Introduction

What makes an excellent ICT or Computing lesson? In this document I've tried to encapsulate the answer to that question. However, I think it bears stating right at the outset that this list shouldn't be used as a checklist. I doubt that's feasible anyway. But although there are a lot of points here, I firmly believe that if a lesson truly is excellent, most of them will be in evidence, and that over a series of lessons all of them will be.

In a break from past versions of this document, I have abandoned the explicit use of the Ofsted[1]-favoured term ‘outstanding’. I have, however, drawn on Ofsted criteria to some extent, but I wanted this document to be perceived as independent of Ofsted – which, of course, it is. The Ofsted criteria are taken from the latest version of the school inspection handbook’s section on quality of education.

For subscribers to Digital Education, there’s a pdf version in the Digital Education Supplement area.

Obviously, I hope, I’ve created this document in the hope that it will prove useful, and all the information is presented in good faith, but I can’t take responsibility for how it’s used or the outcomes of its use.

How to use this document

Here are some suggestions:

• Use it as a means of checking your own practice.

• Use it as a basis for observing colleagues' lessons if that is the practice in your school. If you decide to do this, I suggest identifying, with the colleague concerned, just a few features to look out for. Looking out for all of them would be difficult to say the least.

• As above, but with you being observed.

• If you lead a team of people, use it as a basis for discussion in team meetings. For example, do your resources meet the requirements I've set out here?

• Ask pupils to evaluate aspects of a lesson using a section of this list.

• Use the list as a basis for determining areas to work on, and the order of priority for doing so.

• Share it with trainee ICT and Computing teachers, or new colleagues, as an indication of your expectations.

A brief history

This document started out as a blog post entitled "Ten characteristics of outstanding ICT lessons" around 1998. It became "Seventeen characteristics of outstanding ICT lessons" by 2008. After comments by several people (I can't remember all of them unfortunately, but the late Dai Barnes[2] was one, others were my colleagues in the advisory service I worked for), the list grew into 25 features in 2011, and then into 37 features in 2014, and then 45 features a few years later.

In this version I have not only added to the list, I have also subdivided it into more manageable chunks.

The list is numbered for ease of reference, not to indicate order of priority.

The features

These have been subdivided in the following sections:

• The curriculum

• The teacher

• The lesson

• Resources

• Assessment

• The pupils

The order in which the categories appear on this list is not intended to indicate an order of priority. To some extent, the categorization is arbitrary in that some items could easily have been placed in more than one category. Regard it as an attempt to make the list more usable when time is at a premium.

The curriculum

I haven’t listed many points here because (a) I didn’t want to simply reproduce Ofsted’s statements on the matter and (b) most of the points I’d make are embedded in the rest of this document anyway.

1. The ICT or Computing curriculum uses the Programme of Study (or similar in other countries) as a starting point, not a checklist.

2. The rationale of the curriculum is understood by its teachers.

3. From the Ofsted Framework (in the context of the whole school rather than individual subjects): “The work given enables pupils, over time and across the school, to consistently achieve the aims of the curriculum, which is coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills for future learning and employment.”

The teacher

1. Teachers have deep subject knowledge. In my opinion, “deep subject knowledge” is not a synonym for “facilitating”: see We need ICT teachers, not facilitators.

2. The teacher is not only an expert in his or her subject, but an expert teacher too. That is to say, she knows when it's appropriate to use a didactic approach, when to use questioning, and how, when to give the pupils time to have a discussion, and is aware of when a pupil is finding something difficult.

3. The teacher makes great use of technology. Note that it doesn't have to be the latest technology. To slightly misquote from a song by Sugar Pie Desanto ("Use what you got"): if you know how to use what you got, it doesn't matter 'bout the age."

4. The teacher should have experimented with using AI, and have some ideas of how it might be used in the Computing curriculum, how to teach it, and how to spot whether it’s been used to do students’ work for them.

5. The teacher is brimming with enthusiasm and passion for the subject and the work set.

6. The teacher is flexible, able to go with the flow of what’s happening right here and now in the classroom, not slavishly following the lesson plan – but does not get side-tracked into a time-wasting discussion.

