General ICT Skills
Most of these skills are best included as short elements within a lesson with another main focus.
Pupils just need to be shown how to do these things so they can become more independent users of technology.
I would recommend that the top skills are covered in Year 3 and the lower, darker green background, skills in Year 4.
Created by Phil Bagge @baggiepr Main Digital Literacy planning page Main site code-it.co.uk
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Skill or Understanding |
Skill or Understanding Expanded |
Examples and Resource Links |
Possible Activities |
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Switching Computers on and off |
Pupils need to know where the on and off switch is and if there are any lights that come on when the computer is switched on. They need to understand that we only switch the computers off if we are the last person to use them in the day before going home. It is also good to know where the screen on and off switch is in case the computer is on but the screen has been switched on. They also need to know that if a computer is left on for a long time that it goes into sleep mode and that we should move the mouse to awaken it. |
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Logging On and Off |
Pupils need to know that they can access their work from any school computer by logging on to their My documents area. They need to know that they must only logon as themselves and must never share their password (if it is unique). They need to know that they should never leave a computer without logging off if they are finishing the session or locking the computer if they are leaving the computer for a short period of time. They can access the logoff button from the start menu or by pressing Ctrl, Alt and Del at the same time. If pupils are logging on for the first time it is important to ask your network manager for a list of logons and passwords. Where pupils have problems logging on it is worth checking to see if they have used capital letters, added extra spaces in front or at the end of their usernames or passwords or spelt their names correctly. |
Ctrl Alt Del Choices menu
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Saving Work |
Most programs have save and save as. If work has already been saved save will save the current work under the same name and in the same folder, pupils often think nothing has happened as save brings up no other menu. Save as is better to use for sequential saving. Pupils need to understand that if they are working on a project it is best to save their work with sequential numbers added at the end. So for example greekplay1, greekplay2 etc. This means that they can return to a previous point in their project removing current changes. Saving should be encouraged often, modern computers are reliable but things can still go wrong. |
If you are using the module on MS Word there is a section on saving in that planning. You could extend that to include this work.
Each program has a slightly different saving sequence so you may have to revisit this within other programs. |
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Resizing Windows |
To move a window you left click and hold the mouse button down on the top bar in the middle while moving the mouse (left click hold and move). Windows 7 has many different ways of resizing a window. If you hover the cursor over any corner of a window, it will change to a double headed arrow. Left click hold and move to resize diagonally. If you left click hold and move on the top bar and move it towards the top edge of the screen in the middle the window will expand to fill the whole screen. If you move the window towards the top right or left corners the window will snap into half the screen, which is great if you want to work between two programs. Windows can also be moved onto the task bar by using the minimise and maximise buttons. Point out how you can hover over an item on the task bar and see a preview of the document come up. |
Resizing Windows Video Help File
For an extra wow hold down the windows button and click the tab key to cycle through open windows.
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Pupils rarely need to be shown this twice.
This goes well with any activity that involves moving about between more than one source. For example the Web and a document.
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Creating and adapting Folders |
Pupils need to know how to navigate to the document libraries and know that these are actually folders within their home area. They need to know how to create, rename, copy, paste and delete a folder. They need to know how to move work from one folder to another. |
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Complex Printing |
Simple printing is covered in other program specific planning. Pupils need to know how to print only one page of a multi-page document. How to print onto other page sizes. How to change the paper orientation. How to change the printer if more than one are available. |
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Changing Password |
Using Ctrl Alt Del to bring up a screen where you can change your password. Reiterating the importance of not telling anyone else your password for any computer or web service even if they are your best friend in the whole world! See Digital Citizenship Planning for more on the safety planning connected to this. |
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Taking Screen Shots |
Using Ctrl Alt PrtSc (Print Screen) to take a picture of the whole screen and paste it into paint to adapt it. Using the snipping tool to take a picture of any part of the screen, drawing or annotating the image and saving it. |
Ctrl Alt PrtSc Video Help File
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This is such a useful digital skill as pupils can instantly record any aspect of their work. For Example If you are viewing a map using Google maps a short section can be saved and annotated. |
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Resizing Digital Images |
When we take photos these are often much too big to use easily. Fortunately there is a simple resizing tool available. |
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