One of my challenges during professional experience was to develop effective timing for lessons. When my supervising teacher proposed that poetry types should be taught in one English session, I struggled to imagine how this will be achieved. I then realised that my students are digital natives (I recognised and planned to utilise my student’s expertise in ICT) who would welcome the integration of technology into our English lesson (I incorporated ICT into my normal classroom practice).

 

The plan was to create a resource as a whole class on Google slides which can be used as a reference to explain different types of poetry. I modelled my expectations then grouped and asked students to gather the information using the internet and design the presentation creatively (one slide per group). During the lesson, I was visiting groups to scaffold learning, explicitly teaching ICT as needed (using questions such as: Is the website you used reliable? How do you know? How can you make your slide more interactive? What tools can you use to upload photos into your slides?).

 

Vygotsky claimed that cultural tools such as language shape the behaviour and thinking of members of a certain cultural group (Karpov, 2014). Modern ICT’s such as smart tablets, internet connectivity and computers could be said to be cultural tools of our modern society, and their inclusion in our classrooms is therefore essential (Duchesne & McMaugh, 2016). 

 

Furthermore, the Alice Springs Education Declaration (2019), stresses the necessity to prepare children to thrive in a time of rapid technological change and emphasises the importance of ICT literacy in the formation of confident and successful learners. Implementing ICT effectively in my classroom is not only an essential skill in our current society but also a legislative requirement (Fleer, 2016).

 

My students enjoyed the process of researching novel information and worked collaboratively to creatively design a visually appealing slide show. In my future classrooms, I will continue to use ICT teaching strategies and online digital resources to further challenge/engage my learners (Words: 320).