Topic outline

  • Welcome

    • By the end of this unit you should be able to incorporate appropriate ICT activities into lesson plans so as to support student  acquisition of school subject matter knowledge and use presentation software and digital resources to support instruction and problem solving in the classroom.

                  Learning Objectives:

          1. Know and understand how ICT tools can support the curriculum.
          2. Identify relevant ICT problem solving tools
          3. Create digital materials using a presentation package the teaching of the curriculum.


      4 hours


      This unit is an online learning component of the ICT Essentials course. The LMS will provide access to the unit resources and some of the tools required to complete the activities. It also provides you with a clear understanding of the learning pathway and acts as a communication channel for your peers and the facilitator

  • Introduction



    • Click on the link below to watch a quick introduction to Unit 10: ICT to Support Traditional Pedagogy.


    • The way ICT is used in lessons is influenced by the educators’ teaching method or pedagagy and how ICT supports this.

      Some teachers choose ICT resources that relate to a particular topic, while others use ICT to present the pupils’ work in an innovative way, without any direct application to the topic. The evidence shows that when teachers use their knowledge of both the subject and the way pupils understood the subject, their use of ICT has a more direct effect on pupils’ attainment.

      The effect on attainment is greatest when pupils are challenged to think and to question their own understanding, either through pupils using topic-focused software on their own or in pairs, or through a whole-class presentation. The effects of using ICT to present and discuss pupils’ work are less well researched, and therefore the effects on pupils’ attainment are not so clear.

  • What is your teaching method?


    • 30 minutes


    • What approach to teaching do you use predominately? If you mix up different pedagogies which is your favourite and why? What methods suit which sections of the syllabus? How much 'chalk and talk' do you do and when do you employ constructivist approaches? I'm sure you all are different so let us find out!

    • How would you use technology to improve or enhance your teaching? In the forum, below, brainstorm and compile lists on the following:

          • How ICT might be used to improve your teaching?
          • How you might use a presentation package specifically in what you are already doing?
          • How might ICT be used to help student learning?
          • How could ICT be used to help student’s solve problems?
          • How to use ICT Tools to create digital materials to support student acquisition of school subject matters.


      Need some inspiration? View the video below to see what other teachers are doing nad then proceed to the forum for the class discussion.

    • ICT to support Pedagogy Forum
      Make forum posts: 1

  • ICT to support traditional pedagogy


    • 30 minutes


    • Traditionally the teacher has driven the learning process in the past. This model has been popular for centuries and there are times when this approach is still approapriate. In a later unit we will look at other methodologies that place responsibility for learning with the students, but for now let us look at how ICT can support the way we teach now.


    • For this activity consider different ways ICT can support teaching.

      Consider:

          • How might the Internet be used to find existing lesson plans?
          • How might you use productivity software to create professional looking teaching aids?
          • How can a tablet and apps provide digital tools to help teach the curriculum?
          • What others apps are you aware off that could help teach the curriculm?

      Investigate the resources below and consider how ICT might be used to enhance teaching. 


    • Access the forum below and discuss, "What digital tools could you incorporate into your current lessons that would enhance them and make it easier to achieve curriculum objectives."

  • PowerPoint Tutorial


    • 120 minutes


    • One easy to learn digital skill is to create a presentation. Instead of writing notes on the board you could use a presentation to get your message across. What is more the use of colour, images, animations and videos would make the content more engaging for the students. For example a history lesson with actual photos from the time is vastly more interesting than lots and lots of text. So let us acquire this skill and think how we might use it for our subject or grade.


      1. Select a component of the syllabus that you think would work well in terms of including a presentation.
      2. Open MS PowerPoint on your digital device.
      3. Follow the tutorials below. For teachers already familiar with PowerPoint, investigate the intermediate skills tutorials on GLC LearnFree platform.
      4. Create a presentation that is aligned to one of the topics you teach as part of the syllabus. The presentation should have a minimum of 5 slides.


  • Death by PowerPoint


    • 15 minutes


    • A presentation package, such as PowerPoint, is a useful tool and can add value to your lesson, but also true, a bad presentation can detract from your lesson. A boring, confused, unattractive presenation can make the viewer wish they were somewhere else! Lets look at what makes a good, and bad, presentation.


    • The first two links are cartoons which clearly show how people feel about boring PowerPoint presentations. The third link will give you some tips on how to create an effective presentation. Now it's time to challenge yourself to create presentations that are engaging and interesting. 

    • Click on the links below to read more: 


      1. Use the forum below to share some ideas on how to avoid creating 'boring' class materials. 
      2. Revise the design of the presentation you developed earlier, based on the tips you've read and your discussions.

    • Engaging your audience Forum
      Make forum posts: 1

  • Portfolio Assignment Item


    • 45 minutes


    • Read the instructions below to complete your assessment for this unit:

    • Step 1
      Finalise the presentation developed as part of this unit's activities. The presentation must cover some aspect of the syllabus and this should be explicitly stated. Try to include all the skills you have practiced. Include an activity that tasks students to use presentation software to demonstrate they have absorbed the content of your lesson.

      Step 2
      Use the assignment upload tool below to submit your presentation.

    • Upload Assignment
      Make a submission

  • Summary and Conclusion


    • Presentation packages are easy to learn. It is easy to design good presentations and also to distribute or project to the class. Now that you have some basic presentation skills can you think of ways that this tool might be used by students to demonstrate learning? This might be the real power of this application. Make sure that you have uploaded your presentation in the portfolio submission tool above as this is an important component of your course assessment.

  • Attribution

  • License

    • All materials in this ICT Essentials for Teachers Course unit is licensed by the Ministry of Education, Rwanda under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License with the exception of the resources listed below:

      Adams, S. (2000). Dilbert - Death by PowerPoint.
      Fishburne, T. (nd). Death by PowerPoint. Marketoonist. 
      Univ. of Warwick. (2012). Using PowerPoint Presentations in Teaching.
      GCF LearnFree. (2017). PowerPoint, 2016 Tutorials.

      All content not licensed under a Creative Commons license is all rights reserved, and you must request permission from the copyright owner to use this material.