A project was piloted in Cornwall last week which used a mystery-style format to teach technology to improve pupils’ skills and techniques in the subject.
The initiative, “Who did it?”, is based on the mystery of who locked a technician in a room for three hours. Suspects are all members of staff, and the teacher of the class involved is always among them.
The theory is that the teacher locked the technician in the room and the pupils have to prove or disprove it using tasks and challenges that prove the teacher’s innocence or guilt.
The project was written by Liz Dando, a secondary ICT consultant in Cornwall. It runs for six lessons and uses timed challenges, involving modelling and role play, videos, email and active engagement techniques to help pupils with problem-solving ain a fun and engaging way.
One pupil said: “It was much more exciting and fun than our usual ICT lessons.” It is now hoped that the scheme will be rolled out to schools across the South West.
