Managing the Computing classroom environment to improve learning - A Practical Guide to Teaching Computing and ICT in the Secondary School - page 59

Typical hazards to look out for will include: trailing electrical wires and network
cables; loose connections on computers and peripherals; and faulty power points
and electrical plugs. Be particularly careful if you use a desktop projector.
Appropriate use of resources; e.g. the Web
With the increasing use of the Internet in education all schools should have devised
an Internet use and e-safety policy.
Initially, schools will include a ban on accessing unsuitable sites for children,
those of a pornographic nature instantly springing to mind. However, there will be
many other kinds of site which the school may deem to be unsuitable.
The use of the Internet has a close bearing on the use of the school's network in
general, and so the policy is likely to include guidelines and rules on the use of
their systems too. They may have guidelines and rules on pupils using their own
technology devices.
Having devised their policies the school may well require both parents and
pupils to sign a form in which they agree to abide by the policies. Passwords might
not be issued until this has been done and network access might be suspended for
any breach of policy.
The school and the Computing department should also have policies and
promote good practice on such things as the use of games, the loan of software and
copyright issues.
You must know these policies and follow them.
Displays: wallpaper
A Computing classroom can be made to look particularly attractive and, most
importantly, you can support learning with the imaginative use of wall displays.
Use of displays is often a priority in primary classrooms but, as Lang observed
around ten years ago, in secondary schools displays in classrooms were often a
weak area (Lang, 2004). Things have changed little since this initial observation.
Below are described four types of display which you might consider for the
Computing classroom.
Many companies and organisations (such as the British Computer Society)
provide suitable and free posters which, whilst drawing attention to their products,
also include an educational element. Examples include posters on network
topographies, input and output devices, and so on. Posters tend to be technical in
nature, but can support a topic or keywords.
Displaying keywords and their meaning is good practice. It would be useful at
the beginning of a new 'topic' to display the specific keywords and meanings for
the particular lesson that starts off the topic, and then add to this display, lesson by
lesson, as the class progresses through the topic. The pupils could contribute to
this.
Pupils' work can be displayed on the wall, with explanations and annotations,
like a 'working wall' often seen in primary schools. Some pupils, particularly those
in Years 10 and 11, will say that they don't like having their work displayed, but this
is often not the case in reality. Pupils like to feel that their work is valued. It is
important to remember that, in choosing pupil work, it is not essential that every
piece is perfect every time, as this could exclude some pupils.
A particularly useful strategy is to display exemplar work, to show pupils your
expectations. However, it is essential to annotate the work to show them why the
work is 'good' or worth a particular mark/grade. For example, you might display