Very insightful lesson on the internet. I knew not about the difference between a ‘network’ and ‘the internet’ before the lesson and have come away with a much better understanding of what these concepts are.

Whilst my subject knowledge of this aspect of computer science is not 100%, I know that there are websites where I can find more information on this, should I ever have to teach it: I can Google ‘cerf internet’ or visit the w3schools website.

I’m now much more equipped with lesson ideas for this topic: a great starting activity is to get children to draw what they think the internet looks like; children can learn to code through ‘Code Avengers’ and better understand the internet through interactive games like ‘erase all cats’.

This lesson gave me really good ideas about how I can use Google forms to introduce online questionnaires in my teaching. I think its a valuable cross-curricular activity that can bring link to Maths and Science. It also encourages the children to think about different opinions and you can bring in PSHE and think about respecting opinions etc.

In the year 2 class I was placed in for BSE 1, I did not see a varied use of ICT.

The IWB was used in every lesson to display the LO and SC; and, depending on the subject, the CT would enhance her input through showing pictures, example questions etc. on this. Sometimes the visualiser was used in conjunction with the IWB to model how to fill in worksheets – or, if a story was being read out, to show all of the class the pictures in the book simultaneously. I thought this was a really good way to facilitate inclusion as it meant the children within the class who had EAL could still access the text on some level.

The children were using iPads one Maths lesson to work on problems on the Maths website, Sumdog. The children were working in pairs and had clearly had experience using the iPads before as they knew how to log on and get started with the website. It was a fun and engaging lesson for them. However, this was the only use of ICT I saw in the 7 week placement. I don’t think ICT was a priority for the school’s KS1 curriculum because it did not have ICT scheduled on the weekly timetable for KS1.

I found today’s lecture really interesting, I knew that e-safety was a pressing issue but was unaware that the government, in recent years, had taken such steps to address the problem by including e-safety in the National Curriculum.

I researched ‘using social networking responsibly’ with my group and we identified several benefits of social networking, but also the risks and ways a teacher could educate pupils on how to avoid them. These included being wary of who you’re providing your personal information to online and keeping to sites that are age appropriate.

We presented our research in a presentation made using the SMART application and I felt like this gave me further experience in using the software of an interactive whiteboard.

Today’s lecture was highly informative; prior to the lesson I had not considered the benefits of encouraging children to develop computational thinking. Computational thinking is important because it empowers children with an understanding of the importance of planning and thinking through actions – this was modelled rather nicely by the activity that demanded we write a set of instructions as to how to make a jam sandwich, and then put them into practice as a classmate was required to be a ‘robot’ and carry out the instructions we had created. This activity would introduce the children to the concept of ‘algorithms’ and the importance of specificity in our algorithms to avoid ambiguity. The ability to think through a sequence of actions and be precise, efficient and unambiguous in your instructions is a skill that children would develop through their ICT lessons but that would equip them to be better learners in other subjects and in their daily life.

As we were taken through a brief introduction in how to include the IWB in our lessons, I felt fairly confident that my experience with the IWB during my primary education would put me in a good position to comfortably incorporate the IWB into the lessons I give to children. However, there were so many different tools to use – particularly those available in the ‘activity builder’ – that I was overwhelmed! I am determined to put in effort outside of out ICT lesson time to truly get to know more of the functions the SMART board has to offer, and how I can make the most of it to facilitate my class’ learning and move the pedagogy towards whole class teaching.

Below is a screen shot of the activity I planned for a history lesson on Henry VIII. In the centre is a picture of Henry and surrounding him are facts, and images, relating to his life. Some are incorrect and some are correct. Using the ‘activity builder’ setting, I created an activity whereby, when moved on top of Henry’s body, the incorrect answers were absorbed by him (thus removing them from the screen) whereas the correct facts bounced back and remained on the screen.

Using this activity would be a good way to introduce the topic of Henry VIII and gauge a level of understanding that your class already have on a topic, or as a plenary to assess what they have learnt.

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