Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

Introduction

This policy document sets out the school’s aims, principles and strategy for the teaching of ICT in our school, and it will form the basis for the development of ICT in the school over the next 2 years. Information and Communications  Technology (ICT) is defined as any equipment which enables users to communicate or to manipulate information electronically, and it encompasses computers, calculators, electronic musical instruments, audio and video recorders, telephone, fax machines and digital cameras.

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Vision Statement, Mission Statement, Aims and Objectives

Vision Statement

St.Colmcille's B.N.S. Swords will provide appropriate ICT resources so that some of the educational needs of our pupils and other members of the school community can be met through the use of present and emerging Information and Communication Technologies.

Mission Statement

Our goal is to produce learners who are confident and effective users of ICT.

General Aims

We will seek to achieve this goal by:

• Helping the pupils to use ICT with purpose and enjoyment
• Helping the pupils to develop the necessary skills to exploit ICT
• Helping the pupils to become autonomous users of ICT
• Helping the pupils to evaluate the benefits of ICT
• Enabling children with special needs to approach learning through other media
• Enabling children to communicate with other children world-wide and exchange information and experiences through the use of the Internet
• Using ICT to develop partnerships beyond the school
• Celebrating success in the use of ICT
• Identifying current ICT educational strategies.
• Making training available to every staff member
• Developing educational schemes for the various levels in the school
• Providing the necessary hardware and software
• Encouraging community involvement in the educational process.

General Rationale for the use of ICT as an educational tool.

• To promote a positive attitude to technology
• To use computers as tools to enhance further learning
• To facilitate cross-curricular learning
• To develop basic keyboard skills.
• To promote imagination and creativity.
• To develop problem-solving skills.
• To motivate children to collect, enter and interpret data.
• To encourage children to communicate effectively.
• To generate cross-cultural and international links through the use of  e-mail
• To develop project management and presentational skills.
• To develop co-operative skills through participation in ICT projects that demand the pooling of skills and interactive development of  ideas and material.

Goals

• To make pupils comfortable and reasonably proficient with the computer as a new educational resource.
• To provide regular access to the ICT facilities for all pupils in the school.
• To ensure that the computer training given to the pupils is relevant to their needs.
• To enable pupils to use certain software packages
• To train pupils in the use of the Internet, E-mail and WWW facilities.
• To give pupils the technical skills to make them independently responsible for their continued use of computers
• To encourage our pupils to link educationally with other schools, via e-mail
• To promote co-operative skills as part of the work ethic of the children.

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Roles and Responsibilities

Role of Board of Management

• Provide funding for purchase of hardware and software within the context of overall school budget

Role of Principal Teacher

• Ensure that overall policies are adhered to, including adherence to copyright and data protection legislation
• Oversee the implementation and evaluation of ICT policy in the school
• Ensure that appropriate staff development opportunities are made available
• Secure adequate funding for repairs, maintenance, upgrade of software and hardware from overall school budget
• Support and assist the ICT co-ordinator and class teachers in the implementation of the policy

Role of ICT Co-ordinator

• Recommend a range of ICT activities which work in a variety of situations
• Create opportunities for teacher training and development in ICT within school
• Diagnose equipment faults
• Advise teachers with regard to the nature of ICT capability within the context of the implementation of the Primary School Curriculum (1999)
• Keep up to date with developments in ICT
• Recommend appropriate software for use by pupils and teachers
• Manage the school’s computers and the network
• Provide classroom-based ICT support for teachers
• Assist in the design of school development plan for ICT
• Compile and produce timetables for the use of ICT equipment
• Deliver ICT skills to all pupils  in the school
• Advise on the purchase of distribution of ICT equipment throughout the school
• Monitor and assess the uses of ICT made by the pupils
• Ensure that there a balanced delivery of ICT capability across the curriculum
• Represent the school at meetings for ICT co-ordinators
• Work with colleagues in other schools
• Negotiate the purchase of site licences
• Attend ICT courses
• Keep a catalogue of hardware and software available in school
• Download relevant software and other materials from the Internet
• Provide advice for parents and teachers with regard to purchases for home use
• Install copies of software on school’s computers and on network
• Provide a replacement plant for ICT equipment
• Provide courses for parents
• Post newsletters on website

It would not have been possible to have provided the ICT facilities nor maintained the ICT programme if a policy decision had not been made to appoint one teacher with specific responsibility for ICT. The continued success of the ICT programme will depend on the continuation of a dedicated ICT position within this school.

