This was a very enjoyable lesson due to the debate about the use of ICT in the classroom. It seems to me that there is a varying degree of its use within the educational system and a lot of schools differ in their views towards ICT. With the increase of young children nowadays with their own access to tablets it does appear the be used in their everyday lives and therefore the link between its use at home and in school should be made. I believe that technology has a place in the classroom and can be a beneficial tool if used correctly. Its use needs to be planned and used to engage thinking, widen resource searches and capture children’s curiosity. It can be used cross curricular to expand a child’s learning through the use of different software and appropriate apps. That being said it should not overtake the basic fundamentals of learning and especially in the early years there are many new skills to be learnt prior to the use of tablets. It can allow children independence and a responsibility to their learning higher up the school and there are many benefits for children with SEND due to new software available and tailored to their needs.

During my BSE1 unfortunately the use of the IWB was limited. It was a software new to the class (Prowise Presenter) and they had yet to receive training. I was able to put together a maths lesson by downloading the software onto my laptop and seeing what was available in the resources area. The children really enjoyed the lesson and could not wait to have a go on the board, which was a new experience for them. It became a good incentive for positive behaviour and encouraged the children to sit sensibly so they could have their turn. With the use of moveable blocks the children were able to count out the correct number of blocks to match the number I had written. It also helped develop 1:1 correspondence as they could physically come up and count the objects with the pen. The maths lesson was linked back to their topic that term of ‘Room on the Broom’ and this was shown in the resources I used. The use of 3D dice were also incorporated to help develop subitising. It was a pity that the board was not integrated in the classroom further.  The reception class was two classes in one space so the idea that only half would get to use it, limited its use as well. The only other use of ICT I observed during my time there was their use of tablets when half of the class was in PE. I felt that this was only used in terms of behaviour management as the teachers were out doing PPA, so was a strategy to keep the children calm. In my next placement I hope to be able to incorporate the use of the IWB into daily lessons to engage children and promote learning.

Teaching in an age where technology is the norm in schools and amongst the children within them means that e-safety and keeping children safe in the digital world is of high priority for schools. The internet and technology is a great tool for education, networking and entertainment and not only is it about educating children how to be safe on it but also to parents so they can provide this protection at home too. Unfortunately, along with the good comes the bad and people using the online world in an inappropriate way. Bullying, inappropriate content, information protection and unwanted contact from strangers are just some of the issues surrounding e-safety. This can be condensed into the 3 C’s: Contect, Contact and Conduct. I learnt about how some safety measures such as filtering, parental locks, site blocking can work to eradicate children from viewing unwanted content. However, it is not solely on blocking and prohibiting but also about educating children how to trust what they search for, how to keep safe whilst using the internet and thinking about the content they upload. It is also important to be following the guidelines for the school you work in, in terms of what you are teaching about e-saftey but also about taking and saving photos from in the school. I learnt about CEOP and showing children how to report abuse. Somerset ELIM is a website which has good lesson plans on e-safety and the thinkyouknow website can be used when talking to children about this topic. When I go to my BSE1 it will be useful to talk to the teacher about how they taught e-safety and what tools they used to help them.

I can definitely see the benefits of having an IWB in the classroom, in terms of capturing the children’s attention and engaging them. It allows the children to be able to ‘touch their learning’ which plays a big part in allowing them to extend and take control of their learning. The IWB gives the teacher the opportunity to use multimedia, maybe video on one slide and music with pictures on the next. Unlike the television it enables the children to be interactive and not just a passive viewer. I learnt about the 3 categories of interactivity; technical, physical and conceptual, all of which allow the children to be involved in their learning. I was able to use the SMART software to create a simple maths input. It uses a lot of the same shortcuts and has similar elements to other software making it easier to understand and use. I look forward to trying out more of the software’s capabilities.

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