Innovate with ICT

This book provides a highly practical sourcebook for using ICT effectively in the Secondary classroom. Section One shows exactly how to use specific applications creatively for stimulating resources. Section Two applies these applications to classroom practice. The other areas covered include effective planning and how key skills can be addressed using ICT.The majority of ICT books do a reasonable job of explaining how applications work. However, they leave the educator with a mental leap to make: 'How can I make use of this?' Sometimes this challenge is too big and leads to lessons that lack rigour or, worse still, the teacher abandoning ICT completely. This book uses hands-on tasks to explain how to use ICT effectively and in an engaging way. Section One shows how to employ different ICT applications to create exciting resources. The focus is on showing the benefits of each tool and how they can be utilised by teachers in both their preparation and lesson delivery. After every section teachers will have created a useful and interesting resource that can be used and employed in other circumstances.Section two, applies these tools to classroom practice. It allows teachers to approach ICT from the correct angle by allowing them to say, 'I want to develop thinking skills with the students, how can ICT help?' or 'Could setting up a Wikipedia assist in advancing students' independent learning skills?' This approach is much more effective than starting with technology and trying to fit the less content around it. This book, therefore, looks at effective planning and how key skills should be approached and addressed with pupils.

Johannes Ahrenfelt is Subject Leader for History and International Coordinator. Neal Watkin is an AST in History and Lead Practitioner in Gifted and Talented Education.