Integrating S1 ICT with Geography at

Queen Anne High School

Gail Stenhouse, Geography and William Paterson, Computing
The Social Subjects faculty at Queen Anne has been working closely with the Computing department to deliver S1 ICT skills as a pilot study through the pupils’ Social Subjects syllabus. The three subjects are taught in rotation and the intention is for each department to visit the Computing department for one period a week for four weeks at the beginning of each block.

In the first instance Geography teachers identified a series of lessons on mapping and weather hazards topics which would benefit from researching Internet sites. During Geography lessons the classes would arrive at the Computing department where they were shown the techniques required to log onto to the internet and conduct appropriate searches to locate the websites hosting the desired data. The pupils were also tasked with the creation of web pages using the images downloaded.

 
But what exactly did the pupils think of using the Internet and its relevance to Geography? Of a total of 71 S1 pupils sampled in an evaluation questionnaire:
  • 86% had a computer at home and 65% were connected to the Internet.
  • 92% were positive about using the Internet with only 8% claiming that they disliked the work.
  • 25% felt that they had learned very few new skills using the Internet as they use it a lot or have been taught at home.
  • While only 63% felt they had found out new information about Geography in their Com putting course,
  • 89% thought that using the Internet was a useful way to get information about Geography.

The pupils enjoyed most the practical activities such as going on the Internet, looking up the web pages to find information, copying and pasting and making their web page. Activities such as setting up the computer, sitting and reading and doing writing were less popular. Comments from some pupils indicated the need to consider the pupils’ range of skills in both Geography and IT. Some even suggested the formation of ability groups for beginners and those more advanced in using the computer.

Secondary Focus

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