ICT and common misconceptions - A Practical Guide to Teaching Computing and ICT in the Secondary School - page 120

conventions. Older pupils should know why and how to use Style sheets; add
contents and index pages automatically, as appropriate; include endnotes and
footnotes in research papers and reports.
• Use of track changes, comments and other review settings for collaborative
work. Use of collaborative tools such as Google docs should be discussed.
• Use of mail merge, labelling and other data from other sources can be used in
generating documents in a semi-automated way.
• Enhancing documents with the use of appropriate images.
• Different presentation software and when these might be used; e.g. PowerPoint
slides and Prezi.
• The need to plan presentations, including the text to be displayed and the
information to be shared verbally. Teaching them about Storyboarding can
help.
• The need to think about body language when presenting.
• Enhancing presentations through use of appropriate images, sound and
transition effects.
• Personal safety when publishing, especially if publishing online.
• Use of reply all, cc, bcc, subject lines, signatures et al. in email.
• Correct etiquette when using Web 2.0 software.
ADVICE: When teaching pupils how to enter text into a word processor, do not
get them to do a lot of text entry. If they can enter small amounts well, they can
enter large amounts. Use the time to develop other skills, knowledge and
understanding.
Task 7.2
Real-world uses
Research real-world uses of word processors, DTP and presentation software.
How could you integrate these into your teaching and the wider curriculum?
Common misconceptions include:
• Thinking if the spellcheck and grammar check facilities are used the document
must be correct. Teach your pupils to always proofread documents and to
think about audience and purpose as they do. Tell them it is good practice to
draft, edit and redraft work.
• Thinking that more formatting is better. Pupils need help in getting the
balance right. Model expectations and share exemplars with them.
• Using caps lock to get capital letters, then forgetting to switch it off. Teach
them to use 'shift'.
• Deleting all the way back to an error, instead of using the mouse/cursor keys
to position the cursor.
• Highlighting sections then accidentally hitting a key and panicking because
it has gone. Warn them, so they can try to avoid the problem and show them
how to use 'undo' straight away.
• Centring text or spacing text using the space bar, which goes wrong later.
Teach them the use of centre commands and tab keys for spacing.