Home Economics and ICT
In August 2003 The Learning Centre began work with the Home Economics Department at Bellshill Academy on how to introduce ICT into the curriculum. Pupils came to the Learning Centre having already received a brief for the Design and Make Project, to design something to hold their pens, pencils, erasers etc. Fabric would be provided as the material for the solution.
The pupils' task was to research which fabric would be most suitable as well as coming up with a good design for the look of the item and its decoration.
Developing ideas and formulating a plan is an important stage at the beginning of any project, to make this more inspiring Mind mapping software was introduced. Mind mapping was already a visual thinking technique used by the department, but was previously completed on paper. Using Inspiration, the pupils were able to formulate and organise their ideas on screen using shape; colour and pictures.
Click here to try the drag & drop worksheet.
From existing paper resources a micro website which consisted of web based worksheets was designed to teach pupils more about fabric properties. Pupils logged into the site and then worked through a range of different exercises which included open ended questions, multiple choice and tick box questions, as well as drag and drop exercises. After each work sheet was complete the answers were sent to a central database where the Teacher could check the answers and print them out from their own classroom.
Pupils could also access websites chosen by the teacher that gave information on Fabric Properties. There was also the opportunity to use the Internet to get inspiration for the design element of the project. This is always an aspect that is enjoyed by the pupils.
Some examples of pupils work
Here are some pupil quotes:
"Better than being in the classroom"
Cameron
"Being on the computer made you think harder"
Stacey
"Better than writing, going on the computer is good"
Ross
"It was good learning on the computer, mind mapping and stuff"
Paul
"It was good fun learning it was a laugh, but I still got my work done"
Chris
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