ICT Update is a bimonthly printed and on-line magazine (http://ictupdate.cta.int) and an accompanying e-mail newsletter published by CTA. This issue focuses on CTA international conference ICT4Ag.

Following the Machinery of Government changes in June 2007 three new departments were set up in place of the Department for Education and Skills and the Department of Trade and Industry. This 2007 Autumn Performance Report identifies the targets applicable to the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCFS) and charts its progress against the Spending Review 2004 (SR04), Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets and introduces a new suite of Comprehensive Spending Review Public Service Agreements (CSR07). There is also a chapter on targets from the Spending Review 2002 PSA targets that are still outstanding.

Takes a holistic approach to using ICTs to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom. It weaves together evidence of teachers’ and learners’ experiences of ICT outside school, how policy and management issues impact on learning, and what actually happens when ICT is fully integrated into teaching and learning.

This practical and accessible workbook is designed to support student and newly qualified teachers as they develop their basic teaching skills. A Practical Guide to Teaching ICT in the Secondary School draws on the best available research concerning student-teachers’ needs and approaches to learning. It focuses on the key pedagogical issues which arise during the school experience, including: managing the class and learning environment developing pupils’ understanding of concepts including challenging misconceptions different ways of explaining aspects of the subject which pupils find problematic. It provides a wealth of practical activities and materials, underpinned by relevant theory, which have been developed through the authors’ vast experience of working with student teachers. These activities provide opportunities to analyze learning and performance. The book has been designed to be written in directly, and so provide a useful record of progress. Case studies are also included, as are examples of existing good practice and a range of tried-and-tested strategies. The book has been written to complement Learning to Teach ICT in the Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience, but can also be used equally successfully as a stand alone book. It has been designed to be used by student teachers, on their own or with others, or by school- or university-based tutors with their student teachers, to develop and reinforce their understanding of learning to teach IT.

This book explores the social practice of literacy, numeracy and language and its implications for teaching and learning adult basic skills. Leading international experts argue that literacy, numeracy and language are more than just a set of skills or techniques, but are shaped by the social and cultural context within which they are taking place; the meanings they have for users; and the purposes they serve. This shifts the focus from a narrow, functional and externally imposed definition of literacy, numeracy and language learning, to more open and numerous definitions that focus on what people do with their knowledge, understanding and skills in a range of contexts. Adult Literacy, Numeracy and Languageshows how the social practice approach to learning and teaching can be used to develop more inclusive views of adult literacy, numeracy and language. Bringing together the views of researchers, policy makers and practitioners, it helps readers to develop an understanding of contemporary policy developments and encourages them to examine their own practice as adult basic education teachers, in order to respond more effectively to the needs of their students. This book is a valuable resource for practitioners, researchers and students on courses in adult and continuing education (particularly basic skills), postgraduate students, and researchers in the field of post-compulsory education.