I was asked by a teacher new to ITA what I did week by week, and what homework/classwork I gave for ITA. I thought it might be useful to others so here's what I replied.<br><br>Ignore it as you see fit :-)<br><br>------<br>
<br>I don't work by weekly plans any more (after a while it becomes habit,
but I realise the usefulness of planners when you're starting out.)<br><br>A
rough timeline:<br><br>Term 1 - week 6 - start U3O2. The time before is
practice with web editing, graphics editor and sprinklings of relevant
theory. (The new study design 2011+ has got the hint and put the
database task as the second outcome.)<br>
<br>Term 2 - week 4 - start U3O1. Preceded by theory and Filemaker
practice (Bowden's tutorials)<br><br>Term 3 - week 5 - start U4O1.
Preceded by Excel practice (Bowden tutorials + Lynda screen movie tutes) and a fair bit of exam
practice jammed in + U4O1 theory.<br>
<br>Term 3 - week 9 - U4O2 (test). Preceded by intensive theory
revision, exam practice (including how to approach multiple choice &
short answer, and how to handle bad questions). I go through about 10
exams altogether - past VCAA exams 2007-2009 (and even parts of older
IPM exams from 2001-2006 where relevant). Since U4O1 theory slides in
really nicely to revision theory, they get done at the same time.<br>
<br>As for what I do for class exercises and homework, I may not be a
good example. I must admit I don't shine with e5 goodness or deal
holistically with individual learning styles very often. I tend to
lecture... it's about the only way to cram so much theory into less than
112 class hours.<br>
<br>I tend to use my theory slideshows as a starting point (mainly so I
don't forget to cover points, which is what I tend to do if I do a
freestyle lecture following the key knowledge dotpoints). I give them
some hands-on software practice to break the routine, but it's not more
than about 20% of class time... that's mainly what their homework
consists of.<br>
<br>Homework also includes specific practice tasks, e.g. go home and
mock up a picture of a wiki being used by a virtual team working on a
(random) topic. <br><br>I booklist the Potts text, but hardly ever use
it in class. It's for their reference at home: to get a second opinion,
further details etc. I don't assign questions 1 to 5 on page 85 for
classwork or homework. Maybe I should... I don't know. Go with your
gut. Some kids might benefit from it. I push weaker kids or those who
didn't do units 1+2 to use the text more heavily.<br>
<br>With the year 11s I use quite a few videos (ostensibly for the U1O3
ICT issues outcome, but more accurately to keep them interested). About
once a week I show doccos on the effects of gaming (ABC 'Good Game' is
excellent), social implications ('Hungry Beast' has been really good),
media (ABC 'Media Watch' and occasionally 4 Corners - especially their
'Fear in the fast lane' ep from 2009), technology (Catalyst), project
management (ABC 'Grand designs') and a bunch of segments from 'How It's
Made'.<br>
<br>For year 12 I don't have the time or excuse for more than a couple
of videos, usually for proj man and U4O2 ('Fear in the fast lane', etc)<br><br>Bell's
gone so I won't ramble more. I've got year 11 and will be showing them
a segment from this week's 'Good Game' on the effects of gaming on
sleep patterns (since a couple of my dears were falling asleep at the
end of yesterday's afternoon double period).<br>
<br>Good luck<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Mark Kelly<br>Manager - Information Systems<br>McKinnon Secondary College<br>McKinnon Rd McKinnon 3204, Victoria, Australia<br>Direct line / Voicemail: 8520 9085<br>School Phone +613 8520 9000<br>
School Fax +613 9578 9253<br><a href="mailto:kel@mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au">kel@mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au</a><br><br>Webmaster - <a href="http://www.mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au">http://www.mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au</a><br>IT Lecture notes: <a href="http://vceit.com">http://vceit.com</a><br>
Moderator: IT Applications Mailing List<br><br>The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.<br>