Active learning ideas
Modern documents are rarely just text. This topic teaches students how to integrate media and tables to enhance communication. In the NCCA ICT syllabus, students learn to insert, resize, and wrap text around images, as well as how to use tables to organise complex data clearly. These skills are essential for creating newsletters, menus, and project reports.
Activity 01
Groups design a flyer for a local Irish festival. They must include at least one image, a shape for a call-to-action, and a table showing the schedule of events.
How do we insert and resize an image?
Activity 02
Provide a set of data (e.g., sports results). Students decide whether a bulleted list or a table is better for presenting it and explain their reasoning to a partner.
When should we use a table?
Activity 03
One student demonstrates how to use 'Tight' vs 'Square' text wrapping to their partner. They then work together to place an image perfectly within a paragraph of text.
How do we format table borders?
A few notes on teaching this unit
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Resizing an image by dragging the sides instead of the corners.
Explain that dragging the sides distorts the aspect ratio. A 'spot the difference' activity with distorted vs. proportional images helps students see the importance of using corner handles.
Using tables for layout instead of data organisation.
While tables can be used for layout, explain that modern software has better tools for this. Show how tables are specifically designed to make rows and columns of information easy to compare.
Methods used in this brief