Role of All Other Teachers

The role of staff is crucial in the implementing of policy. It is recognised that teachers have undergone training outside of school hours, and their good will in this regard is appreciated

• Supervise pupils at all times in the computer room
• Plan and implement a balanced programme
• Keep records of pupils’ levels of attainment in ICT
• Use the computer as a teaching tool to facilitate curricular areas
• Ensure that every child is given an opportunity to use the computer
• Be aware of safety factors in computer room
• Ensure that pupils leave computer room in a clean and tidy condition

Role of Pupils

• All pupils in the school will be given the opportunity to use computers for at least one hour per week
• Pupils are expected to obey school rules while they are in the computer room. Eating and drinking are forbidden in the computer room.
• Pupils are not allowed to bring their own CD, games or discs in order to minimise the risk of importing viruses or of infringing copyright
• Pupils will leave the computer room neat and tidy for the next class

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Typical desired ICT Knowledge Base for children on leaving St Colmcille’s BNS

• Information: That the children have been enabled to access and retrieve digital information
• Applications: That the children have been enabled to communicate information  in digital format. They have been taught a variety of applications and related concepts to enable them to do this (See appended list)
• Software: That the content of the academic curriculum and ICT have been integrated by the use of appropriate software

Computer Scheme Revised 2006

Much has changed in ICT since 1998. This is the suggested direction for 2006 onwards taking our resources into account. Our main resources are:

• High speed internet ( 5 meg downstream)
• Office 2003 – Word, Publisher, PowerPoint etc.- under school licensing agreement
• Hardware – about 90 working computers networked plus printing and file sharing
• Maths Software – Numbershark scheme
• Language Software – Wordshark scheme, Starspell 2001
• Early Language Software – Clicker 4, Storymaker 2, Type To Learn
• Miscellaneous XP compatible Software – Circus 1,2,3, Paint, Infant programmes etc.
• Encarta Encyclopaedia – Junior and Senior
• Projector and whiteboard in computer room

When we look at this it becomes clear that one of our main interests is driving and processing internet usage to access information, as well as presenting, editing and redrafting the information in one or another of the content free software packages above. It doesn’t take the children long to acquire the computer skills to do this, and the particular skills needed are refreshed and revisited every year. But, the real value as always will be the class teacher’s input and direction, because this is the main factor that has relevance to the pupil’s learning. We are leaving behind any overdependence we may have had on software packages which were mostly compatible with early versions of windows. And our increased Internet speed is capable of giving simultaneous windows on all the computers without any delay.

Internet Usage

Internet usage is always supervised. Children may only use the Internet while a teacher is in close proximity. The teacher is always vigilant and aware of the situation. The teacher is generally aware of the current Internet site. All the computers have www.yahooligans.com defaulted as the homepage. This will guarantee safe surfing. For older children www.google.ie is available in the favourites. Google’s safe search is configured for strict filtering. While this is generally safe, it is not foolproof, and teachers should perform a Google search prior to the children undertaking the search in a lesson situation. If children access a place where they plainly should not be, we always explain about Internet safety. Teachers will make their own decision about which pupils are allowed visit which sites. A pupil should ask permission if he wants to type an address into the address bar. The teacher will decide on inspecting a site homepage, if the site is suitable or not, for that particular pupil. One of the sanctions for pupils who wilfully misuse the Internet is withdrawal of access to the Internet for that pupil.

