Table of ContentsIntroductionDesigning an ICT curriculumCreating an ICT scheme of workWriting long term plans for ICTWriting medium term plans for ICTWriting ICT lesson plansDisplaying 'learning intention' slidesin ICT lessonsICT lesson tipsEncouraging independent learning inICT lessonsPromoting co-operative learning in

ICT lessonsAssessing ICT capabilityDisplaying ICT WorkFacilitating ICT learning outside ofthe classroomWriting an ICT policyProducing an ICT action plan

Introduction

I have produced this guide after receivingmany requests from teachers asking me foradvice on how they can improve ICT intheir schools to make it outstanding.

Please do let me know if you have foundany of my ideas useful or have anysuggestions for additional chapters that Icould include in future updates (contactdetails are available on my blog -www.simonhaughton.co.uk).

Enjoy!

Simon Haughton

Version 3.0 (November 2012)

Designing an ICTcurriculum

Whilst there are likely to be national,statutory ICT requirements that childrenmust be taught, it is important to rememberthat teachers have control over how theyare delivered in their individual schoolsto best develop their own children'slearning and to make the most of the ICTresources which they have available.

An ICT curriculum should set minimumstandards that all children should achievein the subject during their time at school. Itshould also ensure that the children learn

ICT skills over a variety of areas toenable them to gain confidence in doing arange of ICT tasks (i.e. they should haveaccess to a broad and balancedcurriculum).

As an example, an ICT curriculum couldbe divided up into five strands:

text and graphics (typing skills andwork which can be printed out ifdesired as a hard copy);digital creativity (tasks whichproduce work whose quality ispossibly subject to personalopinion);multimedia authoring (work that isproduced for viewing on acomputer);

computing (mathematical-basedtasks);research and communication (usingthe Internet).

Each strand of an ICT curriculum shouldbe accompanied with an outline of thetypes of tasks that are associated with it.Here is a diagram that shows how 25different tasks can be shared over the fivestrands listed above:

Most curriculum documents will also givesome indication of how children's ICTcapabilities must improve and progress asthey grow older. Often this is done bycreating skills lists or attainment targetsfor each year group/grade but in theexample ICT curriculum shown in thisguide, just the skills associated with eachtask have been listed, in order of

increasing complexity. This would enableteachers to select skills that are bestmatched to the needs of particular groupsof children in a lesson and to give themmore freedom over which skills are taughtwhen (with them all obviously needing tobe taught by the time each cohort ofchildren leaves the school):

ICT curriculum documents should nevermake any reference to specific pieces ofsoftware or hardware - since they areconstantly evolving and changing, it'snecessary to have a set of ICT skills thatcan easily be transferred and applied tonew technologies when they becomeavailable.

Creating an ICTscheme of work

An ICT scheme of work should explainhow an ICT curriculum is intended to betaught in a school. In its simplest form, itlists a number of ICT activities (which usedifferent pieces of hardware andsoftware) that match with the requirementsof the subject, grouped into (or across)different year groups/grades.

Below is an example of a table that hasbeen created with different columns foreach year group/grade into which thenames of different programs and apps

have been placed according to howchallenging they are considered to be touse:

Since some tasks have lots of skillsassociated with them (e.g. painting apicture), some programs and apps areshown to be repeated over different yeargroups/grades to allow children to begiven enough opportunities to master allthe tools available within them.

Each year group/grade only needs to have

about a dozen programs and appsassociated with it though because thechildren will probably either do longprojects using them (which span severallessons) or be expected to regularly usethem for different tasks during the year (sothat they have enough chances toconsolidate their skills in working inthem).

A scheme of work is a fairly flexibledocument that can be refined when needed- new software added, old softwarereferences removed etc. This has be donein consultation with the staff being askedto teach each year group/grade however,to ensure that there is a consistentapproach being delivered across theschool and that software is being pitched

and shared out appropriately (for instance,many schools like all their children to usethe same web browser or wordprocessing software).

Writing long termplans for ICT

An ICT long term plan is a documentcreated for each year group/grade whichorganises when the programs and appsoutlined in the scheme of work are goingto be taught or covered. Sometimes thismight be done by allocating them tospecific terms/semesters but it can also bedone on a week-by-week basis so that theexact number of lessons which areavailable to cover everything in can beseen clearly.

