When teachers are introduced to a new piece of classroom software, hardware or other digital resource, they not only have to learn how to use it themselves, but they also need to ensure that their class, (usually around 25 students) know how to use it as well, so it can be integrated into the learning program appropriately.

Peer tutoring provides one effective strategy for achieving this goal; it capitalises on the ICT experiences that students may have had previously (either at school or in other contexts) and fosters a culture of sharing learning among class members.

Peer tutoring can be informal; just encouraging students to help one another at the computer can be very effective, especially in a high school classroom. Some students can also be ‘skilled up’ so that they become class experts in a particular application, and thus the first port of call when other students have questions or problems. The main ‘rule’ to enforce is that … the learner must drive … so the person helping can’t take over!

Peer tutoring can be formalised, with nominated tutors and a classroom system for how the tutors work with their peers.

An example: the grade 5-6 teachers at  Rokeby Primary School wanted to develop their students’ independence when working on the classroom computers, so four students from each class at were nominated to be their class ‘Computer Buddies’.

I worked with those students on some Peer tutoring issues to help them be effective tutors and we developed the PowerPoint skills and resources they needed to create a digital book for their Book Buddies in a younger class. The tutors are now working with the rest of their class to create digital books for their book buddies. The classes use a system of coloured cups for Getting Help on the Computer, and each teacher has ‘personalised’ the system to suit their particular class needs.

Peer tutoring can also happen between older and younger students and may be a specific application of a general program such as Better Buddies. 

At Molesworth Primary, grade 5-6 students work as computer buddies with students in the prep class when using Kid Pix and Learning Federation learning objects.

Note: Details about a range of ways of manging computers in the classroom are available through the Support tab in the eCentre for Teachers (you may need to log-in)

Do you use variations of these ideas in your classroom? Share your experiences by posting a comment to this topic.

 Many schools have a digital projector/s available for teachers to borrow as needed in their classrooms, but often find that their use is more limited than was anticipated. In chatting with teachers, it seems that a major ‘blocker’ to their use is the time and effort often required to get the projector and set it up in the classroom. Schools have devised a range of strategies which make the process streamlined and easier for their teachers, resulting in much more frequent use of this useful tool.

Make it easy to connect the parts
Labelling the cables and having a laminated copy of how to connect a projector to a laptop  makes the process much easier the first few times, while confidence is developed. A laminated reminder about  Projector safety  is also a good idea.

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Put it on a trolley
Schools that have mostly level access find that putting the projector on a trolley makes it easy to move around and provides a ready-made, safe place for it to sit in the classroom.

This idea has been discussed on the ict-learning email list recently, and solutions vary from an old trolley that just provides a place to store everything, (see first picture below)to purpose-built ones where the projector is permanently set up ready to go, like the one below from Newstead College. 
  
Purchased trolleys vary from a basic audio/visual trolley like this one, to a purpose-built model like this  (Evandale Primary) providing safe and secure access. Suppliers have a range of trolleys available, so check out their catalogues (e.g. this one- page 21, 22) to see what meets your needs.

Make a screen easily available
Often a whiteboard, blackboard or blank piece of wall is available in the classroom to project onto, but finding a such a blank space can be a real challenge in some primary classrooms, where there are lots of displays and not much room. A cheap, portable screen can be made from a blank sheet of Corflute ( plastic corrugated cardboard) available for around $15 for a 1800X1200 mm sheet. It can be cut and taped so it is easy to fold and transport on a trolley with the projector.

Have a booking system for the projector
Paper-based or electronic, (e.g. a calendar on the school intranet) it doesn’t really seem to matter; it allows people to plan and book ahead, and also to see who had it last if it’s not where it’s supposed to be!  

It seems that budget and imagination are the only limitations when it come to helping things work smoothly in a school  
If you have good ideas to share, leave a comment telling us about them.