Since our Internet speed has improved, teachers have reported the Internet to be most useful doing the following:

• Enhancing existing lessons from the class Geography Textbook
• Acquiring more information about historical figures
• Gathering extra information about scientific themes – Volcanoes, Solar system, the Human Body etc.
• Younger children collecting images of dinosaurs, bicycles, animals and insects etc.
• Local History information from the school website
• Use of Flash or Shockwave games as a reward bonus for work done

Overview on Skills and Main Content Free Packages

The skills needed to browse effectively are quickly learned from about Senior Infants and on a need to know basis.

• Correct spelling in the Search Engine
• Click on a link and be patient – when the pointer turns into a hand
• Use of back and forward button for navigating
• Use homepage
• Enlarging and reducing image sizes
• Right-click and copy to put image on to clipboard
• Select text and right click and copy to put text on to clipboard
• Use scroll bar or scroll pointers or mouse wheel to move up and down page
• Type correct web addresses
• View – text size- to change font size
• Always be patient
• Encourage the children to read a short paragraph silently and then ask key questions
• Value any information that is found independently
• Organise collected information, prioritise it as the basis for a continued lesson

Microsoft Word

Content-free packages are software packages where we can put our own information, manipulate it, edit it, format it, save and retrieve it. We teach a working amount of technical detail about Word, Publisher and PowerPoint, from Second Class. We revisit the same technical skills every year and the children become very accomplished by Sixth Class. The teacher’s focus is now almost exclusively on the content of the child’s work, on the drafting and redrafting. We teach the following technical details for Word:

• Save, name, retrieve and print a document
• Show, hide and move menu bar, standard bar, formatting bar, draw bar
• Typing: insert and delete words and letters
• Typing: use of backspace and return to alter page spaceTyping: we do not apply any formatting until all text is typed
• Use of spellchecker
• Use of thesaurus
• Use of word count
• Use of all the features on the formatting bar-fonts, font size, etc.
• Use of  the main features on the standard bar, particularly the zoom
• Show and hide headers and footers
• Paste images, float images, resize images
• Insert clipart and word art and other features on drawbar
• Using textboxes and resizing text
• Using multiple pages

Publisher

Many of the skills required for this desk top publishing programme are generic and the children recognise them from Word. The main advantage that Publisher has over Word is that it is designed to layout pages accurately at the discretion of the author. We teach the following technical details for publisher:

• Save, name, retrieve and print a document
• Show, hide and move menu bar, standard bar, formatting bar, draw bar and objects bar
• Page setup – portrait and landscape
• Arrange layout guides – grid guides
• Insert text boxes- apply formatting and resizing of boxes and text
• Insert picture frames – apply formatting and resizing
• Use draw features – lines, ellipses etc.
• Insert clip art – apply formatting
• Paste  pictures from another source – apply formatting
• Insert word art –apply formatting
• Zoom function ( or f9) is used constantly
• Insert page or multiple pages, move between pages
• Paste text from another source –apply formatting
• Typing: all typing is done in textboxes- same protocols as Word

PowerPoint

When the children encounter PowerPoint they are already familiar with many of the generic ideas. They have practised them in Word and Publisher. The advantage of PowerPoint is that it enables the children to produce dynamic slide shows as well as the printing of static slides. With the use of the Internet the children will produce unlimited slide shows in PowerPoint. We teach the following technical details for PowerPoint:

• Toggle between Normal view and Slide Sorter view
• View – Restore Panes or Thumbnails
• Insert – New Slide
• Apply Slide Layout
• Format Slide – paste image from another source
• Format Slide – type, edit, redraft text and format text
• Format Slide – insert text from another source
• Format Slide – insert clipart
• Format Slide – insert word art
• Format Slide – insert drawing features
• In Slide Sorter View – reorder the slides
• In Slide Sorter View – apply transitions
• In Slide Sorter View – apply designs
• Slide Show – play
• File Print – Handouts 2,3,4,6,9 slides to page

Numbershark:

