Competency 8

Competency 8: To integrate information and communications technologies (ICT) in the preparation and delivery of teaching/learning activities and for instructional management and professional development purposes.

FEATURES

Exercises critical judgment regarding the real benefits and limitations of ICT as teaching and learning resources, and regarding the social issues they raise.
Assesses the instructional potential of computer applications and networking technology in relation to the development of the competencies targeted in the programs of study.
Communicates using various multimedia resources.
Uses ICT effectively to search for, interpret and communicate information and to solve problems.
Uses ICT effectively to build networks that facilitate information sharing and professional development with respect to his or her own field of teaching or teaching practice.
Helps students to familiarize themselves with ICT, to use ICT to carry out learning activities, to assess their own use of ICT, and to exercise critical judgment regarding the information they find on the Internet.

LEVEL OF MASTERY

By the end of his or her initial training, the student teacher should be able to:

Demonstrate critical judgment regarding the real benefits and limitations of ICT as teaching and learning resources;
Demonstrate a general understanding of the possibilities offered by ICT (and the Internet in particular) for teaching and learning, and know how to integrate ICT in a functional manner into teaching/learning activities, when appropriate;
Use ICT effectively in different aspects of his or her intellectual and professional life: communication, research, information processing, evaluation, interaction with colleagues or experts, etc.;
Effectively transmit the ability to use ICT to his or her students in order to support the collective construction of learning in a well‐ structured, critical manner.

Due to the fact that 4/6 of my groups had laptops with them due to their program, I was able to use ICT with them often!

The students really loved Kahoot.it (see my Kahoots here) and Jeopardy, and I used it often to review for tests with them. This would "soften the blow", so to speak, and even learning the driest topics through the games was a treat for them.

I also used the laptops as part of instruction to get students working. For example, I taught a lesson about multiple intelligences in order to get the students to see that we all learn in different ways. I had them do this online test along with comprehension questions (see the first side of the sheet) to prime them on the concept. They were quite engrossed in the activity and even typically talkative classes worked quietly to complete the quiz with little to no management on my part.

I believe I have achieved thorough mastery of this competency.