Whilst ICT lessons should focus on

developing ICT skills, a meaningfulcontext can sometimes be applied to themto help keep the children interested andengaged - linking tasks to: humanitiesthemes (e.g. history and geography),school events (e.g. trips and celebrations)and the world of industry works well, forinstance. The more discrete ICT tasks(e.g. those in the 'computing' strand of acurriculum), meanwhile, can then bedelivered when more practical work isgoing on in other lessons (e.g. work on'forces' or 'separating materials' in sciencetopics).

For these reasons, it can also be helpful tomake a note of what topics the class isstudying during the year and when so thatICT lessons can be planned to link in with

them accordingly.

Another thing to consider when writing along term plan is the need to teach basic

skills right at the start of the year - suchas: typing skills, word processing skillsand how to use the school's learningplatform - and to leave the morechallenging tasks (which could combineseveral different programs or appstogether into a longer project) untiltowards the end. The last few lessons ofthe year could also be spent doing some ofthe more light-hearted and fun tasks too aseveryone starts to 'wind-down' a bit.

Writing mediumterm plans for ICT

Not every school writes medium termplans and the amount of detail required inthem could be debatable.

One definition of a medium term plan isjust a short paragraph that outlines the ICTskills that the children in a particular yeargroup/grade will be learning over aperiod of several weeks (e.g. a half-term).

They can be useful for collating togetherwith other subjects' medium term plans tocreate a curriculum overview document toshare with parents and to publish on theschool website to help keep variousstakeholders aware of what teaching andlearning is currently going on.

Writing ICT lessonplans

The intention of an ICT lesson is to givechildren the opportunity to develop andimprove their ICT skills for completing atask. As these skills will be different foreach year group/grade, the lesson planshould make it clear how the requirementsof the work set will be pitched at anappropriate level of challenge to bestmeet their needs. One way to do this is tomake reference to the ICT curriculum thatis being following as it should outline theskills that children need to learn in orderof progression.

Schools will usually require a certainamount of detail within a lesson plan butsome things which can be useful to includeare:

a list of resources that will beneeded (so that they can be checked-off when preparing the lesson on theday);an overview of how the lesson isgoing to be structured (e.g. starter -main teaching - main activity -plenary);a list of open-ended questions thatthe children could be asked (to allowtheir understanding to be assessedand to prompt them into justifyingwhy they are choosing to combineICT skills in a certain way to

complete a task);a statement explaining how theinclusion of every child's needs willbe promoted and supported (e.g. bygiving more assistance to thosechildren with special educationalneeds or by adapting tasks to makethem more accessible for: visual,kinaesthetic or auditory learners).

Displaying'learning intention'

slides in ICTlessons

Projecting a slide in front of a class ofchildren reminding them of the lesson'slearning intention and the steps that theyshould follow to achieve it successfully isa useful strategy to include in all ICTlessons. Not only does it give the childrena point of reference for if they get stuckbut it also makes it clear what work is

going on to any visitors who might arrivein the room part-way through a lesson.

Most ICT tasks can be completed byfollowing these four easy-to-manage (andtherefore remember) steps which shouldbe modelled and demonstrated to thechildren during the lesson:

1. Open a specific: app, program ortemplate file on the computer.

2. Use a combination of tools to createa: pleasing, informative or functionalpiece of work.

3. Edit and improve the work to make itbetter/more effective for the intendedaudience or purpose.

4. Save and/or share the work withothers (e.g. via email or on the

school's learning platform).

In this sequence, step two can be furtherbroken down into a series of 'I can...'statements of increasing difficulty,labelled as: 'good', 'great' and 'super'. Bylisting the ICT skills that: all childrenmust, some children should and a fewchildren could be expected to do by theend of the lesson, it shows how the task isbeing differentiated so that every child ischallenged to develop their ICT capabilitywhilst still being able to successfully meetthe learning intention. Also, letting thechildren themselves choose what levelthey want to work at allows them to takeownership in their learning and appreciatewhat they themselves need to do in orderto work better and improve.

The language used on these slides shouldbe child-friendly and be written using justshort words or phrases (so that they areeasy to read and so that as much content aspossible can be fitted onto them).Important ICT vocabulary could behighlighted too, perhaps in a differentcolour so that the words stand out from therest of the text.

