The role of GEST in developing IT resources
As a teacher concerned to give your pupils the best
opportunity possible to gain Information Technology skills, the new system of
Grants for Education Support and Training (GEST) may offer you an opportunity
to develop the provision in your school. If you are to be inspected under
OFSTED procedures, why not try to turn this event to your advantage?
IT across the curriculum
Inspectors will not only look at the way that IT is taught to pupils but will
look to see how it is used across the curriculum, and will also judge the
general standard of your pupils' IT skills. There will be a paragraph in the
inspection report about IT and, in the main findings, the levels of skill
which your pupils show will be reported together with their skills in
literacy and numeracy. This may give you the arguments that you need to
unlock the resources of GEST and take a further step forward in developing IT
in your school.
"You cannot do justice to the interests and needs of your pupils simply
by offering the usual office product with a restricted suite of software
which is used by the small business", one OFSTED inspector points out.
"Pupils deserve to work in an environment which will prepare them for
whatever IT challenge they will meet in years to come."
Generic skills
Increasingly employers and parents expect young adults
to have good IT skills. You need to be sure that your pupils have the best
opportunity to develop them. This does not mean providing narrow IT training
centred on just one item of software which is currently popular in industry,
nor does it mean instruction on how to work the basic machines of today.
Young adults need generic skills which they can apply in whatever software
and hardware environment they may subsequently find themselves and those
skills that allow them to be truly creative. This means having the ability
and the equipment to solve their own problems in the work they undertake in
any area of the curriculum.
Your flexible friend
The flexibility of Acorn Risc PC computers and the massive range of powerful
educational software available for them set Acorn solutions apart. Other
manufacturers find it difficult to provide access to the same choice of
curriculum, vocational and creative software.
If you need to improve what is provided in your school, Acorn offers a
secure route to pupils having the highest IT skills / flexible skills which
can be applied in whatever IT context they are likely to encounter.
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© 1995 Acorn Computer Group plc.
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