Welcome to my page about technology teaching strategies to apply in your classroom learning

environment from early childhood education through to Primary education and beyond.

As our society becomes more integrated with digital technologies more pressure is placed upon you as
teachers to prepare children for their digital future in the workforce. The ICT teaching strategies that you
will learn today are evidence-based and are there to help you to successfully integrate digital technology
and ICTs in across the curriculum in meaningful ways.

That is why we need these strategies so that the technology remains transparent in the background of
learning and supports the subject learning. It also opens up the door to you as the teacher, to develop
student ICT capabilities.

An essential 21st century skill.

Start applying these ICT teaching strategies today and begin to make an impact on student learning.

The best ways to use tech for Learning

For students, being ICT capable is about not only knowing the ICT skills but also knowing that they know
it and be able to decide if it is appropriate to use for a solution to a problem.

The same concept can be applied helpfully to your own understanding of how to use ICT in your teaching
profession.

For you as a teacher, it is not just about acquiring ICT skills but developing an understanding and
judgement about how to use those skills appropriately. Let’s look at a classic example of this.

One of the common uses of ICT in the classroom is with presentation software like MS PowerPoint.

As a teacher, you decide whether such a presentation will be effective with technology. Will it be an
effective teaching technique for students in the class? You have to make a decision as to why this would
be better than other teaching techniques.
When teaching with technology in the classroom you are given a multitude of options to choose from in
terms of what to use. There are many different types of Information and Communication Technology in
classrooms, but it is important to facilitate the use of those that develop ICT capability.

The use of technology in the classroom should always be something that is planned effectively
beforehand. As a teacher, it is important that you decide in your planning whether you are going to use
ICT to develop student capabilities, to support subject learning or both.

It is entirely possible to achieve both when integrating ICT as the development of ICT capability is best
accomplished in meaningful and purpose-driven context. In fact, you can do this by simply giving them
meaningful activities with ICT tools used in classroom teaching in subject-related contexts in any key
learning area of the curriculum.

So why not do both? It makes perfect sense….doesn’t it?

If you are looking for ideas as to how to use technology in the classroom, some examples include:

o Word processors

o Databases and Spreadsheets

o Desktop publishers

o Web design and creation programs

o Email

o Animation software

o Presentation software

o Web searching skills in Search Engines

o Video and Movie making programs

o Blogging and Podcasting

In my opinion, these are the best ICT in the classroom examples as they truly represent what integrating
ICT in the classroom is all about today. Here are a few ideas to what you can do.

Word Processors

Can be used throughout any curriculum and in all key learning areas. It is important not just to use it just
so the students can present their work neatly as a final piece of work. Like most software, you need to
select the most opportunities in which word processing software can facilitate, enhance or extend
children’s learning. WP can help make explicit links between knowledge, understanding skills as they are
closely associated with literacy and language development at all levels. This makes it ideal to integrate it
into English lessons and whenever you choose to also develop literacy in other key learning areas.

Databases and Spreadsheets

A key strategy that you will need to ensure occurs is when using spreadsheets that you make explicit the
role of the equal sign formulae. To develop ICT capability, embed meaningful activities in purposeful
subject-related contexts by providing them with the knowledge of the principles and processes required
to enter and manipulate data. This will help them learn something about the subject being taught.

Graphics software

Generic and affordable programs are readily available to enable children to develop capabilities in
drawing and painting programs. Images can be used in literacy lessons and when they create their own
using their programs it adds a whole new level of engagement in it.

Presentation Software

Incorporate a multimedia element in your activities by using presentation programs that uses video,
images, sound and animation. They can develop slideshows and digital presentations with sound and
music.

Other use of technology in the classroom includes:

o Gamified learning.

o Digital field trips

o Integrate social media

o Gather student feedback

o Creating digital content

Why students benefit from using technology in the classroom?

Previously in another blog, I outlined a number of reasons why schools should invest in ICT. Besides
making communication more effective between students and teachers, student and student, and
teacher and parent, the use of technology in the classroom is vital to not only enhance learning, but to
broaden a child’s technological literacy and to develop their ICT capability. Using technology in
classrooms also creates space for students to have a voice in their learning. They become empowered to
take responsibility of their learning and they begin to learn how to use ICT as a tool that is designed for a
specific purpose and to use it creatively, effectively and safely.

So what are strategies for teaching with technology that accompany the above ICT tools?

Firstly, it is important that you always have high expectations at the beginning. This is significant as
children will always enter your classroom with various levels of capabilities in ICT. They don’t call them
the ‘digital natives’ for no reason.

Before, any ICT activity is implemented in subjects it is essential that you gain an appreciation of the
children’s ICT capability so that you can effectively plan for progression. This is typically done through
observing their use of ICT techniques and determining their conceptual understanding of them.

Continue this formative assessment strategy throughout the year to keep track of student progress in ICT
capability in key learning areas.

Throughout this time, set clear expectations and intervene at the appropriate times.

These are the fundamental strategies you will need when teaching with technology in the classroom that
will develop ICT capability alongside subject learning. This should be your ultimate aim as a primary
teacher.

More About ICT Literacy:

ICT Literacy: What do businesses expect?

It is important to understand that the level of capability a student can gain is directly connected to that
of the teacher’s knowledge and capability of using ICT in the subject.

Research conducted on the most ICT capable schools (Kennewell et al., 2000) has concluded that where
a teacher’s level of ICT capability was grounded in confidence and a high level of competence, students
were given the freedom to explore and develop more ‘capabilities’.