7. The teacher shows an active interest in how each pupil is progressing.

8. The teacher is not always the only one in charge of the lesson’s subject matter. I personally don’t agree with the practice of some schools of allowing pupils to decide what they want to learn on a particular day, but I think there is scope for setting up a procedure whereby once a week or once every two weeks a group of pupils has to lead the lesson in accordance with agreed criteria. For example, they may have to do some research on a topic or issue of their choice relating to ICT or Computing, and then lead a lesson on it. See 4 Ways To Come Up With Innovative Ideas For Teaching Computing for further suggestions.

9. The teacher spends time at the start letting pupils into the “secret” of what the objectives (intended learning outcomes) of the lesson are, ie what is intended to be achieved by the end, and how this lesson fits in with the preceding and following lessons.

10. Not all work takes place at a computer: there is ample opportunity for discussion and reflection. What is important is not the use of technology per se, but the appropriate use of technology.

11. The teacher is open to working with pupils on problems to which they, the teachers, have no answer.

12. The teacher has very high expectations of pupils.

The lesson

1. The lesson forms part of a unit which forms part of a scheme of work.

2. Where appropriate, the lesson that has been planned or which fits into the current unit of work is shelved in favour of a more topical one. For example, if there is a news item relating to ICT or Computing, the teacher takes the opportunity to lead a class discussion about it.

3. Lessons are planned, but flexibility is key. For example, there may be no need for points 3, 4 or 5 in some circumstances. Also, they can be varied. I heard of a school recently in which all teachers are instructed to spend no more than 5 minutes talking to the class at the start of the lesson, after which the pupils have to be allowed to get on with teaching themselves and each other. That’s a ridiculously inflexible rule, based on no research evidence whatsoever as far as I know. One of the reasons I gave for ICT lessons being boring, in my book "Go on, Bore ‘em: how to make ICT lessons excruciatingly dull", was too much talking by the teacher. But it’s just plain daft to go to the other extreme as a blanket rule, whatever the circumstances. It’s also worth pointing out that Ofsted inspectors have been instructed to not expect any particular style of teaching when doing their lesson observations.

4. The subject matter of the lesson is interesting and useful, not chosen solely for examination or other assessment purposes.

5. Expanding on the preceding point, the assessment tail does not wag the curriculum dog.

6. There is a good starter activity, one that gets the pupils settled down and in the right frame of mind to do the work the teacher has planned for them. (Read Why Are ICT Lessons Boring? The Start of the Lesson.)

7. There is a good pace to the lesson, even where pupils are working on projects and not being “taught from the front”.

8. Work is set at an appropriate standard, taking into account the pupils’ prior learning and attainment, and what is expected of their age group in terms of national standards.

9. The teacher structures the lesson to ensure that discussion is stimulated. Dare I say that it even inspires in the pupils a sense of wonder and excitement about the topic?

10. Pupils are given useful tasks. For example, they are provided with a pre-populated database or a (half-) finished program to work on. In other words, they don’t have to waste time entering data before they can actually start learning anything.

11. Lessons are imaginative and well-planned. Note that these days Ofsted inspectors need to see evidence of planning, but not necessarily lesson plans[3]. How does this fit in with point 6 in the Teacher section where I suggest that the teacher might ditch the planned lesson in favour of a more topical one? My way of squaring this apparent contradiction is that a skilled teacher can effectively plan a lesson in just a few minutes. Even if you are put on the spot by a pupil in the lesson, eg if a pupil relates something he or she just heard about and it seems like a good topic for discussion, you will, hopefully, have a “toolkit” of techniques you can draw on to ensure that the lesson is still methodical and purposeful, even though it had not been planned for.

12. As far as possible, work is “authentic” i.e. concerned with real issues. See Authentic learning and ICT.

13. Ample time is allowed for the plenary, thereby allowing it to be somewhat more useful than the POLO model: Print Out and Log Off. The plenary is an essential part of the lesson, used to check what learning has taken place, consolidate learning, and prepare pupils for the next stage. In fact, a lesson might have two or three plenaries rather than just one at the end.

Resources

1. There are plenty of resources for the pupils to use, enabling the teacher to give quality guidance, ie not confined to basic tasks such as explaining how to save the document.