Numbershark contains a full mathematical skills programme from Junior Infants to Sixth. It also has a section on word problems. At every level it offers a selection of games dealing with Counting and Sorting, Numeric Concepts, Arithmetic Concepts, Number Line and Grid, Place Value, Mental Arithmetic and Practice. In total, it has forty one games, but all are not offered at every level. When a level is selected, the child plays the nominated games and his scores and errors are aggregated over the session. Teachers have reported that:

• The scores often reflect their own assessment of the child’s mathematical ability
• Weaker children respond far more enthusiastically to doing maths in this way
• The motivation of the stronger children is greater because they want to achieve higher and higher scores
• The diagnostic design of the programme is particularly suitable for individualised schemes

Before maximum use can be made of the package the children must know:

• How each game works so that they can focus exclusively on  the content
• How to go to the nominated level at the start of the lesson (search f9)
• How to change levels quickly (search f9)
• How to return to the Homepage (esc) and move to a new game
• How to monitor their score, errors, time, speed and options

Before maximum use can be made of the package the Teacher must know:

• How to toggle the help button (f1)
• If needs be, how to log on and off as an administrator – user and password- admin, admin.
• How to print multiple worksheets of a lesson – print sums and options
• How to keep track of any score and games played- Settings and View Games Played
• In addition, Support Teachers will be familiar with the manual and know how to set up an individualised programme of learning

Wordshark

Wordshark offers a phonic or word building programme from Junior Infants to Adults. The specific games are designed to teach and reinforce Word Recognition, Spelling, Sounds and Letter Patterns, Splitting –Up words, Matching and Sequences, Alphabet and Dictionary Work. It has thirty six games, but all are not offered at each level. It offers hints, peeps, prompts and keeps track of scores, errors and general progress. Teachers report:

• Great satisfaction at the standard of games offered
• Difficulty at matching the right levels to the pupils
• Having to have a few levels in operation during a session due to differentiation within a class group
• Great delight among the pupils once the pace of a session is set correctly

Before maximum use can be made of the package the children must know:

• How each game works so that they can focus exclusively on  the content
• How to go to the nominated level at the start of the lesson (search f9)
• How to change levels quickly (search f9)
• How to return to the Homepage (esc) and move to a new game
• How to monitor their score, errors, time, speed and options

Before maximum use can be made of the package the Teacher must know:

• How to toggle the help button (f1)
• If needs be, how to log on and off as an administrator – user and password- admin
• How to print the wordlist for a particular level and do follow-up work
• How to keep track of any score and games played- Settings and View Games Played
• In addition, Support Teachers will be familiar with the manual and know how to set up an individualised programme of learning

Starspell 2001

There is a spoken sentence to give a context for every single word in the program. Other features include Onset and Rime lists, extra games, enhanced list editing and record-keeping. Can print out worksheets for further practice. If you are learning to spell, Starspell 2.3 can help. It will form an invaluable and fulfilling part of a comprehensive approach to spelling. Its learning activities are based on the well-tried Look-Cover-Write-Check approach to spelling, with the advantage that the words are spoken (by a human voice). They are set in a framework which provides for the development of knowledge about sounds and letters.  It draws on the latest ideas about the learning of spelling. A major strength is the set of spelling lists, which impart unique order to English spelling, and provide a graded progression for the learner. You can record your own spelling lists as well. With Starspell 2.3 you will learn:

• Ways to use Starspell 
• The purpose behind each step in the basic Starspell learning activity
• When and why to customise the learning activity
• Why teach spelling?
• Ingredients of a good spelling programme
• The first ingredient: provision for individual learning
• The second ingredient: working along with a writing curriculum
• The third ingredient: balancing approaches
• The fourth ingredient: organisation
• The fifth ingredient: relevance
• About the contents of the lists

There are many reviews available for this programme, but essentially the Teacher needs to match the lists to her class and the pupils have to be able to navigate quickly to the nominated list. Two bonus games are provided as an extra for every list and these are excellent because they include a piece of cloze writing. Multiple worksheets can be printed from any list. There are two main databases of words, approximately 12,000 words in all. The wordlists are available on a separate file, and we may be compiling a spelling book from them.