ICT lesson tipsHere are several strategies that can workwell during ICT lessons to help keep thechildren working on-task and to the best oftheir abilities:

skills checklists - give each child alist of ICT skills on a sheet of paperwhich they can check-off as theycomplete a project to allow them toeasily track their progress;

peer-assessment - part-way through atask, ask the children to look atsomebody else's work to give themsome feedback (e.g. using 'two starsand a wish') either on a miniwhiteboard or in space on a skillschecklist sheet (children can also usethis opportunity to borrow ideas thatthey find inspiring to copy in theirown work);WAGOLL - show the class anexample of 'what a good one lookslike' and discuss its good features sothat they can clearly see what theyare being expected toachieve/produce by completing thetask successfully;mini-plenaries - take time to pauseduring the main activity part of a

lesson to: check current levels ofunderstanding, address anymisconceptions and to recap on howto do any skills that children seem tobe finding confusing to do.

Encouragingindependent

learning in ICTlessons

Children should be expected to work asindependently as they can during a lessonso that they can demonstrate their abilityto complete the ICT task and achieve thelearning intention on their own (withadults only needing to intervene whennecessary to give targeted support to thosewho require it).

One method of encouraging independenceis to distribute a couple of tokens (e.g.counters or credit card-sized pieces ofcoloured paper) at the start of the lessonto each table/group of children. Takeaway a token if a child asks an adult forhelp (but not if an adult chooses tointervene first) and award a token wheneveryone on a table is observed workingindependently/supporting their partner ifneeded on the task. Presuming that the taskhas been prepared well enough, thechildren should: have already have beenshown where the different tools are in aprogram, be able to view a 'steps tosuccess' slide projected somewhere in theroom which reminds them of what thesteps needed to be successful are and havea reasonable idea of how to access the

help guide in the software being used tosearch for solutions to any problemswhich they might encounter.

The table/group of children with the mosttokens at the end - which has worked themost independently - wins. This strategypositively reinforces good working habitsand quickly makes the children appreciatethat when they persevere, they are oftenmore capable at doing a particular ICTskill than what they first thought they were(rather than just asking for help straight

away). They are being challenged toovercome barriers on their own todevelop their ICT capabilities and learnnew skills - this is an especially importantskill when the frequency at which newtechnologies get released is considered,each with a brand new user interface andbuttons on it that need learning before itcan be used.

Promoting co-operative learning

in ICT lessonsCo-operative learning involves childrenbeing given structured opportunities tocollaborate with others in their class toboth improve and consolidate their subjectexpertise. Activities which get all thechildren actively engaged in doingsomething are the best examples since theyhelp to make full use of what is oftenprecious lesson time.

Such activities could include children:

coaching a partner how to do aparticular ICT skill;contributing to a collaborativeactivity;quizzing each other on theirknowledge of a topic (e.g which theymust use their Internet research skillsto help correctly answer);talking to a partner for a set period oftime about a particular topic (e.g. theICT skills needed to successfullycomplete a task) who then recountswhat has been said before the rolesare then reversed.

Assessing ICTcapability

Assessment in ICT involves finding outhow capable children are at being able toimplement a number of individual ICTskills successfully and how well they cancombine them together (into a series ofprocesses) to achieve an effectiveoutcome to a task.

With teachers rightly wanting to spendlesson times actually teaching andsupporting children so that they developtheir ICT capabilities, the most practicaland common forms of assessment in

primary/elementary schools are thereforeto systematically ask the childrenquestions (usually verbally rather thanwritten) in order to check their levels ofICT knowledge and understanding and tolook at each child's final, finished piecesof work afterwards in order to carefullyjudge how well it meets the needs of atask (with regards to quality andcomparison with others in the class). Thismay be: at the end of every 'normal’ ICTlesson, at stages thought work on a project(to check that work is being done), at theend of longer, more 'integrated' projects(to assess how independently the childrenhave worked on it) or by using specialistICT assessment software (that gives thechildren a series of on-screen tests to dowhich it automatically marks).

Ideally, observations should also be madeof how children work to complete tasksduring ICT lessons in order to help getfull, accurate assessments of them. Aninteresting example to illustrate thereasoning behind this is a child whoappears to have only used basic paintingtools when creating a picture on thecomputer might have actually tried out avariety of more complex tools beforehandbut decided that they weren't reallyneeded to produce the artistic effectswhich they desired in this particularpicture. Indeed, the ability to select ICTtools appropriate to the task and to:evaluate, modify and refine their work inprogress are actually quite higher-orderskills that can unfortunately sometimes bemissed if not careful. The approach that

children take to do a task is just asimportant as the outcome that theyproduce.

