Day 23

Holla,

do u know what does the research say about using ICT in English?
no?
then read

Key research evidence about ICT in the English curriculum 

On the basis of Becta’s analysis, ICT can have positive effects on English teaching and learning in the areas outlined below. There are references for further reading supplied alongside most of the findings.

Benefits for teachers
● ICT makes it easier for teachers to give instant feedback to pupils as they are working (Moseley et al., 1999)
● Presentation software enables teachers to show ideas dynamically – for example, when showing suffixes joining with root words (Moseley et al., 1999)
● Teacher direction is reduced and pupils’ control and self-regulation increased (Hennessy et al., 2003)
● ICT can act as a catalyst to bring about change in teachers’ thinking and practice (Higgins and Moseley, 2002; Leach, 1997)

Benefits for pupils

Speaking and listening

● The computer can be an effective catalyst of talk both at the screen and away from it
● Talking books help pupils with emergent language or literacy skills interact with the story and enhance both their vocabulary and text comprehension (Underwood and Underwood, 1997)
● Digital video production can help develop a range of social learning skills, including communication, negotiation, decision-making and problem-solving (Reid et al., 2002)
● Pupils use more abstract and sophisticated language when talking about films they have created using digital video (Reid et al., 2002)

Reading

● Reading interactive storybooks can help primary pupils expand their vocabulary and gain insight into the structure of narrative texts (Segers and Verhoeven, 2002)
● Using ICT can enable pupils to understand, visualise and interpret difficult texts (Birmingham and Davies, 2001)
● There are learning gains in areas of phonological awareness, vocabulary development, reading comprehension and spelling (Software Information Industry Association, 2000; Van Daal and Reitsma, 2000).
● Computer-assisted reading support systems can be effective in supporting secondary pupils with
reading failure (Lynch, 2000)

Writing

● Writing development can be accelerated and enhanced by access to word processing (Breeze et al., 1996; Lewin, 2000; Moseley et al., 1999)
● ICT supports reflective writing and improvements in pupils’ reasoning ability (Deadman, 1997)
● Editing digital video films can improve pupils’ literacy skills, especially their understanding of narrative when developing their writing skills (Parker, 1999)
● Pupils who use word processing in combination with teacher guidance significantly improve their writing, as do pupils who write for a real audience using the internet or email (Karchmer, 2001; Software Information Industry Association, 2000).

Factors for effective use
● Teachers need to understand what visual literacy is and rethink what learning to read and write means in the 21st century (Goodwyn et al., 1997; Reid et al., 2002)
● Professional development needs to take account of teachers’ thinking about teaching and learning generally as well as their skills with, attitude to and use of, ICT (Higgins and Moseley, 2002)
● Teachers should identify how ICT can be used to meet specific objectives within the English curriculum to improve pupils’ attainment (Moseley et al., 1999)
● Teachers need to have adequate ICT skills, regular use of ICT equipment, and access to reliable technical support (Moseley et al., 1999)
● Teachers need to understand that successful use of ICT depends on other factors such as pupils’ work in the classroom away from the computer, discussions between pupils and between pupils and their teacher, and the ways in which pupils interact with each other at the computer (McCormick and Scrimshaw, 2001)

Promoting Effective Practice of ICT in English – a primary school case study Year 2 pupils were encouraged to develop an extended piece of writing about a story which was presented using presentation software.The talking word processor ‘read’ a passage and the pupils identified words which the computer ‘could not read properly’.They also decided where they thought punctuation should be placed in a prepared passage from the text. In the writing session that followed, the pupils used the speech facility on the computer to listen to their stories as they re-read what they had written. After two months’ work, the pupils’ reading ages had improved by an average of almost seven months.The writing task also showed significant gains in the amount that the pupils wrote (on paper), and an improvement in punctuation and elements of the story structure, such as the use of connectives. The teacher was able to use ICT effectively to help them to develop redrafting skills using speech feedback and in using presentation software to read a text to the whole class. However, she ensured that pupils had opportunities to develop their ICT skills and using ICT enabled her to develop other resources for groups of pupils to use away from the computer. Her ICT skills enabled her to make decisions about how she could use ICT effectively in her preparation and in her teaching. She successfully used the ICT activities as part of her broader literacy teaching.