Independent Space Projects

Independent space projects this half term have been a great opportunity for the children to practice, develop and extend their ICT skills. The first page of the project was completed altogether then the children were free to choose what else they researched and wrote up. All children were given the option to use the netbooks or write by hand; interestingly 2 wrote their entire project by hand while 5 others hand wrote half. Many children decided to mix it up by typing, printing out then illustrating/decorating their work by hand. I was hugely impressed by the quick development of skills, not just presentational layout and editing but saving and managing their own folders of files. A great deal of 'technical support' from the teacher/adults in class was necessary at first - this was lessened by focused class inputs on certain skills (inserting an image, moving the cursor, saving etc.). This activity could be further developed by an adult working with different groups each session focusing on key working skills - reseach, writing up in own words, presentation etc. Click here for a link to the SmartBoard slideshow I used to support this work.

Key tip: Encourage the children to support and seek help amongst each other (fostering independent and working together skills reflecting the real world). It was great to see children of varying abilities starting to support peers and others they do not usually work with in class. This connects with the Sugata Mitra research (see video above) and the vital life skills in an ever developing and widening technological world that is becoming more and more chalenging to teach precisely and effectively to young learners.