I will use this term more than I will use the term ‘skill’ because it is more important to be able to make
the correct decisions about which technology to use and when and where to use it.

Despite this, there is still a presence of fear about technology use in the classroom amongst teachers.
These include factors such as time, loss of control, cost, lack of PD opportunities, and lack of ownership
over the technology they are meant to integrate into their teaching practices.

Yet if schools are to help students develop their ICT capability than it is through the work of teachers and
other staff who support learning that it will be achieved.

Technology literacy, ICT literacy or ICT capability of teachers – no matter how you define it – is vital in
schools today. You need to be prepared to provide technology-supported learning for your students.
Thus, what needs to embedded in your professional repertoire is the knowledge and preparedness to
use ICT techniques in different contexts of the Learning Areas. In other words being able to use ICT
across the curriculum to support the subject context whilst remaining transparent and still be teaching
students ICT capability.

What can you do?

It is virtually impossible for you or for anyone to know all there is to know about ICT. We really are never
going to achieve it as ICT continues to develop and emerge. My advice is to walk into your classroom as a
learner alongside your students and never try to give the impression that you do know everything. By
doing this, you will start to feel more comfortable in your use of ICT in the classroom.

Secondly, exploiting technology is all about understanding the potential of the available technology in
your classroom. Don’t wait for the next big technological development to come along to be able to prove
your ability to use it in the classroom. Exploiting technology is to do with the here and now of available
technology.

My next advice stems directly from this point. It is far more beneficial for you to be intimate and know
in-depth particular software that your students use in the classroom than it is to be acquainted with a
large number of software. Know the educational potential of what you have available by spending time
getting to know it intimately so that you are able to exploit its features effectively. In addition, being
familiar with a program will help you to identify the circumstances when students are ready to move
onto another feature or be able to use it for a more demanding purpose.

The best way of achieving this is by reflecting on the processes that aides the user to carry out and the
techniques with particular effects can be achieved (Kennewell et al., 2000). You need to consider how
you will introduce your students to the program and clearly define your objectives and ideas to students
before they start.

What software can you start with?

Yes, there is a lot of educational software out there including subject-specific software. Despite this,
there is only one type of software that you should encourage students to use if you aiming to develop
their ICT capability. Content-free software is the software that should be encouraged the most as it gives
students full control of the technology and the level of decision-making is high promoting the use of
higher order thinking skills. They need to be able to have a clean slate in terms of what’s in front of them
and assess and decide what ICT technique to use and for what reason and purpose.

The problem with subject-specific software is that the program maintains some form of control and
direction over what students can and can’t do. Therefore, it will only partially develop their ICT
capability. It is for this reason that you need to carefully plan and consider what you want the aim of ICT
to be in your lesson – to teach ICT capability, to support subject learning, or both?

What you need to know is that the software that I am talking about here is readily available in your
classrooms and most of you have at home too. I am talking about generic software such as word
processors, databases, drawing and painting, even specific coding programs these days. To take one
example, word processors, is something that everyone is familiar is and is widely used throughout the
curriculum. For you, it means plenty of opportunities to teach ICT capability.

Furthermore, as it is something that you know fairly well, it saves you both time and money as you don’t
have to attend a PD to learn about it, how to use it, to evaluate and test it out in your classroom. The
same goes for any other program that you and your students are familiar with. In a time where school
budgets are not big enough for everyone, you can demonstrate to your colleagues how to effectively
exploit ICT in your classroom this way.
What I have just discussed will help you to overcome the fear of using technology in the classroom. It will
give you the start you need to confident and competent in the use of ICT. Being an ICT capable teacher is
what is required of you today to teach students knowledge and understanding they need to participate
in a technology-dominated knowledge society. Teachers who fail to learn new knowledge and
understandings in this type of pedagogy will be left behind.

What is ICT Literacy?

ICT literacy in education is the ability of a person to define, access, integrate, evaluate, manage, create,
and communicate with ICT tools and resources. Someone who does possess these attributes is known to
be an ICT literate person. The development of ICT literacy in education is significant as schools are
preparing young adults to meet the challenges of the future.

Today, technology and ICT have transformed society in many ways and ICT literacy skills are needed for
everyone if there is to be an ICT proficient society. Those students who lack ICT literacy skills will
encounter obstacles in full civic participation and will not be able to communicate their ideas effectively
using technology and will be very ineffective and inefficient at researching information.

This as a result of having a lack of knowledge to do with effective search strategies using the Internet.
Their ability to analyze and interpret this information may also falter. That is why teachers in primary and
secondary schools need to develop ICT literacy skills with students and good ICT literacy assessments
need to be conducted in order to determine if more training is needed. By following these steps, the
process of integrating technology in the classroom should become easier for you.
Teacher ICT Skills for an Online and Digital World

When using ICT in the classroom, there are a number of ICT skills for teachers to master. This is
important as the level of ICT capability of a teacher will have a direct impact on the development of
student ICT capability. For example, studies have shown that in literacy lessons the extent to which ICT is
used effectively will depend to a large extent that of the teacher’s ICT capability.

Teacher ICT capability is not about being an expert on everything ICT and knowing everything about it.
Let’s face it, the level of development in ICT is ever-increasing there is no way this can be done. Instead,
teacher ICT capability is about developing an understanding and judgement about the most appropriate
ways to use ICT classroom teaching.

The ICT in classrooms most also be suitable for the development of student ICT capability. This means
that it must:

1. Challenge students intellectually;

2. Promote a high level of decision-making by the students and not the technology;

3. Be generic and content-free software and;

4. Enable a student full control.