Two great lessons with ICT today

First period, Y13 Physics. I gave them a presentation template in googledocs, with the main summary headings so they wouldn't go too far off topic. Then, I got them to research and find answers and summarise them and enter their results into the presentation. We had three laptops in the room between six of us, so some people were using the internet while others used books or summarised the ideas that the people using the internet were coming up with. Sadly, no one else had a gmail account, so we only had one person editing the presentation. Still, I think it was good, even though I can already tell that they're not really grasping the idea of wave-particle duality.

Second period, Y9 Electronics. We did e Learning Folio - an eLF - on the school platform. I used it with the last Y9 electronics class I taught and it was okay, but today it caught fire and the kids really enjoyed it. They have to do a quiz on simple circuit theory, then build their own circuit on another site. Then they take a screenshot of their circuit and paste it into a worddoc. I am always amazed that none of them know how to take a screenshot. Then they answer a few questions and submit it to me online. I finished it with a strategy game based on electricity supply and generation, which they loved.

My third class today, Y12 Physics, was entirely paper-based. I gave them a worksheet of explain and describe questions. I would love to do this online, with a poll, so we could collate the results and see the range of ways that the class describes or explains the same concept, but there was no way I could get the computer time *sighs* Maybe next year I will be organised further in advance and book the computers - we are so tight for space that I have to book about a month in advance. Or maybe we will get new computers.