Storymaker 2

This software can be easily integrated with the language programmes for Senior Infants, First Class and Second Class. We teach the children the required amount of technical detail to operate the many facets of the software, but the Class Teacher must seize the opportunity and impose curriculum content at every turn. For instance, Senior Infants may be able to type labels or single words onto their pages, thus they have to know about the spacebar, backspace, upper and lower case; First Class may be able to progress to sentences, using capital letters and full stops; Second Class could aspire to sequential sentences on different pages, thus providing the narrative for their animations. We must also note that the generic skills learnt at this level are crucial when we progress to Microsoft Software in later classes. We teach the following technical details for Storymaker 2, and we revisit it each year in the above classes:

• Insert a background
• Insert a stamp, move and resize a stamp
• Collect stamps from a particular topic and reposition on the page
• Flip stamps and animate stamps
• Cut stamps, copy and paste stamps, chain stamps
• Switch between edit and play modes
• Apply all the stamp skills to sprites as well
• Insert speech bubble
• Type and edit text in speech bubbles
• Play speech bubbles
• Use spell-check
• Explore sounds database
• Apply a sound to a sprite or stamp
• Create new pages and navigate through the pagesInsert and resize geometric shapes
• Insert an image from another sourceBring stamps to front or rearEnlarge or reduce speech bubblesChange fonts- change font colour-change font backgroundPrint story – with options
• Prepare theme of lesson with children

Navigation

The software can be grouped into

• Ready-made stories. These allow children to read, click and listen as they move from page to page
• Story Starters are provided as a stimulus to get children started and thus build on them to finish the story
• The main emphasis is on story making. Clicking on "create a story" brings children into the "making a story" screen.
  The icons are child-friendly. The toolbar reflects the standard toolbar in " Microsoft Word" The menu bar has only 5 menus - File, Edit, Stamps, Page and Help The "Help" menu is very useful in that there are very good tutorials. It guides the learner in simple step by step instructions. There is a website for story maker offering stories, which can be shared with others giving access to a wider range of stories.

Type to Learn

Twenty two graded typing lessons. Good drill and practice software. Lessons six to twenty two have an extra warpspeed feature where typing speed is measured. This software has value for about 15-20 minutes of any session. Start from Second Class with the correct fingering. Any class can pick up on the lessons at any point. Repeating the lessons has good value.

• New Frontiers: keyboard instruction in a drill format
• Games: keyboarding practice in four game categories
• Notepad: practice using a simple word processor
• Warpspeed: a speed-building exercise.

Type to Learn keeps records and allows you to customize the program for each child. Up to 5 children can have records at any time. Customizing the software includes:

• speed goal in words per minute

• accuracy goal percentage

• size of text on the lesson screen (large, small or mixed)

• vocabulary level (primary or advanced)

Paint

This is a useful programme for all levels. Files can be saved as jpegs, exported and resized into other programmes. Images can be imported from other sources and modified. Many commercial packages in this genre are available but for teaching purposes Paint is just as good and is shipped free with the operating system. We teach the following technical details for Paint, but lesson themes must generally be associated with the child’s ongoing classroom work:

• Use brush with different tips and colours
• Use pencil with different colours
• Clear the page – image-clear image
• Use straight line function – different thicknesses and colour
• Use curved line- different thicknesses and colour
• Use rectangle function
• Use polygon function
• Use ellipse function
• Use of fill can
• Use of spray can
• Use of eraser
• Use of magnifier
• Use of select tool to cut or copy and paste
• Paste image from another source
• Use of View to retrieve lost tool box or colour box
• Save image as Gif or Jpeg only

Clicker 4 or 5

Teachers wishing to use the above software, inform ICT coordinator, who will run sample tutorials with the class.

