Introduction

For the past three years I Farheen Maqsood have been an active member of the BSS team and
have designed a number of ICT lesson plans for the core subjects and had been sharing them
with the rest of the teachers in the system. The Curriculum document that we follow has some
ideas of how to integrate ICT in different activities but as teachers we require more support,
motivation and confidence in managing ICT lessons effectively. I feel fortunate to get a chance to
complete four days of ET Ambassador Programme as part of my in-service training. This course
actually developed my confidence and increased my awareness in selecting and integrating
various IT peripherals for effective teaching and learning.
Peripherals are add-ons for our computers and some are more useful than others! The great thing
about peripherals is that they extend the functionality of a computer, allowing us for example, to
print out hard copy of pictures and documents, import images or create a large screen display that
can be seen by all the class at once. Most peripherals are connected to a PC via a USB port.

Printer and Scanner

Digital photo/video cameras
Digital Microscope
IWB
MMP
Visualizer
EyeRIS
Tablets, e note-books and laptops

How to use the peripherals in your classrooms

Make sure that you have sufficient equipment for the number of pupils for the lesson and
test to see if the relevant soft ware is loaded and working.
Make sure that peripherals are working when connected to the computer, check
connecting cables and charging of the batteries if the peripheral is wireless.
Draw up a list of skills pupils will need for the lesson, such as using a mouse, connecting
a sensor/stylus to a computer, and make sure all pupils have them.
Set clear and focused task so that it is less likely that pupils will be distracted or bored
and make sure every pupil gets a fair turn.
Make sure students save their work at the end of the lesson.
If planning to use the Internet, consider downloading the content before the lesson and
storing it on a web cache.
Remember, the best lessons use a mix of ICT-based tasks and off- ICT tasks dont use
ICT for the sake of it.

What challenges will you face and how to overcome these challenges
Three things are inevitable in life death, taxes and that ICT will let you down at some stage. To
combine two well-known sayings dont panic and be prepared. Here are some steps you can take
when things dont go according to plan:

Where ever possible plan ahead to reduce the impact of failure. For e.g. have spare
equipment available, use a web cache to store web pages and have the ICT technician to
hand.
Get trained in the basic techniques for sorting out common problems, such as rebooting,
closing down a program that isnt working, checking a plug fuse and making sure all the
cables and connections are correct and firmly in place.
If a single peripheral fails, reorganize groups so that additional members join them or
have some additional non- ICT task to hand.
If the whole network goes down, have additional resources to hand. These might include
worksheets, white board presentation, books, and alternate audio video sources, such as
videos, DVDs and audio recorders.

After implementing a range of appropriate ICT tools, I strongly support its use for active learning
as I have witnessed the following improvements specifically in aspects of Literacy, Numeracy
and Science.

Improved reading skills, mental calculations and better data handling skills and increased
ability to read and create graphs using graphic software.

Improvements in conceptual understanding of Mathematics (particularly problem

solving) and Science (particularly through use of simulations)

Sense of ownership of their learning is pretty obvious on their faces during the feedback
session.

Differentiation is catered and everybody is comfortable working on their own pace.

Learnt to cooperate even with less number of resources as they are tempted towards the
activities which are interesting and challenging for them

Higher level learning style is catered in a variety of ways and the level of talk improved
tremendously during the lessons.