Schools will likely have differentrequirements for reporting attainment inrelation to the ICT curriculum beingfollowed but popular methods include:

verbally discussing each child’s ICTcapability with their parents atmeetings, including their attitude tolearning the subject and theirbehaviour in lessons;recording each child’s ICTattainment and effort as grades into aspreadsheet-like piece of software(e.g. to signify whether they areworking: below, at or above age-

related expectations) at set intervalsduring the year to enable theirprogress to be tracked over time;

producing a written, summativestatement of each child’sperformance and achievements in thesubject at the end of a term/semesterto send home to parents (possiblyalong with copies of their attainmentand effort grades too);creating a portfolio showcasing ICTwork done for a particular

curriculum strand/by a particularclass (including: works-in-progress,final outcomes and photographs),annotated to help contextualise it.

Assessment is redundant however if itisn't responded to, so teachers shouldmake sure that they: take onboard anyparental concerns which are raised, listento comments made by senior leaders inschool based on their analysis of ICTresults data and ensure that children aregiven new targets to achieve that build ontheir prior capabilities (not lead tounnecessary repetition) when planningfuture ICT lessons.

It is also important to remember the valuein giving instant, direct feedback to

children whilst they are working too, sothat they know how well they are doingand what they need to do to get better.Formative assessment - which shouldhappen continuously during lessons (suchas through regular observation andquestioning) - can be useful for finding outhow well children are currently workingso that immediate changes can be made tothe original plans to directly impact upontheir learning and ensure that everyone'sICT capabilities improve (e.g. by: givingthem more choice over the context for thetask to help interest/engage them more, byre-demonstrating a process or by settingeasier/more challenging expectations forcertain children).

Lastly, 'gamifying' ICT assessment is a

strategy that has grown in popularity inrecent years. This involves children beinggiven skills checklists for a range ofdifferent ICT tasks which they can worktowards achieving and ticking-offindependently. When they havesuccessfully met all the skillsrequirements for a particular level, theyare then awarded with a badge or sticker(physically and/or online) to recognisethis fact. Like in a computer game, thechildren compete to be awarded differentbadges or stickers to show that they havemastered something and they can clearlysee the path that they need to follow tomake further improvements and progress.

Displaying ICTWork

An effective learning environment shouldcreate a welcoming atmosphere forchildren and set the scene for purposefullearning.

ICT displays on walls should:

showcase examples of tasks done inlessons to allow everyone in theroom to enjoy the work produced;foster motivation and discussionaround various aspects of ICT;support children's learning;

show variety in both their content andpresentation;be changed at regular intervalsthroughout the year (e.g. eachterm/semester).

To help stimulate and support children'slearning, good features of ICT displaystherefore include:

the title of the unit of work;a short description of what thelearning intentions and/or taskoutcomes were;an outline of what the establishedsuccess criteria for the work was(possibly shown by annotating what agood piece of ICT work looks like);names and definitions of key

vocabulary terms;named examples of children's work(presented as: a recount - 'First wedid this...', 'Next we did this...' etc.,examples of works in progress toillustrate the editing process orexamples of completed tasks to showthe final outcomes);interactive questions to engage theaudience (preferably that can beaccessed/understood by people whohaven't been involved in the unit ofwork - e.g. 'Can you spot...?' 'Howhave the children...?' 'Why do youthink...?').

Schools often require work to be chosenfor display because of its quality or effortand expect it to be mounted onto colouredpaper so that it looks attractive. It shouldalso be displayed neatly so that it can beread easily by other children and to showrespect for the original creator.

Displays should be planned by teachersbut the children could help in designingelements to include on them. They couldbe put up either during a unit of work as itprogresses or at the end of it.

