CONSIDERATIONS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION

When selecting and developing learning activities, consideration must be given to health and safety, students with special needs, and gender equity. Thoughtful planning will help the teacher ensure that instruction and assessment safely meet the needs of all students.

Health and Safety

It is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that students are aware of the potential health and safety hazards in the use of information technology tools. Consideration should also be given to correct ergonomics and related issues such as wrist, eye, and back fatigue.

Teachers must address the following questions before, during, and after an activity:

Have students been given specific instruction about how to operate information technology tools?
Are the tools and equipment in good repair and suitably arranged?
Has consideration been given to the correct height of chairs, keyboards, and monitors?
Are students being properly supervised?
Do the facilities provide adequate lighting and ventilation for the activity?

Adaptations for Students with Special Needs
The following are examples of adaptations that may assist students to achieve success.
Presentation	Extensions should be made for those students with special gifts or talents. Provide students with advance organizers of key information technology concepts. Demonstrate or model new concepts. Use bilingual peers or volunteers to help ESL students. Use e-mail to communicate with peers or students in similar circumstances.
Assistance	Have peers or volunteers help students with special needs. Have community-based resources suggest alternative hardware adaptations and software modifications. Have teacher assistants work with individuals and small groups of students with special needs. Work with consultants and support teachers to develop appropriate problem-solving activities and strategies for students with special needs. Suit vocabulary to student's level, and use process diagrams and flow charts.
Environment	Use preferential seating in lab situations. Change the student's classroom seat. Make use of co-operative grouping or pairing. Provide appropriate equipment (e.g., speech recognition software).
Materials and Equipment	Use techniques to make the organization of activities more explicit (e.g., colour code the steps used to solve a problem). Use manipulatives or large-print charts. Use large print on activity sheets. Use opaque overlays on text pages to reduce the quantity of visible print. Highlight key points on activity sheets. Use translated material for information such as instructions on how to use information technology tools. Have available software that defaults to a larger font size. Use hardware that can be adapted to students with special needs where appropriate.
Extension and Practice	Require the completion of only a small amount of work at any given time. Simplify the way questions are worded to match students' levels of understanding. Provide functional, practical opportunities for students to practise skills.
Assessment	Allow students to demonstrate their understanding of information technology concepts in a variety of ways (e.g., murals, displays, models, puzzles, oral and video presentations). Modify assessment tools to match student needs. For example, oral tests, open-book tests, and tests with no time limit may allow students to better demonstrate their learning than traditional tests. Set achievable goals. Use computer programs that provide opportunities for practice and recording results.

Students with Special Needs

Students with special educational needs may require resources that are different from those needed by most students.

Students with special needs may need special directions and more time to practise with equipment, perhaps with the help of a peer.
Issues of safety in the computer lab, difficulty reading manuals, and special adaptations of computer equipment must be addressed before some students can realistically participate.
Adaptations may be required to enable students with special needs to successfully meet the prescribed learning outcomes.

For students who have Individual Education Plans (IEPs), adaptations and modifications should be documented on the students' IEPs and considered in the development of the Student Learning Plan. This information may also become important if adjudications for special considerations on examinations are sought at the senior grades.

Regular reporting with letter grades is appropriate for students who are expected to achieve the prescribed learning outcomes. When students are not expected to achieve the prescribed learning outcomes, individual goals should be set and recorded in the IEP. Reporting for students with these modified outcomes should be in the form of structured written comments.

Gender Equity

The education system is committed to helping all students succeed. Teaching, assessment materials, learning activities, and classroom environments should place value on the experiences and contributions of all people from all cultures. Teachers should consider the diversity of learning styles, gender bias in learning resources, and unintentional gender bias when teaching. The following instructional strategies are suggested to help teachers deliver a gender-sensitive Information Technology K to 12 curriculum.

Think about ways to feature women who make extensive use of information technology in their careers (e.g., guest speakers, subjects of study).
Design instruction to acknowledge differences in experiences and interests between girls and boys.
Demonstrate the relevance of information technology to careers and to daily life in ways that appeal to particular students in the class or school.
Explore not only the practical applications of information technology but also the human elements, such as the ways ideas have changed throughout history, and the social and ethical implications of information technology.
Provide practical learning opportunities designed specifically to help girls develop confidence and interest in information technology and non-traditional roles.
Emphasize that information technology is used by people with various interests and responsibilities.

Revised: January 26, 1999

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