My focus area is IT, specifically Information and Software Technology; and Tech Mandatory in Yr 7-10. I’m also interested in learning to teach the Information and Digital Technology TVET curriculum in Yr 11 and 12, but haven’t had much chance to look at this in detail yet. Both of my focus areas are heavily reliant on the integration of ICT into the curriculum, especially IST.
From my experience in my current job as IT Admin in a secondary school, I’d be inclined to use laptop computers in the classroom, either Mac or Windows (I’m not fussed as am familiar with both environments), iPads could also be used for certain situations if the school had some shared iPads. I’m not inclined to use iPads as the students primary device of choice in the classroom as they can be quite limiting in terms of software available. It can also be a challenge getting the data off the iPad, such as transferring large video files without a computer to use.
In terms of software –
- Google Docs/Microsoft Word – Useful for students to create reports, document their work and taking class notes. Could also be used in combination with Google Sheets/Excel, Google Slides/PowerPoint and OneNote/EverNote.
- Adobe Dreamweaver – Useful for introducing students to website creation, as it allows them to visually make changes to a site and see the relevant changes in the code; and vice versa. If Dreamweaver wasn’t available, we could still code a basic website in Notepad (Win) or TextEdit (Mac).
- Adobe Flash – Used for creating animations, animated banners for websites, games etc. Could also use Blender as this if free and open source, whereas Flash isn’t.
- Audacity – Useful for sound editing, can be used to record, edit and manipulate any audio, before mixing them together for exporting to use in movies, animations etc.
- iMovie/Movie Maker – Used for creating videos, using green-screen tech etc. Could be used in conjunction with Audacity and Blender to create an animated movie.
I’m interested to get out into the classroom and see what else is being used, as well as having time to play around with software and experiment with what’s possible, as I don’t have a lot of free time currently with work and uni study to just spend hours playing around.