Something I did at my old school was to list the skills and attributes for a child leaving my school. If they could meet all of the requirements, we’d done a good job. We wrote the original list 3 years ago, but what would be on the 2010 list? Although come to think of it, the list is for 2011 children at least!I think it is key to know what you want to achieve and then you can decide how to get there. What I will be doing is writing a ‘Year 6’ list, then adapting it for Year 2 and Year 4 to see how we’re doing. Ideally, children around Year 4/5 could do most of these things in a couple of years, but let’s walk first, running comes later.
Phil Bagge (@baggiepr) did an e-safety version here, which is fab, but I want mine to encompass all aspects of ICT including office software, web 2.0 and hardware.
Here’s what I’ve got so far:
So where are we going? We believe that the ICT competent child leaving us at the end of Year 6 will be:
- Confident in using Office-based programs e.g. Microsoft Office or Google Docs
- Proficient at using all software within school
- Able to present their learning in a variety of different ways
- Able to evaluate which software/web tool they will need for a particular task
- Able to solve minor trouble-shooting tasks e.g. no sound: check volume, check speakers are plugged in
- Record using audio/video equipment and transfer this to a PC/website
- Able to use email proficiently
- Manage their files and folders on the network, online and using USB Drives
- Understand how to stay safe online when talking to others online and in chat rooms, MSN etc
- Understand how to protect their online persona and think about how to use the internet safely
- Responsible for remembering usernames and passwords and keeping these secure
What I will be doing is breaking these down to plan my ICT. E.g. to ensure children work online safely, I will have to do X, Y and Z.
What would you add or remove from this list? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.
A thought provoking list Ian; thanks for sharing it. Personally I’d include a few more general skills, such as being able to research effectively and efficiently, evaluating and citing their sources, being able to work collaboratively and independently, being able to reflect on and improve their work, and to support their peers in is process.
I’d also add in some computing related stuff, such as having an understanding of ideas such as input, output, data, operating systems and the Internet, as well as some experience of programming.
Goog ideas, I will be adding those in. I definitely want them to be having some experience of programming whether it’s through 2DIY or Scratch. Thanks for your input.
I agree totally that we need to know where we are going before we plan the route. We also need to know where we are starting from.
The striking thing for me about your list is how many of those skills my staff don’t have. Passwords that everyone knows and an inability to do basic trouble shooting to name two. Isn’t it amazing how far we have developed ICT, we need to keep those goals high so our pupils are challenged!
Ah, it’ll probably be unwritten but I will be making sure the staff can all do these things too!
Great stuff =) I am going to try to think of some bits I would change.
Maybe:
“Understand how to protect their online persona and think about how to use the internet safely” could include something about building their persona online aswell as protecting it. Thinking along the lines of eportfolio, and using the internet as a tool to communicate. Also thinking about how frequently employers do an internet search on prospective employees.
‘build and protect a positive online persona’ would be better
I think that is a great idea, I have a list of wishlist of skills for my Year 6 students on a desktop postit. I often get frustrated because I just can’t teach all the skills & web2 tools I wish to. However my school ICT team had this list of skill indicators and want to assess for the board so I created this form. The list is progressive but here is the Year 6 list http://tinyurl.com/23h7ou9
I would like to play with a list that was broader in its scope, and less specific to tools, while still demanding a high level of competence.
For example, rather than “Confident in using Office-based programs e.g. Microsoft Office or Google Docs”, perhaps: proficient in a range of programs such as – …. and able to transfer knowledge and skills to learn a new program.
This would also mean I would take out “Proficient at using all software within school”.
My thinking is that I am constantly learning to use new tools, whether software or Web 2.0 tools. My need is to have the ability to use what I already know to work my way around a new tool, having decided it is the right one to meet my needs. That is the set of skills and attitude that I would like to foster as children progress through the school.
I also liked Miles Berry’s suggestions.
I was interested to see email in the list, as that is not something I have considered for children in the school setting.
Thanks for the list. It was thought provoking.
I love the idea of google docs for self-assessment. Any chance I can see the forms or have a copy?
I know what you mean and half of me thinks I shouldn’t mention which tool at all as I want them to have transferable skills but the truth is, if they can have a good grasp of office software and we’re talking Microsoft Office here, they’ll be able to survive and flourish at secondary school as well complete tasks set for them in school. I would be expecting this around Year 4/5, so in Year 5/6 we can really push for them to transfer these skills to other software and web2 sites.
I will be giving all Y3+ children an email account due to cloud computing. For me to share documents with them, they’ll need email. Year 1/2 will learn about it, but will probably just stick to a class account rather than individual accounts.
Glad it made you think though 🙂