considerations should be observed. > > > > > > > This allows the students time to inform you of any difficulties or technical problems they are having on the computer. >
 * Children often work better in 2/3 rather than individually. There are occasions where one computer/one child works best but be open to varying the situation.
 * Position the computer in an area of the room that is visible to the teacher but with least class visibility. This cuts down on the distraction value of work in progress.
 * Limit the software base available to the children at any one time. Choice is fine but game hopping will happen just as channel hopping does on the television. This often means that activities are not given sufficient time to be useful educationally.
 * Develop rosters and/or systems for access and or ‘free time’ access to the computer.
 * Have a timer near the computer so that children can monitor their own time at the equipment. This helps maintain fair use of the computer.
 * Have a headphone system to allow individuals or pairs to operate in silence while the class may be engaged in other activities.
 * [[image:dual_earphone_plug width="154" height="159" align="center" caption="Two pairs of earphones can be pluged into the one earphone plug of the computer"]]
 * Engage the skills of the many children with computer experience to help teach other children about various applications- have a list of class experts, children must seek these children for help before the teacher. Make sure these children are rostered on or a part of the same computer session as those on the computer so the same child or children are not taken constantly from their own work. For new entrant classes a parent help might be available to assist with managing ICT in the classroom.
 * Have prepared instruction sheets for various lessons or activities, or have these as a part of your wikis, blogs, class pages etc. Young children will need pictures in the instructions, learn to take screen shots to make up your instruction sheets, see the [[image:cooltext412708683.png width="85" height="30" link="Tech Notes"]]to get MWSnap to do this if you have a pc, mac users press command(or apple key)/shift/4
 * As the teacher you should have experienced the exercises the children are expected to undertake and thought about the process and difficulty level of what you are asking the children to do. Like in all teaching you should try to anticipate the possible difficulties, challenges and supports of the activities. What might help scaffold your learners.
 * Take class lessons to initiate teach ICT skills or new programmes. Alternatively take the children in small groups until you have gone through the class or perhaps just teach a small group and ask them to spread the message down though the class in a pass it on system.
 * Peer to peer learning can often be very effective, choose the partnerships the children will work in so you can match children's skill level and personalities for the best learning opportunities to take place.
 * Set up systems to track what students are doing and give them opportunities to reflect with the class about how they have used their time and what they have learnt. Children should be accountable for the time they are on the computer.
 * Have a place either online or in the class where work on the computer can be shared. Printed emails from experts or copies of digital stories children have made are great additions to your reading corners or topic areas.

Integration Look around – see how many of the work places of today have usefully integrated computers to some extent. We must do the same in an educational context. ICT is a new tool of education and by integrating the technology across as broad a range of the curriculum as possible we as educators are broadening the horizons of possibility for our pupils. What therefore does integration mean? Essentially it means that we use the technology at our disposal to extend a broad range of skills in the children. The computer then is not only what the children learn about, it is what they learn through and perhaps with, even though part of the process may depend on computer usage. Children get access to multiple resources and multiple activities that will often demand collaboration. This collaborative approach will place demands on planning and teaching styles.

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 * Managing the Internet in the Classroom **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica;">Have classroom internet rules clearly displayed near the computer and make sure these have been clearly explained to the class. The rules should include a clear plan for the students to follow if something goes wrong (a plan that will not interrupt your teaching) and if they come across anything which they know they should not be viewing. A cover for the screen or teaching the students to turn off the screen are appropriate actions in these situations. View an example of this, a laminated sheet with the rules on one side and a help sign on the opposite side, this covers the screen. [[file:Using ICT.doc]]
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica;">Do not allow the children to search the internet or open unexpected mail without the teacher's permission/supervision.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica;">Set up a system for children to explore links and websites you have already found and vetted yourself, you can do this through many webtools, in a document by inserting a hyperlink to text or in the bookmark menu on your internet browser.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica;">If children are learning to effectively search use child friendly search engines. Get children to write their key words (exactly what they will write in the search box) and get them to have these approved by the teacher. A spelling mistake can make a huge difference to their search result. This gives teachers an opportunity to give students searching tips. The following documents may help set up systems.

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[|How to thrive...not just survive... in a one computer classroom]

Make this poster for your own classroom with this download, the names move to show who is on the computer each day and who has had, needs to have, their turn.