Embedding ICT within ICT?

When lesson planning for an ICT lesson, it is quite straightforward to consider where minimum core Math and English could be embedded within activities, but as the lesson itself is innately about computing, it is often quite a challenge to step back and look at the core computing skills which could be enhanced within the scope of the session.

When considering how to embed minimum core it is important to look to guidance from professional standard documentation. The main core ICT skills can be found within the Companion For Minimum Core (Lawton and Turnbull, 2007). For example 'encouraging learner autonomy' can be achieved by demonstrating the various levels of control that a user can have over a computer system. This is an excellent way to ensure differentiation within a session as the basic use of software can be extended with the use of menus and then again by teaching shortcut and function keys for advanced users.
Other sources of guidance can come from qualification specifications. For example the NCFE entry level certificate in ICT (2005) indicates that to meet standards a learner will be expected to:

Find information from ICT-based sources using appropriate facilities

This provides the opportunity to embed minimum core into sessions where research is encouraged. The skills required to effectively research using ICT is a skill that is quite different to researching via traditional methods. For example, it might be useful to teach learners how to effectively search via a search engine, such as Google, using specific commands to return more specific results. (For examples see the following guide http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html)

As pointed out by Lawton and Turnbull (2007), it is also important to remember that:

ICT, however, covers a much wider range of technologies than computers and computer-related hardware and software. Information and communication technology may also include:

• digital cameras, camcorders and other image capturing equipment
• interactive whiteboards
• digital television, video, audio and other related multimedia equipment
• mobile phones and associated technology to support learning
• learning platforms
• graphic calculators.

Therefore there are many other opportunities to enable the use of minimum core ICT in the classroom. An example of this would be a from a recent lesson where the students were shown how to use a specific type of digital camera to capture images which could later be used within a digital animation for their assignment. Additionally, the use of learning platforms are part of the course from day one, as learners are inducted in the use of the VLE for file sharing, formative assessment and communication purposes. By highlighting the benefits of using such a platform, we can encourage learners to develop skills which will be useful later in their education and beyond as the use of CMS platforms become more prolific in everyday life.

It will be interesting to hear about how ICT is embedded within other sectors, especially those where computers are not a part of the common classroom environment.


Lawton. T, Turnbull. T, 2007. Companion Guide to the Minimum Core. [PDF] London. Lifelong Learning UK.  Available at: <http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/2333/1/Companion_for_minimum_core.pdf> [04/03/14]. 

NCFE, 2005. NCFE entry level certificate in ICT Issue 1. [PDF] Newcastle Upon Tyne. NCFE. Available at: <http://ictskillsforlife.co.uk/100-5637-3-qualspec.pdf> [04/03/14].

A quick post about core numeracy skills

I have been intending to write a longer post about embedding numeracy withing a programming class that I teach at level 3, but today I had the opportunity to use numeracy within a digital art lesson at level 4. 

While it's not a requirement of the course, I find it useful for learners to know about the processing and storage of information behind the scenes when creating and storing digital images, and with this in mind I took the opportunity to cover the basics of storing and presenting Colour data in Hexadecimal format. This included converting between number bases, calculating totals and applying algorithms. 

While the learners came into the lesson not expecting to be tested on their mathematics skills, they managed to employ mental arithmetic effectively to provide the correct answers.

Additionally some commented that they found the session useful for their Computer Systems session in which they are learning binary number systems.

Anyway, just a quick post, but I thought it interesting to find a use for numeracy in a subject less directly associated with the topic.

An experiment with embedding minimum core literacy skills

As an experiment with embedding minimum core literacy skills in a computer animation lesson, I took the opportunity to implement the Glossary feature of the Moodle Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that we have access to here at the college.

The aim of the Glossary activity is to provide a collaborative forum in which learners can build a list of terms and their definitions in relation to the course content. This could be a useful activity at the start of a course to gauge existing knowledge within the group, and as an ongoing activity through the course.

The activity has the additional benefit of allowing the facilitator to determine a learner’s core English skills and provide them with the opportunity for both tutor and peer feedback.

The glossary was added to the Computer Animation VLE and set up as follows:

The above settings provide the glossary with the ability to allow peer feedback in the form of replies to an entry, include multiple versions of a word and its definition, and display the learner's name next to any entry that they add, which is useful for assessment purposes.

The learners in this particular group are quite competitive and the task itself was introduced as a competition for the learners to come up with the most and the best definitions to words related to animation. Additionally they were told that they could not copy and paste quotes from the internet, but instead should come up with their own definitions.

The learners were also told that the terms described would be voted on by the other members in the group at the end of the session. They were also directed to peer moderate the entries by copying each other’s entries and pasting into a Google search to see if the definition had been copied from elsewhere. This increased the spirit of competition and deterred plagiarism.

The group engaged well with the activity and the results are discussed below.

Once the activity was completed, all glossary entries could be viewed in alphabetical order as seen in the following image.

Additionally, the glossary can be filtered to group terms by the learner who entered them. This allows the facilitator to get an good overview of contributions to the activity, and identify any learners requiring additional support.

At the end of the session, the group voted for what they believed to be the best entries, especially where duplicates exist. While this process was carried out, the group members provided peer support, suggesting corrections for spelling and grammar mistakes throughout the glossary, as seen in the example below.

Before peer feedback

After peer feedback

While the occasional entry was off topic, or entered for humour, these were still voted on by the class for the opportunity for inclusion. In the examples below, the word 'Introduction' was kept as it was a good example of using English skills, whereas the entry for ‘the’ was voted for deletion due to being irrelevant; but not before the learner was corrected by his peers on the lack of a capital letter at the start of the sentence.

Others were just deleted...

The end result is a useful glossary of terms, which the students can refer back to during the course, along with a neat feature of the VLE which searches for glossary terms in the course page of the VLE and creates tool-tip links to glossary entries for detected words.

Finally, a block was added to the sidebar of the VLE to display a random glossary entry every time a learner accesses the course page. This keeps the glossary activity present in the learner’s minds, and reinforces terminology learned on the course.

If anyone else decides to try using the Glossary with their groups, I'd be interested to hear about how it went.

The Bar Area

This section is for general discusion

Collaborative online reflective discussion

The aim of this blog group is to collaborate on one online thread using a forum, blog or wiki which focuses on the application of minimum core within your practice. The thread must include:

Contributions from each member of your group

Examples of the application of minimum core specifications in literacy, mathematics and ICT across your specialist areas (i.e.at least one example of each, per group), in teaching, learning, and assessment.

The reflective discussion should include appropriate cross-referencing to the minimum core specifications, and should explore (with reference to theory/literature) how elements of minimum core can be demonstrated in teaching, learning and assessment.