Some teachers also like to put up theirown ICT posters around their classroomto stay permanently displayed throughoutthe year. These might contain rules thatchildren needed to follow or (e.g. to staysafe on the Internet) or ICT challenges thatthey might want to have a go atdoing/following:

Lastly, here is an example of an ICT

alphabet card that can be useful to display(or even laminate mini copies of) to assistyounger children in finding the differentbuttons on a computer keyboard (whichare unhelpfully labelled using capitalletters in a font very different from thehandwriting style they are probably askedto use in literacy lessons):

Facilitating ICTlearning outside of

the classroomHere are a few strategies that can beeffective in helping to promote children'slearning and their engagement with thesubject outside of the classroom:

allow children to access school ICTresources at breaks and dinner timesto work on (their own) enrichmentprojects;share links to resources used inlessons for children to access and

further investigate at home (e.g.template files, 'learning intention'slides, website links to downloadprograms/apps etc.);provide a method through whichchildren can share work done athome with others to give it anaudience (e.g. via a blog or learningplatform);include ICT activities as part of sethomework (e.g. give them a selectionof tasks from which they must choosea certain number to do, depending ontheir own personal preference orresources that they have available athome);run an after school club for parentsand their children to attend so thatthey have the chance to use specialist

resources that they might not have athome and the opportunity to askteachers any technical ICT questions;promote a 'Website or App of theWeek' which either a teacher or achild has found - a great way topublicise new releases and to sharesoftware/tools that probably wouldn'tbe allocated full ICT lessons to beshown.

Writing an ICTpolicy

A school's ICT policy should describehow teaching and learning of the subjectcorresponds with its mission statementand how both its ICT curriculum andresources are managed. Questions thatcould be answered in an ICT policyinclude:

What is the school's vision for ICT?How is an excellent ethos andattitude towards ICT developed?What are the roles of different adultsresponsible for developing or

teaching ICT (such as:governors/school board members,the senior management team, the ICTco-ordinator, teachers and supportstaff)?How does the school provide equalopportunities for all children(including: addressing gender issues,adapting resources for left/right-handed children and ensuring thatdisabled children can access ICTequipment)?How does the school provide andmonitor that a broad and balancedICT curriculum is being delivered?How is ICT used to supportcurriculum subjects and how is thisreferenced in planning documents?How are children challenged

appropriately to develop their ICTcapabilities?What teaching methods and styles areused for teaching ICT?How are ICT skills assessed?Who is pupil progress reported toand how often?How is the: planning, teaching andassessing of ICT moderated? How are staff supported/givenprofessional development to improvetheir ICT skills?What range of hardware does theschool have? How is this storedsecurely and shared out fairly acrossdifferent classes?What is the child:computer ratio?How are new software and hardwareneeds identified and met (including

how best value for money isensured)?How are risks associated with ICTequipment safely managed? How arepeople made aware of any safetyguidelines?How are ICT problems reported andfixed?What does the school do to helpminimise the environmental impactcaused by using ICT equipment?

Some schools will like to write an e-safety policy as well to explain how theysafeguard against any possible onlinethreats such as: viruses, cyber-bullyingand hacking.

Questions that may be answered in an e-

safety policy include:

What online communication systemsdoes the school use and for whatpurposes?How does the school ensure thatthese are only accessed by authorisedpeople?What steps are taken to educatechildren about the need to followsensible rules for personal safety andto take responsibility for their ownInternet access?Does the school have an acceptableuse policy/contract?How is the school's Internet servicefiltered?What systems do the children use toreport if they feel uncomfortable

about inappropriate website contentor if they receive nasty onlinemessages?How will unsafe or inappropriateonline behaviours be dealt with whenthey are encountered?

Producing an ICTaction plan

An ICT action plan should be created eachyear to outline what strategies the schoolintends to put in place to: maintain,develop and improve the teaching andlearning of ICT.

It may include targets or objectives thatrequire:

a more broad and balanced ICTcurriculum with relevant cross-curriculum to be delivered;ICT to be kept appropriately

resourced;the level of children's attainment inICT to be improved (in particularyear groups/grades and/or amongst acertain group);staff to develop their ICT skillsand/or style for teaching the subject;more opportunities to be madeavailable for ICT learning beyondthe classroom.

Each target should then be accompaniedwith an explanation of:

whose responsibility it will be toimplement/lead the action;an estimate of when or for how longthe action will take place;what the criteria for measuring its

success will be;what resources will need to bepurchased or created to meet itsrequirements;how it will impact upon the school’sbudget and/or timetabling of staff;who will be responsible for:observing, monitoring andscrutinising it's implementation.

The action plan should be referred toregularly to check how effectively it isbeing implemented, before being finally

reviewed and evaluated at the end of theyear to determine how much ICT has beenimproved because of it.