To prepare students for their roles in society, Manitoba Education and Training has identified technology, along with literacy and communication, problem solving and human relations, as a foundational skill area to be developed in every subject area and grade. To this end, Technology as a Foundational Skill Area: Kindergarten to Senior 4 was developed to assist curriculum developers, teachers, and administrators in understanding the role of information technology as a foundation skill area in classroom teaching, learning, and assessment. This resource is also intended to assist in planning for and implementing information technology integration.

This document contains the following sections:

• Transition to an Information Age establishes a contextual framework for information technology by discussing the impact of technology in the development of human culture, education, and business and work.

• Using Information Technology provides a vision for the integrated use, management, and understanding of information technology to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment, and discusses categories of information technology.

• Developing Information Technology Literacy identifies the literacy outcomes that students achieve throughout various learning stages.

• Enhancing Classrooms with Information Technology describes characteristics of classrooms enhanced through effective interaction with information technology.

• Integrating and Implementing Information Technology discusses considerations for the integration and implementation of information technology in curriculum development and in classroom teaching, learning, and assessment.

Technology As a Foundation Skill Area: A Journey Toward Information Technology Literacy. Manitoba Education and Training

Learning Stages

The Information Technology Literacy Continuum is based upon knowledge of child development and upon the use of sound teaching and assessment strategies. The continuum is divided into three learning stages:

Exploratory Stage (K-4): The Early Years stage is characterized by exploratory learning experiences that focus on the use of educational software in the context of subject area content. During this stage, students are expected to have a general exposure to, and experience with, a variety of information technologies as learning tools.

Skill Development Stage (5-8): Middle Years students are expected to acquire specific information technology skills and knowledge in the context of core subject areas. Students at this stage of development continue to make subject-specific use of a range of educational software. Grade 4 is considered a transition period between the Early and Middle Years stages. The transition phase is characterized by a range of learning experiences, some of which continue to be exploratory, and others that are more focused on skill acquisition.

Application and Extension Stage (9-12): The application and extension of skills and knowledge occurs in the Senior Years. Senior 1 is intended to serve as the transition phase between the skill acquisition stage occurring at Middle Years and the application and extension stage which occurs during the Senior Years. During the transitions phase, the emphasis on skill acquisition diminishes while the emphasis on application increases. In the final stage, Senior Years students apply, consolidate, and extend the skills, knowledge, and experiences acquired earlier across the full range of subject areas.

On the sidebar you will find outcome charts containing media-related learning outcomes from the Information Technology Literacy curriculum, with links to supporting resources on the Media Awareness Network site. As many of our lessons can be adapted to suit different grade levels, specific lessons may be listed for more than one grade. Teachers should also note that individual lessons often satisfy a number of learning outcomes.