JSS 1 First Term

Lesson objectives

By the end of the week, learners should be able to:

1. Define ICT and explain the difference between information and communication technology.
2. Name the four information ages in order and state one dating landmark for each.
3. Give four examples of ICT tools used in the home, school, bank or hospital and state what each one does.
4. Explain three benefits and two risks of ICT in Nigerian society.
5. Place five given inventions on a correct timeline with approximate dates.

Key vocabulary

• Information: processed data that is meaningful to the person receiving it.
• Communication: passing information from a sender to a receiver through a channel.
• ICT: the technologies used to create, store, process, send and receive information.
• Information age: a period in history defined by the main technology people used to record and share information.
• Pre-mechanical age: writing on stone, clay and papyrus, with books copied by hand.
• Mechanical age: printing press, slide rule and mechanical calculators.
• Electromechanical age: telegraph, telephone, radio and punched-card tabulators.
• Electronic age: computers, microprocessors, mobile phones, the internet and artificial intelligence.

Common misconceptions

• "ICT means computer studies." ICT is wider: radio, television, telephone, ATM, POS terminal and CCTV are all ICT.
• "The information age started with the internet." It started with writing. The internet is the latest stage.
• "Old technology is useless." A radio or printed textbook still carries information reliably and works without electricity from the grid.

Teacher activities

1. Starter: hold up a mobile phone and a printed textbook and ask the class which one carries information and which one is older. Record answers on the board.
2. Define information, communication and ICT. Stress that ICT covers all tools for handling information, including computers.
3. Walk through the four information ages on a hand-drawn timeline, writing one invention and one date per age as you go.
4. Model the classification of three tools (radio, ATM, chalkboard) as ICT or not ICT, and require a reason each time.
5. Give pairs the tool cards from the resource list and ask them to sort, then justify two difficult cases to the class.
6. Close with the benefits and risks table and an exit question: "Name one ICT tool in your home and the information it carries."

Student activities

1. Answer the starter question and give one example of information they received that morning.
2. Copy the timeline headings and add the inventions as the teacher presents them.
3. In pairs, sort the tool cards into home, school, bank, hospital and transport, and write the function of each tool.
4. Identify one benefit and one risk of ICT for a named person (for example a trader using a POS terminal).
5. Draw their own timeline strip showing the four ages and one invention per age.
6. Answer the exit question in one sentence.

Practical / learning evidence

A labelled timeline strip (four ages, one invention and an approximate date per age) plus a five-row tool table with columns Tool | Where it is used | Information it handles | ICT? (yes/no) | Reason. Each learner submits their own copy. Paired work may share the sorting discussion, but each learner writes their own table.

Resources and preparation

Real or printed examples: radio, television remote, mobile phone, ATM card, POS terminal, calculator, chalkboard, textbook. Printed tool cards for sorting. Chart paper, rulers and markers for the timeline. Offline route: cards, chart paper and a hand-drawn timeline. No device is needed. Check any device you demonstrate for charge and volume before class.

Assessment for learning

Questioning checks that learners can define ICT and give reasons as well as name tools. Inspect the tool table for a plausible function and a defensible yes or no with a reason. Use a quick show of hands for the four ages in order. Record learners who confuse "computer" with "ICT" for reteaching in Week 3.

Inclusion and homework

Provide the timeline headings pre-written for learners who write slowly, and allow oral answers for the tool table. Extend confident learners by asking them to argue whether a school bell is an ICT tool. Homework: list five ICT tools in your home or street and write one sentence on what each is used for. No devices are required.