The group presentation on a problematic teaching issue is an area of the education module that most people dread. Individually, we all have ideas about what we see as problems or issues; we all know which particular problems each of our individual schools are facing, but the idea of choosing an area collectively was daunting.

The first real step was to get to know the people in the groups we were assigned to. We had no choice as to whom we would be working with and therefore had no preconceptions as to what ideas would be raised. Luckily, the group worked well together and we all had similar ideas and outlooks. Also, the fact that we were from different subject backgrounds was an advantage, as each of us brought different experiences to the group.

It became obvious from the outset that when discussing possible issues to investigate, the topic of ICT kept cropping up. As ICT is becoming increasingly relevant

In my subject area specifically (English), ICT -and in this instance I am referring to computers-wasn't used at all in the whole time I was on my placement. This was a cause of great concern to me, as the possibilities to increase motivation for what is sometimes seen by pupils as a 'stale' subject are immense.

Our presentation raised much discussion in the audience, which proved to me that it was successful. It is an area that affects everyone directly to some extent. We all need to be confident in our use of ICT because we are at the forefront of its development in schools. As NQT's at the present time we have been trained to incorporate ICT into our schemes and lesson plans, by now it should be second nature to us all. As for myself, I see the use of ICT as an exciting challenge. If I feel stimulated by a particular lesson then this will be transferred to my pupils. Likewise if they are motivated, then so am I- anything that will benefit pupil learning should be utilised by us- the teachers. Our presentation has hopefully brought this to the forefront of people's minds.

As a group we agreed that in our particular placement schools (and in general) pupils were not given sufficient opportunities to do this. This consolidated the idea that a presentation on 'ICT Across the Curriculum' would not only benefit the education group as a whole, but would also be a real issue that all newly qualified teachers would face when commencing with their first teaching posts.

The sub-area I investigated, entitled 'Schools' Role in Equipping Pupils with the Skills Necessary to exist in Society', is an area I find particularly interesting. The main strand of my presentation was concerned with the vast amount of ICT technology increasingly relied upon in society. We all agreed that improving ICT capability is necessary for providing people with a skill ever-increasingly essential to employment. ICT capability therefore can now be seen as a life skill, much the same as basic numeracy and literacy. The BECTa organisation (British Educational and Communications and Technology agency) shares this view, seeing ICT as; '...a tool for enabling citizen participation and social inclusion as more services, products and information becomes accessible by electronic means.'

A fantastic example of where ICT is working to it's potential is in it's use as a tool for those children with an SEN. The current school in which I am placed runs a scheme called 'Success Maker' which is a piece of software that increases children's literacy

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Approximate Word count = 1705
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)