ENHANCED SCHOOL EXPERIENCE: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION OF ICT USE

Name of School: Hillgrove Secondary School

Class: 2E3 (Secondary 2 Express)

Profile of the class:

There were 42 students in the class. Majority of the students in this class were average scoring students in Literature. However, there were students who scored very well while there was a handful who did not do very well. The class is generally a vocal class, especially the boys. They engage in discussions and contribute ideas to lessons. However, there were some students in the class who were very quiet and not as actively engaged as their classmates. This could possibly mean that they may not have been able grasp certain ideas that were discussed in class.  

Subject:

What ICT tools are used in the lesson?

It is a one computer classroom, with the teacher bringing in her own laptop. The teacher showed a YouTube clip entitled, ‘The lad in their Hundreds’.

Describe how ICT is used for teaching and learning in this lesson.

This was a Literature lesson. Students already had prior knowledge of the poem, The Lad in their Hundreds, that they were discussing.

The main objectives of the lesson are as follows:

-          Students are to understand the setting of the poem.

-          Students are to identify the elements of rhythm, rhyme and tone.

-          Students are to be able to understand how the effect of the solemn tone of the poem is achieved.

To meet the first objective of the lesson, the teacher provided background information on the poet. The students then engaged in choral reading and information on the setting of the poem was elicited from the students by the teacher.

To meet the second objective ICT was used. When students are told to do choral reading, there were certain problems. Firstly, they did not read loudly and clearly and hence, mumbling through the poem. Secondly, some students did not fully participate in choral reading. As it was essential that a proper reading of the poem was done so that it was easier to understand the elements of rhythm, rhyme and tone, the teacher played the YouTube video of the poem being recited with background music. The video had images of the war and graphically explained each stanza of the poem. This was done after the teacher had explained and written on the board what are the elements of poetry they were to focus upon.

When the students first heard the video, they found it funny as it sounded ‘old-fashioned’ to them. Hence, they were not able to fully grasp the details on the elements of poetry. The teacher, thus, played it once more. The second time the teacher played the students were more attentive. They were immediately able to point out the rhyme scheme and the tone of the poem. This was due to the fact that the reader in the video and the background music was able to provide the students with the way in which the poem was to be read. Students, however, found it slightly difficult to identify the rhythm of the poem. The teacher then played a segment of the video and asked students to pay attention on comparing each line of the stanza to one another. After this, the students were able to identify the similar rhythm in each line.

The third objective was achieved as a discussion led by the teacher, while referring to the YouTube video. After discovering the answers to the rhythm and tone of the poem, the students were able to understand the connection between the two elements much more easily. The students who were more confident in Literature were able to stretch theirs and their friends’ understanding by drawing the connection between the solemn tone of the poem and the images of war shown in the video. This was possible due to the presence of the video that combined both the auditory and visual aspects of the poem.

General Observations:

How do teachers in the school feel about the use of ICT for teaching and learning?

Generally the teachers in the school were quite welcoming to the idea of using ICT for teaching and learning. The school leaders were always attempting to lead the school and the department into increasing the use of ICT during lessons. Teachers were encouraged to do one lesson study using ICT during the academic year.

The Literature department was very active in using ICT for the teaching and learning of Literature. After the introduction of this video, the students were to make their own podcast for the next poem they were to learn. They were to use the video played in this lesson as a reference. Hence, this ICT lesson did not become a standalone lesson. There were also plans to make the students make a video as part of the attempt to help them understand the genre of plays.