There are many things which you as a teacher can do to teach well in the computer laboratory. Consider the following:

Seating positions

• Permit learners to select their own seating positions and keep the positions for a length of time. As they sit in the same positions for every lesson they will sit near the same learners with whom they will develop relationships. That relationship gives confidence necessary for exploration on the computer.
• Arrange seating of students in compact areas, i.e. physically near each other where they can easily work in groups and give confidence for exploration on the computer.

Mental state

• Provide a mental environment where exploration is the norm. Do not explain everything to the learners. In Microsoft there are usually five different ways of doing a thing – let them try and find the most appropriate way.
• As a teacher you should try and keep your hand off the learners’ keyboards. Guide – do not do!

Instructions

• Make sure learners understand and comprehend instructions. Make the learners turn off their monitors when giving instructions so you have their full attention else they will be moving ‘before the goal post has been defined’.
• It is often useful to put key words of the instructions on the board as the learners do not always ‘hear’ the instructions.

Content

Ensure the content of work is personally meaningful to the students. If the work is meaningful the learners will be more motivated to do the work.

Pictures

• Discourage the use of ready-made images such as clipart. Let the learners find a perfect picture on the Internet or online encyclopaedia, take their own photograph with a digital camera, scan a picture or draw their own picture.
• Make a collection of images and save them on the network in subject folders. Give each picture a meaningful filename. Let the learners find the picture on your network.

Peers

• Learners like to share. Plan work so the learners can share their work or enthusiasm.
• Make sure the learners sit near each other and keep the same seats for longish periods of time in order to share.

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The requirements for the learner portfolio are prescribed in the National Protocol for Assessment.

The learner portfolio must be an opportunity for any of the stakeholder in the teaching domain to find evidence of the learner’s progress, skills and knowledge.

These requirements imply that:

• All work is included – otherwise progress cannot be seen.
• Evidence of the teacher’s facilitation in the learning process must be included (daily assessment).
• The formal assessment tasks must be included.

Hints for the practical situation as tested by the Hoërskool Merensky in Tzaneen.

There is no prescribed way of how to lay out the portfolio, therefore hints tested in the practical situation are shared here. Each teacher needs to work out the method which best suits his or her situation and that of their learners.

Time management in the classroom has become very important with the requirements for assessment. The program for formal assessment is among other things aimed at reducing the workload of the teacher so that valuable teaching time is not lost on “paper work”.

• Each learner provides a file at the beginning of the year. This file is separated into themes, with a dividing page separating the themes. This means that the practical and theoretical work is placed in the order in which it is done. The formal assessment tasks are also placed under the theme. It is done like this so that the progress of the learner can be easily seen. Although it is logical to place the new work on top, the learner’s progress cannot be seen if it is done like this, and the work is therefore filed in the order of the oldest work on top.
• The fact that all work must be included in the portfolio results in the use of a large quantity of paper per learner. The learner’s work can also be stored on the network and then later (at the end of each term) can be burned on a CD. It must be ensured that the activities in this regard are correctly named so that the evidence of daily assessment can be logically seen with the contents of the CD.
• The assessment pages as provided on the CD are printed and the learner or his peer fills it in. The teacher goes through most of these assessments at the beginning of the year (not in too much detail) as the learner is still learning to concentrate on criteria and not marks. This assessment page is filed together with a printout of the work, or in the order which the work is stored on a CD.
• Further, each learner is given a printed sheet with all the learning activities at the start of a theme. Space is given for his or her name at the top, and date and a space for comments next to each activity. (See example). As the teacher moves through the class and helps the learners master the work, he/she writes brief comments in the space, e.g. ”assisted with bullets, is improving”. This short comment is also evidence of the learner’s progress and the teacher’s involvement with him/her during the course of the year. The teacher would in any case move among the learners and help where necessary – this system helps to keep a record of it.
• The formal assessment activities are marked with a coloured “flag”. A coloured piece of paper is folded over and stapled to the right. The colour of the flag is the same as the colour of the separating page of that theme.
• An index is made at the end of the year to assist the person who must moderate the file to find the information easily and quickly.

The teacher portfolio is the record to ensure the quality of the assessment and the learner portfolio can be evaluated against it. This portfolio must at all times be up to date and available.

Teaching and assessment are integrated by nature and therefore it makes sense that more than just assessment documents should be included in the file. The teacher portfolio can be a true reflection of the subject and instruction by an educator.

The proposed contents and motivation for inclusion are listed below:

• Front Page: The front page contains basic information about the Teacher presenting the subject. It contains the following:
  • The name of the school.
  • The name of the province, district and the region where the school is situated.
  • The name of the subject and the grade.
  • The name of the teacher.
• Table of contents
• Subject policy / Subject documentation: In this section all documents relevant to the subject are included. Instruction in the subject must be done according to the policy and the teacher is liable under the law if he/she does not follow this policy. By including the policy in the file the teacher or anyone else studying or assessing the portfolio can easily ascertain that the instruction of the subject is done according to policy. This section should include the following documents:
  • The National Curriculum Statement (NCS).
  • Learning Program Guidelines (LPG).
  • The subject policy of the school.
• Assessment policy
  • Subject assessment guidelines.
  • National protocol for assessment.
  • School assessment policy.
• Planning documents: These documents reflect the tempo and way the subject will be taught. This also includes planning of the daily assessment. This section should include the following documents:
  • The subject framework. This includes the scope, the knowledge, values and attitudes around the subject, assessment over three years and contents and context of the subject. This will reflect the image of the subject over three years.
  • Work schedule: This reflects the instruction and assessment for the 32-36 weeks of the year.
  • Lesson plans. This contains the planning of the presentation, the teacher and learner activities as well as the daily assessment. This also includes examples of the daily assessment, exercises and instruments of assessment.
• Recording: These documents serve to update all the data gathered during daily assessment and are used for logical analysis and publication of this data. Because the recording in the teacher’s portfolio is relevant to the program of assessment, the program is also included here. It also makes sense to include the program of assessment with the planning documents. The recording is just for the seven tasks that are regarded as important for the promotion of the learner.
  • Program of assessment.
  • Examples of the assessment tasks for the program of assessment and the assessment instruments that are used for the allocation of marks.
  • Mark lists: The recording of marks reflecting the learner’s achievement on lists, enable the teacher to evaluate the progress of the learners. The teacher may then decide to adapt his/her presentation/planning if necessary.
• Minutes of subject meetings: Because school policy decisions on subject meetings will affect the teaching in the class, it must be included here so that anyone studying the portfolio can evaluate the teacher’s presentation and assessment of the subject against these meetings.

Use a checklist to make sure the portfolio is complete.