Engaging girls - a quick how-to...

A nice 15 minute TeachersTV video of ideas from the secondary ICT environment to get the thinking going at the beginning of a new term. Some key messages that come out of it are:

1. Context: make it relevant - not exclusively gender-biased
2. Collaboration: enabling team and pair work
3. Creativity: set tasks that allow students to show flair and difference

The programme also extols the virtues of setting up a CC4G club (with resources prepared for KS2 and KS3) and points out that when girls do opt to engage in ICT - most obviously at KS4 and KS5 - they often outperform boys with regard to the grades achieved. Also when you take ICT out of the ICT classroom, girls claim to be enjoy using it more.

Alex Rees
alex.rees@redbridge.gov.uk