This time last year I tried to acquaint myself with the European Computer Driving Licence course to develop my own ICT skills - to “unlearn” my bad practice and make myself more productive.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get further than the cover of the CD until I arrived with a colleague on a trip to the offices of one of the leading ECDL course suppliers, Electric Paper, based in Dublin, this year.
Our new-found “friends” ambushed us into taking an online test for the ECDL section on word processing. Some friends - the results are embargoed!
The experience confirms everything I suspected. For me, learning computer and software skills was much more effective when I used the computer to do it than it would have been if I’d tried to learn from handbooks, however useful they might be. Indeed, the analogy with driving a car is pretty apt.
In this edition of TES Online magazine, we explore various ways to develop skills that are vital for all teachers who need to use ICT in the classroom, with writers like Jack Kenny (p12) and Helen Yewlett (p13) gravitating to just-in-time learning.
And don’t miss our competition (p24) for a chance to win free Electric Paper skills software for school networks.
Be lucky, and have a great summer.
