As I said in a previous article about it, Switched-On ICT is the name of the primary (elementary) scheme of work I've been involved with, as Series Editor. That role has entailed advising on assessing pupils' ICT capability, and helping to make sure that the instructions and assessment opportunities and statements are both consistent and accurate.
The text is engaging, with topics such as We Are Explorers, and makes full use of Web 2.0 and other free applications as well as schools' Learning Platforms. Here is a list of what I see as its strengths:
- It has been written by Miles Berry, an expert in ICT who trains primary school teachers at Roehampton University (Christina Kelly, who wrote the BETT review for the Computers in Classrooms newsletter, is one of his students);
- I have been involved in the role of Series Editor;
- It has been sponsored, in a non-financial sense, by Dave Smith and Havering’s ICT Support Service;
- It has been trialled by schools in Havering and elsewhere, and expert feedback received;
- It is being published by Rising Stars, a company with a proven track record in educational publishing;
- It is very closely aligned to the ICT Programme of Study of the National Curriculum of England and Wales;
- It is closely tied in with the 5 principles of Every Child Matters;
- It has built-in assessment opportunities, aligned with both the ICT Attainment Targets and Assessing Pupils’ Progress;
- It comes with advice on assessing ICT capability, how-to guides and resources;
- Each unit has a main teaching idea, plus ideas for variations, extension work and addressing inclusion;
- Each unit contains ideas for exploring other resources, websites and further reading;
- Each unit contains copious examples of where links with other areas of the curriculum could be made.