Section 7
Evaluation
of the Project
At
the beginning of this project, the use of Information Handling throughout the
school, I felt, was being used inappropriately.
Yes,
data handling was being used, but are the children gaining new skills in I.C.T.?
Was
data handling being used to support other subjects?
Looking
around the school evidence of data handling was apparent on walls (particularly
during OFSTED week) Most classes at
sometime had used a computer to produce graphs and charts, but how had this been
done?
Closer inspection of data handling tasks suggested that almost all were Maths based, no evidence of Science investigations or History / Geography investigations.
In
both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 in the National Curriculum (1995).
The program of study for Experimental and Investigative Science states
that pupils should be given opportunities to:
·
use
focused exploration and investigation to acquire scientific knowledge, understanding and skills;
·
use I.T.
to collect, store, retrieve and present scientific information;
·
present scientific
information in a number of ways, through drawings, diagrams, tables and charts,
and in speech and writing (Key Stage 1), or use a wide range of methods,
including diagrams, drawings, graphs, tables and charts to record and present
information in an appropriate and systematic manner (Key Stage 2).
In
both Key Stage 1 and 2 of the National Curriculum (1995) for other foundation
subjects the program of study states:
·
Pupils
should be given the opportunities, where appropriate, to develop and apply their
Information Technology capability in their study.
In the new Curriculum 2000, ICT is now an essential, statutory area in the teaching and learning.
While
History and Geography are foundation subjects and Science a core subject, I feel
that their is some justification in substituting the words above in italic with historic
and geographic as well as
scientific. This would give children more opportunities to develop and apply
their I.T. capability.
Further
inspection of evidence also revealed that some tasks did not seem to match the
age and ability of the children.
Why
was this?
To
use a database effectively, teachers must engage in thorough preparation. Pupils
expect to be taught data handling skills. (Butt,1989)
These
skills are almost impossible to discover.
(Quee, 1991)
There
could have been a number of reasons why Information Handling was not being used
well:
Lack
of confidence in the hardware used.
Lack
of confidence in the Software being used.
Lack
of confidence by staff in the teaching of Information Handling.
Lack
of Teacher and Curriculum support.
Lack
of written resources.
Classroom
Management
While
staff had expressed some concerns with the above, the major concerns were:
A
lack of confidence by staff in the teaching of Information Handling.
A
lack of written resources to give ideas for tasks.
At
this present time, discussions with staff have shown that over the duration of
the last few months confidence in the teaching of Information Handling is
increasing in Key Stage 2. Time
spent with staff in training sessions and discussions with individuals giving
feedback of the second case study, now leads me to believe that we are moving
forward. Some staff during this year have now timetabled a specific
time for whole class teaching of I.C.T. skills.
Work
with co-ordinators and class teachers are now well underway in establishing a
resource base of suitable tasks for children to satisfy each year group and
ability.
Helen
M. Smith quotes in her article “Do Electronic Databases enable children to
engage in information processing?”
Graphs
are widely used in pupils inquiry, Frequency bar charts, histograms and pie
charts are standard in current applications.
Computer graphs save time and effort, thus shifting emphasis from
creation to interpretation
(Philips 1982).
Their
value lies in answering questions such as ‘Which is the most popular?’
‘Which happens least often?’ Patterns
and tendencies within the data may become evident through graphical display.
(Smith)
(Smith)
The
ease of production causes teachers to overlook difficulties in interpretation.
There is a widely held view that children are merely dealing with formats
familiar from infants school, giving little cognitive challenge
(Alderson 1992)
I agree with Helen M. Smith’s findings here. During the
first case study, children displayed an ability to collect and display their
data in the form of histograms or bar charts.
However, they had difficulty in interpreting these results in more
challenging ways than simple inquiries. The first case study has shown that the
children are lacking in the skills and confidence required to recognise trends
in the data and hypothesize results. Capability in searching and sorting
information was generally low, the children needed constant support during the
exercise.
Anita
Straker states that:
It
is best to use the children’s own ideas for questions; they need to learn that
some lines of inquiry are more pertinent and fruitful than others. The main aims are to nurture curiosity so that they are
stimulated to investigate, and give them confidence that they can find out
answers and identify possible connections for themselves.
Children
need a challenge in order to be stimulated, information handling tasks need to
capture an interest from the children. By
creating this kind of environment, teaching the necessary I.C.T. skills to the
children and giving them the support they need,
increased capability in I.C.T. will then begin to follow.
The
aim of the second case study was to try to create this kind of environment by
challenging children with a wider range of tasks, moving away from the
traditional data handling in maths lessons.
Interest of staff was also aroused in the Key Stage 2 classrooms,
teachers observed their own children giving them support and encouragement
during the exercise. Meetings with
staff later provided a wealth of ideas and suggestions on which to give handling
information tasks to children in the future.
I
feel that the second case study exercise provided a successful platform for
children and staff to build on in the future.
The future
Where
do we go from here?
Overall,
successful progress has been made over the last few months to moving forward in
the use of Handling Information particularly in Key Stage 2.
However, In lower Key Stage 1 and Early Years much has yet to be done.
More time needs to be spent in classrooms in the future assessing
children’s knowledge and understanding. Although
staff seem more motivated to attempt a wider range of tasks, more specific
planned tasks are needed to link into topics throughout the curriculum.
Initially, tasks need to focus on sorting activities to provide some
direction and progression.
In
2000/2001 staff will embark on the New Opportunities Training Program provide by
Bolton - The Learning Network, giving staff the opportunity to try out new ways
of using ICT for themselves.
It
is my intention to spend time, where possible, in lower Key Stage 1 and Early
Years classes over the next year developing the use of Information Handling in
these classes.
In
Key Stage 2 and upper Key Stage 1 progress in Handling Information needs to be
monitored in the future.
Articles
by Linda Webb “Investigating Science” and the resource “IT in Primary
Science” by Roger Frost gives pointers to the advantages of using spreadsheets
in Primary Science.
The
spreadsheet, with it’s array of cells arranged in rows and columns, allows the
pupils to collect and present data in tables in exactly the same way as they
would do in their own notebooks.
(Webb
Until
now spreadsheet software has been written for business applications and use of
these has been limited to secondary schools. However, software
This is currently being considered by myself with a view to giving children further opportunities in the future with the use of spreadsheets.
The introduction of the Literacy Hour,
National Numeracy Strategy and the National Grid
for Learning has provided new challenges for staff and ICT Co ordinators.
The
training of staff in these areas will be paramount.
I.C.T. in the Literacy Hour and Numeracy Hour are seen as another burden by teachers in
classrooms, more planning and paperwork.
Connecting
to the Internet is something that many teachers may want do without, but
harnessed correctly, children can open up a whole new world of teaching and
learning. Teachers can use resources on the internet to make planning
easier, in Bolton, teachers have access to the Bolton Virtual Teaching and
Learning Centre (www.bgfl.org.uk)
I see my role professionally as one of motivating and leading the school forward in I.C.T. into the 21st century.
Stephen
Macdonald,
ICT Co ordinator
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