How to start integration of your lessons with ICT

If you are a teacher in primary,secondary or any other institution of learning you must have used ICT to teach. Are you sure you were doing it effectively? Let's find out.

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

There are many ways and devices an instructor can use with the current technology while teaching and therefore it's not a straight jacket kind of thing, technology is evolving
daily. The instructor must ensure that the technology will not be the focus but an enabler or simplified to the learning process.
The most common way is to use presentation software like MS. PowerPoint, Libre Impress in a device connected to a projector and run the slides.
The use of presentation software with a projector is not ideal but it has very many advantages and features that you can not ignore it. We shall discuss some of the features and how best to make use of slides to maximize pedagogy and hence a hmm interact lesson.

projector -

Photo by Arūnas Naujokas on Unsplash

Features .

1. Laying out content in Presentations helps facilitate a structure to guide teaching and learning.
2. Laying out content using a template or slide place holders helps to avoid excessive use of text (a common problem when using transparencies).
3. Inserting a careful mix of multimedia (images, animations, video, sound, etc.) can support different learning preferences.
4. The electronic file format allows easy distribution to, and manipulation by, students.
   If converting old class notes to Presentations, many teachers create too many text-heavy slides.
   Revisions can easily be performed and are cost effective to distribute (unlike paper handouts).
5. Additional information can be hidden in the presentation, useful in providing colleagues with background information or explaining more fully cryptic notes to students for revision.  Source: Commonwealth of Learning and Guyana In-Service (2012) ICT in Education for Teachers at: http://colccti.colfinder.org/sites/default/files/guyana/index.html
   
    
   

   How to get your lesson resource 

   The advantages mentioned above will work if some technical skills and prior testing has been done.
   Some of  the  easy ways to get teaching resources is to use those that have been prepared by others and shared through many channels like WhatApp groups, educational sites like https://ictlessons.org, directly through storage media such as flashdisks. Another source is to search and download the topic you want since, others were there before you and made them and uploaded as PowerPoint files. To get such files you need to do the following.
   
   1. Type the key word on your search engine like google https://www.google.com/homepage/search
   2. In addition type + ppt.  For example Mitosis + ppt
   3. Press  enter and get several options. Select the one you think best fits what you want, save it and use it in your class.
   This approach however may not always work because the content may not be appropriate for your students although its a quick and easy way to have a lesson presentation up and running
   In my next post I will describe how and what to do if you want to make your own original lesson presentation