Demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the teaching of the ICT National Curriculum.

Within the national curriculum there are strict guidelines for knowledge, skills and understanding. In the section entitled Finding Things Out 1a in particular states that children should be taught 'to talk about what information they need and how they can find and use it' not only is this specific to ICT but it can be used as cross curricular with English En2/3 which is the Literature section. In this individual section it includes such things as poetry and play scripts, with the help of ICT pupils could be taught to incorporate moving images within the texts, they could find more information on CD-ROM's and the internet, not only improving the their English work but gaining skills to use in ICT. This can also be linked to the ICT Scheme of Work Unit 3A where children are expected to combine graphics with text to a certain level those who have progressed further learn to choose effects that match their purpose and compliment their work. In Unit 4D children are expected to collect data and present it in a form of a questionnaire, bar charts, pie charts or line graphs. This can be linked to 1b in the national curriculum and also with Mathematics Ma4/2c which states that children should be taught to "represent and interpret discrete data using graphs and diagrams, including pictograms, bar charts and line graphs, then interpret a wider range of graphs and diagrams, using ICT where appropriate." Unit 5B introduces the idea of children using complex searches and relying on more than one variable. This can be used along with the whole of section 1 in the national curriculum. Unit 6D can also be used along with the whole of section 1 as it also teaches children to use complex searches on the internet, how to bookmark sites of interest and print off information that can be used and using a range of other sources too.

In section 2 entitled 'Developing ideas and making things happen' it is a natural progression from finding things out; children find out the relevant information and then 'develop and refine ideas by bringing together, organizing and reorganizing text, tables, images and sound as appropriate'. This section; 2a can be linked into a cross curricular lesson with English as it shows in En3/2. This area discusses the development of writing on paper and on screen. It includes planning, drafting, revising, proofreading, presenting and discussing and evaluating their own and their peers work. The drafting and proofreading can be done with the use of the planning and proofing tools in a word processor, for example thesaurus and grammar checker. Section 2c can be linked cross curricular with Mathematics section Ma2/4d as children are taught simple number relationships using formulae in words and then in symbols leading to how to construct and use a formula to transform one list of data to another. Also in the Scheme of Work Unit 3D children are taught how to recognize patterns within simulations and make and test predictions this is linked to section 2c. In Unit 4E linked to sections 2b and 2c children are taught how to enter instructions to control a screen turtle and will then compare the operation of the screen turtle with the floor turtle. This also can be liked in with a Mathematics lesson as children need to understand numbers larger than 100 and know that degrees measures turns and understand that 90, 180 and 360 degrees are a quarter, half and full turn. In Unit 5A children learn to use an object-based graphics package to create, combine and manipulate objects exploring possibilities through the computer this can be used during a cross curricular lesson with either Geography - drawing maps or Science - drawing diagrams of circuits etc. In Unit 5D this can be linked to section 2c as it talks of the input of information into a spreadsheet to carry out calculations, again this can be used in a cross curricular lesson with Mathematics. Unit 6B is a more advanced section of spreadsheet modeling in this section children will progress to more complicated formulas and make predictions. Unit 5F can be linked with section 2c as in both of these sections children learn how to monitor environmental conditions and changes for example temperature. Unit 6C entitled Control and Monitoring can be linked to section 2c as this section teaches children to explore models in order to answer such questions.

In Section 3 which is entitled Exchanging and Sharing information pupils are taught how to use various forms in order to achieve this objective. For example, wall displays, posters and animations that can be done alongside an art lesson or music compositions that can be done alongside a music lesson. However it also includes E-mail and in Unit 3E children are taught how to send, receive and reply to emails, this includes being familiar with writing for different audiences and with reading other children's writing. Unit 4A develops the children's understanding of writing for different audiences, they learn to use more advanced word processing features and tools to help them match their work to their desired audience, and this is linked to section 3b in the National Curriculum. Unit 6A is linked to section 3a as it helps children with the organization of the multimedia presentation of their work, allowing them to add hyperlinks in order to allow the audience to move to different places through the internet.

In section 4 entitled; Reviewing, modifying and evaluating work as it progresses, pupils are taught to review their own and their peers work, they learn to discuss improvements and share ideas with one another. Unit 5C teaches children the skills to evaluate information, check accuracy of information and question plausibility within their work. Throughout the process of writing their work they need to check and re-check ask other children or adults for ideas and ways in which to improve their written work. They have to recognize the importance of checking data and information as without this it can lead to poor quality and unreliable information and results. When reviewing their work they obtain new ideas that can be used next time to improve the quality of their work. Section 4 can also be used during essay writing in an English lesson as children have to review and proofread their work.

In conclusion I feel that ICT as a whole is an extremely important part of our lives not just the National Curriculum. It is vital that it is taught to children as it can be used for such a broad range of things. ICT is used throughout most of the other subjects taught in schools today and is used both at school and at home. However there are some downfalls to using ICT within such subjects as English, as pupils become lazy with their spellings and grammar as they are able to just click on spell check and their mistakes are instantly altered. But on a whole I feel ICT is an exciting a constantly changing subject that allows us to have a world of information at our fingertips.

Mairead Mitchell

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