What
is needed for success in design and technology?
Identifying
the problems
What
are the challenges?
How
Multimedia Design and Technology Education
products can help
What
are the benefits of using Multimedia Design
and Technology Education products?
What
is needed for success in design and
technology?
The various
models of design and technology education tell
us that what's needed are "skills
knowledge and resources".
Teachers also know that an atmosphere
conducive to learning is a vital fourth
ingredient.
Skills.
Skills need to be taught and practised.
A range of focused practical tasks (FPTs)
designed to give students the skills and
knowledge needed to work through design and
make assignments (DMAs) is a vital ingredient
to any design and technology
course. This work is not design
and technology but it is a vital element of
it.
Knowledge.
Students need design related knowledge and
knowledge of materials, tools and
processes. Without it, students cannot
work independently and will be constantly
asking the teacher for help. When the
teacher is pulled in all directions with
requests for help, the situation becomes
frustrating and annoying for both students and
the teacher. Students need to know what
they are supposed to be doing, how they are
supposed to be doing it and of course why they
are supposed to be doing it. With a
combination of teaching, focused practical
tasks (FPTs), design and make assignments (DMAs)
and independent study, students can develop
their knowledge of design and technology
processes and issues relating to the broader
curriculum.
Knowledge is
not a stagnant concept, new knowledge is
acquired, things are forgotten. For this
reason students need access to systems, like
Multimedia Design and Technology Education
products, that enable them to search for
information and to watch animations of tools
and processes so that they can progress with
their designing and making.
Resources.
Apart from the resources of D&T skills and
knowledge, students need tools, materials and
workshop facilities (or other specialist
facilities) to design and make products.
Having tools,
materials and making facilities may seem
obvious but they need to be in a condition
suitable for design and technology
education. We need to check that the
workshops are clean and clutter free with
tools sharpened and neatly racked out.
Machines and other facilities need to be in
working order and well maintained. We
need to ensure that there are enough tools for
all the students and that work places and
benches are clean and tidy. If not, then
students are handicapped in their ability to
work quickly, safely, accurately and to learn.
Carrying out an
audit and a Risk Assessment of the facilities
and activities should highlight the problems
and focus on the solutions.
Identifying
the Problems
We may be so
busy with our teaching, break duties, report
writing, counselling etc that we may not have
time to look dispassionately at our teaching,
at our materials and the facilities. We
may have got so used to working with things as
they are that we may not even acknowledge that
things could be better. For this reason,
lesson observations by someone who knows about
our subject, preferably an advisory teacher,
may help to spot things that we could change
to make life easier for us and better for our
students.
What
are the challenges?
The challenges
are to create an atmosphere and an environment
where learning can take place and to give our
students the skills, knowledge and confidence
to work through structured design and
technology assignments.
How
Multimedia Design and Technology Education
products can help
Multimedia
Design and Technology Education "Key
Stage 3 Design and Technology" and the
Key Stage 4 "Design and Resistant
Materials Technology" packages contain
D&T notes, animations of processes, short
exercises, focused practical tasks (FPTs) with
guidance notes and design and make assignments
(DMAs). The materials can be used on
stand alone computers, on computer networks,
on Interactive White Boards and can be printed
and issued as worksheets.
The notes and
animations guide students through the various
stages of the "design process",
explaining what should be done during each
stage.
The KS3 Design
and Technology package is structured around a
"Design and Technology Process"
diagram with links to all the other sections
from it. The exercise section contains
short exercises that can be completed using a
computer or using plain paper if the questions
and animations are displayed on an Interactive
White Board. The focused practical tasks
(FPTs) have animations, teacher's notes and
student's notes. The design and make
assignments (DMAs) have animations as well as
design briefs and specifications that
introduce the exercises. The KS3 package
is updated with more notes, animations and
exercises each term.
The Design and
Resistant Materials Technology material is designed to help teachers and students working on
KS3 and GCSE Design and Technology
courses based on the specifications for OCR, AQA,
WJEC and Edexcel D&T:
Product Design and D&T: Resistant
Materials Technology courses. The
package contains many of the animations in the
KS3 package. The questions are not as
structured as in the KS3 pack, but there are
many more of them
Together the
KS3 Design and Technology and the KS4 Design
and Resistant Materials Technology Bundle give
students plenty of information and exercises
that can be used for class work, homework and
cover work for absent colleagues.
We have made
some of the animations available to buy
separately or as an animation bundle.
Learn
how teachers can use MD&TE products
Learn
how students can use MD&TE products on
interactive white boards
Learn
how MD&TE products can be used on
computers at school and at home
Learn
about MD&TE digital worksheets
What
are the benefits of using Multimedia Design
and Technology Education products?
Our products
can be loaded onto computers and used with
Interactive White Boards to support teaching
and learning. The text and animations
guide students through the elements of
designing and making. The animations
hold students interest and make learning
easy. The exercises can be used for
class work, cover work and homework.
Students can work at their own pace and view
animations until they understand a topic.
The KS3 Design
and Technology and the KS4 Design and
Resistant Materials Technology packages are
updated at least once a term with new D&T
notes, animations and exercises.
The KS3 Design
and Technology and the KS4 Design and
Resistant Materials Technology packages are
offered as an economical Bundle (£150),
saving £90 on the cost of the two individual
packages.
Teachers
in charge of cover will find the KS3 / KS4 Bundle an invaluable
resource.
Parents
can see the work that their children are expected to
learn and to complete.
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