A case of back to basics or business as usual? Many ICT teachers will be wondering how the new ICT strand for key stage 3 affects their role in the classroom. Does the fact that schools will now be required to provide discrete ICT lessons mean that ICT teachers should focus on teaching basic ICT skills and less on the cross-curricular elements of the national curriculum ICT level descriptions, like showing a clear sense of audience?
Helen Walker, head of practice at British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), thinks not. “The whole purpose of the ICT strand is to ensure that pupils have the high-order skills and not just the basics,” she explains. “We want pupils to be ICT-educated and not just learn ICT skills. We want to move away from generic techniques and look at process.”
Steve Bacon, general secretary of NAACE, adds: “I would not advise going back to square one and forgetting about the cross-curricular dimension. We fought hard for ICT to be used to support learning across the curriculum. It should be about how we can ensure that we’re making the most effective use of ICT. We need to look hard at how youngsters can achieve the ICT skills they need for the requirements of the national curriculum. It’s not about throwing the baby out with the bath water.”
The DfES says that it hopes that ICT departments will also participate in cross-curricular developments, such as developing literacy and numeracy across the curriculum.
Clare Johnson, ICT strand director at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, believes ICT cannot be taught in isolation from the rest of the curriculum: “We need to think about ICT as a subject like English, where you use literacy across the curriculum.”
She gives an example of how ICT skills cannot be taught alone. “If I’m planning to do some desktop publishing I need to think about how I’m going to present it,” she explains. “DTP is not just about using the program, but learning how to use it in context. You don’t just need to know how to cut and paste - you also need to know where it is applicable.”
Steve Bacon says expecting pupils to pick up ICT skills by osmosis is not a realistic expectation and Clare Johnson agrees. “There’s no evidence that children in a classroom trying to learn ICT skills when they’re also trying to learn history learn well,” she says.
“You have to get them to use ICT skills in a context they feel comfortable with. Then they’ll be able to use the skills across thecurriculum.”
An example of a task with Year 7 pupils would be for them to use a DTP package to create a school information leaflet for Year 6 students. “You have to think about things such as what text you’ll use, where you’ll put the school logo and what images you’ll use. Again, it’s using skills in context,” says Clare Johnson.
Karen Roche, senior secondary adviser at Reading LEA, reports that during the pilot the role of the teacher didn’t change. “But pupil skills were stretched beyond the basics, with the emphasis remaining on developing their capability,” she says. “The ICT strand is not a radically new strategy. It provides teachers with a new tool with which the QCA KS3 scheme of work can be taught to excite and motivate pupils. Teachers should look forward to being involved in the implementation of the strand.”
Helen Walker says: “English and maths teachers have gone through the process at KS3. The important thing is that there is enough support to help ICT teachers go through it too.”
Steve Bacon says ICT co-ordinators will need to think about integrating their teaching with other learning across the curriculum. Helen Walker believes other subject teachers will benefit from the introduction of the ICT strand. “They will have a better understanding of what pupils can do and can build these expectations into their schemes of work.”
George Cole
Key stage 3 strategy report, page 26
