Hi everyone!
Hope you are all staying warm as winter seems to have arrived.

I really enjoyed the fan fiction presentations the other class. I was impressed to see how creative everyone was. It was neat that everyone interpreted and looked at fan fiction a little different. I also appreciated the ideas that were given on how to use fan fiction in our future classrooms. There are many ways we can meet ICT outcomes through fan fiction.

Personally I think the ICT curriculum will pose a little bit of a challenge for me. I am not very technologically-literate and to tell you the truth I am easily intimidated by it. The truth is that I will have to become more comfortable with it as children nowadays have greater knowledge and abilities in this area. The challenge is for me to be able to challenge my students and increase their knowledge and the proper use of the technology that is now available. It is comforting to know that there are a number of available resources out there. (I just checked out a book form the library 500 ICT Tips: for Primary Teachers, I think it is geared towards those who have limited experience in areas such as trouble shooting, internet abbreviations, special educational needs etc. - I’ll let you know if it is useful)
While teaching this I think it would be important to know as much as possible about the students and their understanding of the technology. There will most likely be a great variety between students who deal with technology all the time and are quite knowledgeable compared to those who may not even own a computer. Some students may have basic knowledge, others unlimited experiences. Consider accessibility as well. Do all students have a computer? Is there enough school access to computers?
In the Illustrative ICT examples that Jill gave us at the end of class it had an example from the grade two curriculum and the grade four curriculum. What is neat is that the basic task is the same but there is an increase in details and complexity that builds on the previous knowledge.
The good thing about the ICT curriculum goals is that they are meant to be (and are easy to) integrate with other subject areas. I think that considering the outcomes as well as the amount of teaching time, it would be vital to tie them in cross-curricular. Another major component of ICT outcomes is to be respectful and to engage in critical thinking. Many people can put their own personal thoughts and ideas on the internet, and students need to gain the knowledge of how to respect others privacy and products while examining the information with a critical and meaningful manner. As teachers we need to be mindful and aware that students are using technology appropriately and also see others using it appropriately. As Jill mentioned in class, children will be using technology anyways, it is important for us to give them the knowledge of how to use it carefully and safely.
I think we all had to take an EDIT course. I was fortunate in that the course that I took at Grant MacEwan involved created a technological lesson plan that included many ICT components and outcomes. I saved the plan on a disk and even lent it to a colleague of my mothers who used it in her Grade 5 classroom!
Maybe I shouldn’t be as nervous about the ICT as I thought!