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Junior Infants

• The work in Information Technology with pupils in Junior Infants   revolves around introducing computers formally to children. It is firmly rooted to the content of specific software, which in turn must be closely matched to their class work. When the software content exceeds the normal expectations for this level, we consider it an advantage, since it provides the quicker pupils with an opportunity to progress at their own pace. This individualised learning is a feature which we value and computers have made its development possible and easy
• The children can manipulate the mouse to move a pointer on the screen, left click to select something or make something happen, click, hold and drag left button to move an icon or object.
• The children can double click to open an application as well as exit
• The children can recognise when an application is not responding and signal for help.

The following software titles will be used for Junior Infants, because they are easily taught and correlate closely with the curricular content in these classes.

Note

The ICT coordinator will deliver tutorials to teachers, if they are unsure about any of the content above.

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Senior Infants

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First Class

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Second Class

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Third Class

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Fourth Class Scheme of Work

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Fifth  and Sixth Class Scheme of Work

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Software: 2006 – 2007

1. Rainforests
2. The book of Kells
3. 75 years radio
4. Money go round (euro)
5. Cead coisceim
6. World atlas
7. Vikings
8. 1798 rebellion
9. Baily’s Bookhouse
10. Strategy (maths)
11. punctuation
12. History Ireland’s millennia
13.  Geoaze (geography)
14. Type to Learn
15. Plean Scoile (colmcilles)
16. Literacy bank 3
17. Speaking starspell
18. Grammar
19. Sammy science
20. Storymaker
21. Clicker 4
22. Wellington square 1-5
23. Maths circus 1,2,and 3
24. Microsoft office 2000
25. Staroffice 6
26. Wordshark
27. Numbershark

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Internet

Second to Sixth
Always available on all computers. The children are taught basic browsing skills. They operate from Yahooligans home page (restricted search engine).Text files and graphics are saved across the network in their individual class folders, and later printed. School site is used for web chat. Children's work is put on school web site. Children are allowed time to visit their own favourite web sites. As in all access media,  teacher input is vital, so preparation  and teacher direction always yield far greater results from the net. The class teacher will always decide web issues for their own class.

Policies on Pupils’ Use of Internet

Responsible use policies on the use of the Internet and e-mail will ensure the safety of children. Internet access for children will be supervised at all times. Go Link software will be used to ensure that pupils do not have the opportunity to access unsuitable sites. Inadvertent access to unsuitable material will be reported. ‘Netnanny’ type software will be utilised and “Chat room” access will  be limited.

Note re Internet Access.

Please complete and return to your son’s teacher

 Internet Permission Form

Name of Pupil: _____________________________   Class:__________________

Pupil

I agree to comply with school rules on the use of  the Internet. I will observe all of the restrictions on the use of the Internet which were explained to me in school.

Pupil’s signature: _____________________________

Date: __________________

Parent (s)

I (we) have read the Acceptable Use Policy statement, and I grant permission for my son to access the Internet. I understand that the school cannot be held responsible if pupils access unsuitable websites, but that every reasonable precaution has been taken by the teachers and the school authorities to provide for online safety.

Parent(s) Signature: _____________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Date:____________________________

School Website

I understand that, my son’s school work and /or photograph may be chosen for inclusion on the school website, and published on the Internet. No personal details will be given with the pictures. The pupil continues to own the copyright to any work published. Please sign to confirm that you are aware of this.

Parent(s) Signature: _______________________________________

___________________________________________________

Internet Permission Form

Dear Parent(s),

As part of our Information Technology programme, we intend to offer pupils supervised access to the Internet. Before being allowed to use the Internet,  pupils must obtain your permission, and we ask that you sign the enclosed form as evidence of your approval and your acceptance of the school rules with regard to this matter.

The Internet will be used to further educational goals and objectives, but pupils may find ways, accidentally or intentionally, to access unsuitable material. We believe that the benefits to pupils from access to the Internet far outweigh any disadvantages.

During school, the teachers will guide pupils towards appropriate materials, and we will use Scoilnet as the starting point for Internet access. We intend to organise a school website, and it will contain information and pictures of school activities as well as pupils’ projects and artwork.

We would be grateful if you would read the enclosed guidance and then complete the permission form.

Yours sincerely,

_____________________

James Bennett (Principal)

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