Design and development of ICT-based educational material

Design and development of ICT-based educational material Invited lecture given at the University of the Aegean, Rhodes, May 2003 Tim Brosnan t.brosnan@hampsteadschool.org.uk

Learning objectives of the session • To know three issues in the design of ICT-based learning material • To understand better why these issues are important and the consequences that follow from the choices that can be made in each area • To use this knowledge better to discuss the design and effectiveness of ICT-based learning materials

Three Issues Approach Computer- based material Involvement Assessment

APPROACH • Three possible approaches to the ICT part of educational materials • Skill-based • Ad hoc (no emphasis on ICT) • Capability-based • Each gives a different focus (and therefore form) to the material

Example 1: making a newspaper (1 of 2) Activity: to make a newspaper Question: what do you want the children to learn? The answer to this will provide the approach for the activity’s educational material • Answer - ‘skills’ Focus – learning to use Word (or Publisher) • Answer - ‘ad hoc’ Focus - writing • Answer – ‘capability’ Focus – making a newspaper (cf newsletter)

Example 1: making a newspaper (2 of 2) • The skills-based material pays no attention to what the finished product looks like – only to technique • The ‘ad hoc’ approach only pays attention to content • The ‘capability’ approach starts by thinking what the product will look like – how to achieve the desired effect on the audience Two examples of materials (for 10-13 year olds)‘Looking like a paper’‘Reaching the audience’

Example 2: making a PowerPoint presentation (1 of 4) Activity: to make a PowerPoint Presentation Question: what do you want the children to learn? The answer to this will provide the approach for the activity’s educational material • Answer - ‘skills’ Focus - learning to use PowerPoint features • Answer - ‘ad hoc’ Focus - writing slides • Answer - ‘capability’ Focus - conveying your message to this audience

Example 2: making a PowerPoint presentation (2 of 4) • How not to do it (1) – fancy animation effect, letters from everywhere and distracting sounds. Takes away from the message. Just in case you missed that – here it is again • How not to do it (1) – letters from everywhere, distracting sounds. Takes away from the message.

Example 2: making a PowerPoint presentation (3 of 4) • How not to do it (2) – far to much written material with little thought about emphasising and highlighting the main points or distinguishing between the PowerPoint and spoken parts of the presentations – but children will often do this to make sure they have ‘all the facts’. Worse – they will often value ‘presentations’ like this because they have ‘a lot in them’, and need educating to In order to have ‘all the facts’ you also need to make the font small – again masking the message from the audience. • Much better – ‘clean’, simple display which uses Master Slides to ensure consistency

Example 2: making a PowerPoint presentation (4 of 4) • Again the ‘skills-based’ approach thinks only of technique • The ‘ad hoc’ approach only to content • The ‘capability’ approach focuses on conveying the message to the audience Two products (by 10 year old children):RainforestsVertebrates

Summary of approaches: Skills-based • This is the way ICT is taught in most schools in the UK – today we do word-processing, tomorrow spreadsheets • It has the advantage of being easy to organise BUT it • Is an approach divorced from use and purpose • Needs an artificial context created for it • Emphasizes the easy but trivial (skills) at the expense of the difficult but important (capability)

Summary of approaches: Ad Hoc • This is based on the notion that ICT is ‘just’ a tool and is the way most ‘cross-curricular’ ICT is taught in the UK • Easy to develop individual activities and material BUT • Fundamental misapprehension about the nature and importance of tools • No sense of planning • No notion of progression

Summary of approaches: Capability • This is the basis of the UK National Curriculum for ICT and of Hampstead’s cross-curricular approach to its teaching • It is difficult to organise and plan BUT it • Focuses on what is important • Has clear notions of progression and development • Grows from authentic contexts and purpose – strengthens involvement

INVOLVEMENT • Children need to be involved with what they are doing • (At least) three aspects: • Purpose • Context • Interaction

Purpose: but whose? Two types of purpose – the pupil’s and the teacher’s • Teacher’s purposes: • What do I want them to learn? • What role do I want the ICT materials to play? • Pupil’s purpose • Why should I learn this?

Teacher’s purposes (1 of 2) • What do I want them to learn? • About the subject? • About themselves? • What role do I want the ICT materials to play? • To lead them to the right answer or to allow them to explore/express their ideas? • To ‘motivate’ or to do new thingsExample: ModellingSpace Coastal erosion

Teacher’s purposes (1 of 2) • Is the material there to replace me or to augment my lesson? What roles could the teacher have when pupils are using this example? Microscopes How would the effectiveness of the material change as the teacher’s role changed?

Pupil’s purpose • Why should I be doing this? • Because I am told to do so • Because in 10 years time it will help me • Because I see it as interesting • Because I see it as useful • Because I see it as important • ‘Useful’ and ‘important’ for what? And to whom? • Context provides the answers to these

Context: the conveyor of purpose • Because I see it as interesting • Example: Musical pictures • Because I see it as useful • Example: Teaching how to text • Because I see it as important: • Example: Crime survey, Messengers.org • Or (ideally) more than one of these!

Interaction: but of/with what? • All educational materials claim to be ‘interactive’ • What is the nature of the interaction in these examples?SnowmanMinibeastsFree Cell • Key issue: “’Minds on’ rather than ‘hands on’” (Ros Driver) • Or if you prefer it in Greek …

ASSESSMENT • Starts from what you want the pupils to learn • Need learning objectives not (just) activities • To know/understand cf ‘to make a slide’ • The materials must allow you to assess that learning • The pupils need to be involved in their own assessment

Materials that allow assessment • Material needs to be structured to provide evidence of learning • What do these examples let you know about the pupils’ learning? Mr. ZippyWord tutorial Your ‘texting’ material Two questions: • What evidence will I have of the extent to which the Learning objectives for this session have been met? • What could I do to get more evidence?

Involving the pupils • The pupils need to be involved in their own assessment – and that of others • To help them learn • To help you learn what they know Example 1: A pupil’s evaluation of a house he build in Logo Example 2: Evaluating presentations

Three Issues Approach Computer- based material Assessment Involvement

Three key foci for successful material Capability Computer- based material Psyches cf Somata Self- evaluation

A reference • Brosnan, T. (2002) ‘Teaching with ICT’ in Pachler, N. (Ed.) ‘Lehren undLernen mit IKT’. Innsbruck: Studienverlag.

Design and development of ICT-based educational material