Every time I give my students paper based tasks, particularly completing storyboards, they complain that, “this is ICT,” and, “we should be using the computer.” It gives an interesting insight into how students’ minds work. Many seem not to have the ability to step back and see that an underpinning of theory will help them to understand how computers and systems actually work. In the media rich society we live in, young people are constantly bombarded with images, videos and sounds. ICT and Computing students tend to go straight for these forms of information over the written word and it concerns me that this may mean they are missing vital details. Laptops, tablets, mobile devices and the trusty desktop may enable our students to gather information from many places and at any time but how much do they understand? Words, numbers and pictures without meaning is the definition of data, does this therefore mean that students are simply data depositories and thus no more than glorified databases? The times when I have found students gaining deeper understanding of theory is when they are working away from the computer. Card sorts, crosswords, Venn diagrams, matching exercises and spider diagrams on sugar paper are all used successfully in other subject areas so why shy away from them in ICT and Computing? Recently I had some Year 7s matching titles, pictures and images from components inside the computer. One student asked me, “why are we doing this? It is a bit babyish isn’t it?” By the end of the task the student had failed to get many right but a whole class discussion had enabled her to progress and now she understands what different components do and exactly what is inside that magical box sitting in front of her. Yes I could have made them do this on the computer but I am afraid they may have looked up the answers on Wikipedia and no real thinking would have taken place. I did extend the task by getting them to write up the definitions on a word processor then expand on these using web searches, but only by writing in their own words! In other lessons I have got students to do some internet research then physically write in a Venn diagram the differences and similarities of vector and bitmap images. I have also printed out grids with different cards that have images of electronic devices on them so groups can sort them into those they think are computers and those that are not. This extra stage of learning, away from the computer, gets the students thinking and they no longer seem to repeat parrot fashion the first thing they see on the first website they find.

No longer can the students be seen as data repositories but can use their brains to move them forward rather than some online encyclopaedia entry they do not really understand. So what I would say to any ICT and Computing teachers, nay anyone teaching in an computer room, is not to just give students tasks to do but remove them from the computer and make them think. Do not give in to the constant moaning about how they are in an ICT lesson or computer room so should be on the machine in front of them. Finally, print things out, laminate them, imagine you are in Geography or English where you do not have the luxury of a computer. These colleagues in different subjects come up with creative and innovative ideas, sometimes we need to take a leaf out of their book rather than defaulting back to PowerPoint. I hope this post makes you think about your lessons and if you follow these points you may just find that when they get onto the computers the students are producing far better work.