Enquiring mind & ICT

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the trip to London so instead I conducted some research into a childs enquiring mind in ICT. A child’s enquiring mind is basically where you allow them to figure out how to learn in there own way, developing their own skills at their own pace. A number of groups have been established to encourage children to do this, one of the main ones being Enquiring Mind with 'the aim being 'to enable students to take more responsibility for the content, processes and outcomes of their learning.' It is the teachers role to guide the child down the right path allowing them to learn on their own. ICT has become an incredibly important learning tool in the classroom, it gives teachers the opportunity to teach through interaction and allows them to work in a number of ways. It is also considered an exciting activity by the children, who find it not only helps them to learn but also creates a fun way of doing it. A child who struggles to learn in a normal classroom setting finds the use of ICT allows them to learn at the same level of others as they are able to not only use their listening skills but hand eye co-ordination which is not usually displayed within a normal classroom environment. ICT can be used for almost any lesson as today there are a number of different programs out there catering for different levels and subjects, being able to choose the different style games allows the teacher to decide what skills the child should use, such as strategy, exploration and problem solving, skills not usually used within a normal education setting. By having white boards in the classroom the teacher is able to encouraging learning through interaction and group work, it also helps with communication skills as they can use white boards as a way of presenting their work through presentations. It means that the teacher does not waste time writing work on a board but can instead prepare for the lesson beforehand. (inquiring minds, 2012) It is important for children to be encouraged to develop their skills through activities in the classroom as they will need these in the real world. Taylor (1980) described three different modes of computer use, 'tutor, tool and tutee. When being used as a tool the computer saves the learner time by completing low level tasks quickly and easily, allowing the learner to focus on higher order tasks'. This allows the child to develop on their own quicker. Taylor (1980) Avaialble at: ttp://www.inquiringmind.co.nz/FinalResearchReportJMK.pdf Enquirning Mind (2013) Available at: http://www.wholeeducation.org/pages/story/introduction/513,240/enquiring_minds_4th_year_report_innovative_approaches_to_curriculum_reform.html inquiring mind (2012) Avaialble at: http://www.inquiringmind.co.nz/inquiry_&_ict.htm