Reflections on the Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate into ICT in the Primary Classroom

Reflections on the Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate into ICT in the Primary Classroom

Today I am considering the Ofsted report on ICT in schools.

The report which is now a couple of years old suggests the use of ICT is getting better but there is still room for improvement.

It states that the use of ICT is most successful where the teachers make links between it and other curriculum areas. In fact it even goes so far as to praise schools where ICT use in other subjects is more interesting and exciting that the timetabled ICT lessons. It condemns ICT lessons which ‘exist in a vacuum and do not help them grow as learners’ because it suggests that it is a tool which can enrich all areas. The idea must be that IT is not a subject in isolation but compliments learning almost everywhere.

For me there key word seems to be adaption, creating the idea of ICT being a tool to meet their own needs. Words like ‘assimilate’, ‘help’ and ‘enhance’ suggest an element of support but also negotiation, where the technology called upon assists them but never represents the work in its entirely, moreover it has to be moulded for their own purpose as a means to an end and not an end in itself. I identify with this perspective quite strongly because my educational philosophy is based on the idea of learners all having different needs and baggage and everyone being individual and benefiting from differing approaches. I like the idea of learners developing an awareness of what suits them and having the freedom to choose external resources to compliment and aid their work. Informations communications technology is such a brilliant tool for learning because it encompasses so many different devices which record and express information from phones, to digital cameras, to programmes for data handling and presentation and online encyclopedias. Working with something which makes the end result of their efforts seem so much more proffesionally presented is also going to make children take more pride in the ownership of their work.

Amusingly the document speaks of children’s ‘ICT diet’ which seems a bit of a strange term, however thinking about it this does express the idea of an intake of experiences which I guess following the analogy could either be nutritious or unproductive. Furthermore it speaks of the need for a ‘balanced’ diet which promotes the idea of moderate intake in all areas of the curriculum.