The ICT Integration project is designed to showcase our learning across a range of technologies and to demonstrate that we are able to integrate them into a learning activity that will be both informative and enjoyable for the students. In order to do this we have chosen four year 8 science lessons on the circulatory system. The circulatory (and other body systems) are a good example of the ability to seamlessly integrate ICT into the learning experience. In our opinion this is an area where we could see a ‘Webquest’ being of significant advantage to the learning experience.
In order to comply with the requirements of the assessment task, we will be using the website resources Kahoot, Britannica Online and Picktochart in order for the students to complete several tasks within the allotted lessons. By doing so we hope to encourage the students learning and to provide both formative and summative assessment (using Picktochart to create a poster and Kahoot for a quiz at the end). At the end of the task we should have compiled all of the information and tools for a 4 lesson plan to be run through. We intend that with the information we provide a relief or other teacher would be able to run through each of the lessons without need for further instructions.
The unit, Transforming Learning Through ICT, is primarily designed to assist pre-service teachers with integrating technology into the learning experience. We live in a world awash with technology and whether we as teachers like it or not, the students are often more interested in using an i-pad than a textbook. By undertaking this unit we will be better able to meet the students at their level (that is we are being exposed to much more technology than when some of us went through school!).
Of course it is also more than just about the technological imbalance that exists between the students and teachers; by taking this unit we are being taught about the many positive uses that ICT can have to a students learning experience. It has been shown that students who are engaged in their learning learn better, hopefully by using these ‘cool tools’ we will be able to better engage the students and therefore assist their learning.