Tried and tested ideas from the classroom
Working with the more able in ICT
by Terry Freedman
When it comes to working with gifted and talented children in ICT, we have a bit of a problem: we don’t know who they are.
True, you could simply take the children who are really good at English and Maths and ignore the rest, and you’d probably end up with a relatively small group of pupils designated as 'Gifted and Talented'.
The only trouble with that approach, though, is that it’s likely to be wrong – in the sense that you would not necessarily end up with the most gifted and talented youngsters in the group.
So the very first thing you have to do, in my experience, is empty your mind of any preconceptions.
That child who is always disruptive could be a computing genius in disguise. That one who hardly ever communicates might be absolutely brilliant in a particular area of ICT. That boy who is painfully shy in every social situation may be the most animated person you’ve seen once you put them in front of a screen.
Before looking at some examples of this sort of thing, let’s step back for a moment and ask ourselves a question. What is so special about ICT that could lead to children who are labelled as having special educational needs in general being accorded gifted and talented status in ICT?
For a start, the computer is seen as objective and non-judgemental, and that immediately reduces the fear of failing or, more precisely, being seen to fail.
Secondly, the great thing about ICT in all its forms is that it allows you to make mistakes without suffering from dire consequences. An obvious example is in programming. If a boffin working on the driverless Dockland Light Railway made a syntax error, people might die. If you make a mistake whilst programming a Beebot, all that happens is that it will stop short of its destination or bump into a chair leg!
Examples of pupils who have done outstandingly – and perhaps surprisingly – well in ICT include:
- Daniel, an autistic boy who hardly spoke, but who became the go-to person in the Year group for advice on video editing;
- Jane, a deaf and dumb pupil who discovered hidden talent as a news reader using sign language when taking part in a multimedia project;
- Danielle, a disruptive pupil always being sent out of lessons, who excelled at teaching younger children how to use spreadsheets for modelling;
- Sam, an average-achieving boy in every lesson but who, as a self-taught hacker, was able to crack the security of the school network. (In fact, after playing cat and mouse with him for a while, I finally hit upon the idea of making him my network security officer!)
There is no magic solution to identifying the gifted and talented in ICT in advance: you have to see what pupils do in the course of the work. However, it is crucially important to set work that is suitably challenging.
The best way of doing so is to think of a task that you think is difficult – and then set an even harder one. Not so hard that it seems impossible and results in nobody even trying, but hard enough to not be a walk in the park. As a result, some pupils will need some help from you, and most will be able to work with each other to solve the problem (thereby also helping to develop '21st century skills').
And the gifted and talented ones who emerge? Well, they’re the ones whom you can learn from!
Terry Freedman has taught ICT in schools, been a Head of Department and ICT advisor, worked as Principal Officer (ICT) at the then QCA, was Head of E-Education in an LEA and an Ofsted inspector for ICT and Business Education.
He is now an independent educational ICT consultant. Read more about the issues of ICT in education on his website.