2. However, resources will also include “how to” guides and posters, onscreen help (which the pupils will have been taught how to use), and other pupils where appropriate. There are also walk-throughs and other resources to help pupils when they are not sure how to do something. See Freedman's 5 Minute Rule in the article 7 rules for ICT teachers, co-ordinators and leaders.

3. A range of technology is available, and pupils are able to use it when they need to.

4. There is a good range of material to provide for differentiation (higher attainers and children with special educational needs) and personalised learning.

5. Resources are interesting and stimulating, and of a very high quality both in terms of content and presentation.

6. The resources are inviting to use: keyboards and screens are clean; computer labs are not strewn with discarded print-outs; broken computers or other devices are removed to be repaired or returned rather than just abandoned in a room or on a laptop trolley. See What does a broken clock signify?

Assessment

1. There is a lot of questioning – probing questioning – and assessment for learning techniques are in evidence.

2. The teacher is aware of individual pupils’ needs, and makes use of the assessment and other data she has – remember: data only becomes information if you do something with it!

3. Furthermore, the teacher is aware of understandings and misconceptions in “real time”, using assessment for learning techniques as appropriate. See 5 Assessment for Learning techniques for ICT or Computing for some suggestions, and details of a free resource called “19 Assessment for Learning Techniques”, available in the free resources area for subscribers to Digital Education.

4. Homework is set in order to consolidate and extend the pupils’ understanding of the work they have been doing in lessons. (See The Case For Homework in ICT.) Where appropriate, the model of the flipped classroom may be employed in this context, ie pupils may be asked to watch a video or read an article in their own time, so as to be able to discuss it or work on it in the lesson, where they can be given help if needed. If you are running a project-based learning approach, it can be useful, even essential, to expect the pupils to do whatever they need to do in their own time in order to make best use of lesson time. (See the final point in 9 Challenges of Project-Based Learning.)

The pupils

1. Pupils are given open-ended tasks (as far as possible), or at least not tasks with a glass ceiling. (Even lessons designed to impart a set of skills can still be more interesting than “drill & practice”.)

2. Pupils can't wait to get to the lesson: if they are late, it is not deliberate.

3. Pupils are given plenty of time with the technology, with the teacher helping individuals and small groups.

4. Pupils respect the equipment and the room. For example, they do not leave discarded printouts on the floor.

5. Pupils respect the ethos and the expectations of their conduct. For example, they don’t deliberately seek out porn sites, or check their social media when they are meant to be working.

6. Pupils are happy and confident enough to try out things which the teacher has not actually shown them: they ask help from each other or look at the posters and manuals that are available for them.

7. Pupils keep looking at the clock on the wall, because they want to get to a certain point in their work before the end of the lesson. They have a sense of urgency.

8. Pupils want to continue working at lunchtime and other non-lesson times.

9. Pupils want to show off little tricks they have discovered, such as keyboard shortcuts.

10. Pupils can see the ‘big picture’ between the different concepts and aspects of the curriculum.

11. Pupils make excellent progress. I personally think it’s hard to define “excellent progress” in the context of just one lesson, but I do think that all pupils should make some progress. To put it another way, if a pupil doesn’t know or understand, or can’t do, any more at the end of the lesson than they could at the beginning, something is wrong. (I’m not counting the consolidation of knowledge, understanding or skills as “no more”.

12. Finally, I still believe that this is crucial: pupils ask questions that the teacher is unable to answer.

Copyright notice

This is ©2015 and 2023 Terry Freedman. All rights reserved. You may copy it for use within your institution. Information from the DfE and Ofsted has been used in accordance with the terms of the Open Government Licence http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/2/

Contact details

Please visit http://www.ictineducation.org/contact/ for contact details.

Footnotes

[1] Office for Standards in Education

[2] I am saddened to have to tell you that Dai passed away suddenly in 2019. Doug Belshaw wrote a lovely tribute to him at the time.

[3] The School Inspection Handbook states: “We will not:

grade individual lessons

advocate a particular method of planning (including lesson planning), teaching or assessment, or expect curriculum planning to be in any specific format

require schools to provide individual lesson plans or previous lesson plans”