Computing in school

Yesterday afternoon was a time of great excitement in my classroom – the school have recently acquired a set of Chromebooks and this was the first time the children had been allowed to use them!

We decided that the plan for the lesson should begin with the children electing computer monitors for each table – these children will be responsible for getting the computers out and putting them away, as well as looking after the login details for all the children at their table.

Next, we spent around 30 minutes going through the login process and having each child practise logging in and out of the computers.  There were a fair few typos creeping into the passwords, but on the whole the class managed this well despite the randomised passwords in use.

Finally, they got to use the computers in earnest – they are currently learning all about Roald Dahl, so were sent off to do some research using Google and noting down interesting facts in their topic book.  All children loved this task, a few needed assistance finding useful websites, but the majority were able to find them themselves.

If I were to teach this again, I would use a restricted (child-friendly) search engine as I am not sure that the school’s web filters are sufficiently narrow to allow a group of 7 and 8 year olds to browse Google.

Algorithms make the world go round

Algorithms … not a word that instantly brings joy to many people, unless you’re a geek like me!

But really, what’s not to love about the humble algorithm? None of our useful technology would work without them – and who can’t go through the day without checking their email or browsing social media?

As teachers, we need to embrace the joy of algorithms (or at the very least suppress the fear of them) and open up this wonderful world to the children we are teaching.  There is infinite fun to be had once the concept that an algorithm is merely a set of instructions is grasped by the children – they can program something as simple as a quiz using software with customisable elements, or something as complex as a moving robot.

Logic, reason and critical thinking are key areas the children develop when working with algorithms.  They must be able to logically order the steps of the instruction; they need to reason out why the steps need to be in that particular order; and they must develop critical thinking in order to analyse the output and improve or repurpose their work.

Let’s hear it for the humble algorithm … without it this post would never be published online!

Playing with interactive whiteboards

An IWB is an invaluable tool within the classroom.  I’m firmly of the opinion that the most important part of the name is “Interactive”.  Gone are the days when a teacher held up a tiny picture at the front of the room for explanation – the IWB can blow this up so that the whole class can see; gone is the teacher having to wipe and write over and over while the children slowly nod off to sleep … Hello multimedia; hello rich tasks; hello classroom games; hello engaged and enthused learners.

My top tips for IWB use:

  • Put up your learning objective so that the class understand the point of the lesson
  • Use colour and clip art to illustrate a point
  • Include pictures, video or music to give the children a “hook” for the learning
  • Make a plenary fun with a game played on the IWB – kids love to get involved and write on the board
  • And finally … don’t be a smarty pants and show off  – there is such a thing as too much IWB content in a lesson