SKILLS FRAMEWORK

How the Skills Framework supports Teaching and Learning Opportunities across the Curriculum?

Table of Content

Introduction3

Critical Analysis5

Practice makes perfect8

The Evidence Based Research10

Working with teachers13

Classroom dialogue14

Children's learning15

Major implications17

Becoming and remaining pro-thinking18

Metacognition as an organising concept19

Images of learners and learning20

The challenge for the teacher21

What we don't know23

Conclusion25

Reference27

How the Skills Framework supports Teaching and Learning Opportunities across the Curriculum?

Introduction

In the UK we have invested heavily in information and communications technology (ICT) for use by teachers and pupils in schools. Some of this investment has been directly by the government through initiatives such as the National Grid for Learning and the New Opportunities Fund ICT Training for Serving Teachers. Substantial sums have also been spent by Local Education Authorities, Education Action Zones and schools themselves on ICT equipment and resources, though this is harder to quantify.

The purposes of this investment have not always been clear or made explicit. Part of the drive towards greater use of technology in education is aimed at modernizing schools and equipping the pupils of today with skills that will make them able to use such technology in the workplace once they leave school. Other stated goals have been to reduce teacher work-load by making planning and resources available over the internet or to reduce bureaucracy by providing and exchanging information in electronic form. Perhaps the ultimate goal in promoting the use of ICT in schools has been to increase the effectiveness of teaching and improve pupils' learning. It is this goal that is the focus for the questions underpinning this review:

What is the evidence that ICT can have a positive impact on pupils' learning in school?

How can ICT be used effectively in schools to improve pupils' learning?

A range of sources were consulted for the review then key themes identified which emerged from this research base (see Appendix for an overview of the evidence used). A general overview of the impact of ICT on teaching and learning introduces the review and sets this research in a broader educational research context. Next, separate sections identify research evidence grouped under particular themes namely: practice; feedback and interactivity; the presentation and representation of information in different forms; classroom talk and pupils' thinking, and the role of the teacher.

A final section considers issues arising from the evidence base and some of the implications from what we do not know. The impact of ICT on learning and teaching: it can make a difference There is evidence from research that ICT can help pupils to learn and teachers to teach more effectively. However there is not a simple message in such evidence that ICT will make a difference simply by being used. Findings suggest that although ICT can improve learning there are a number of issues that need to be considered if such technology is going to make a difference. Some caution is therefore called for at this broad level of where and how ICT might have an impact. There are two main issues. First is the modest effect of ICT compared with other researched ...