How Technology and Education Can Save the World

There is no denying about technology empowering the world in every way possible. Ranging from a little child to a grown up adult, everybody is dependent on science and technology one way or another. According to some people, it’s a bad thing to depend too much on gadgets and computers but in spite of that, we choose to rely on the conveniences of science on a daily basis. On the whole, all minor and major technological up-gradations have helped individuals and offices do multi-tasking with ease. When it comes to the education sector, something of the smilar nature can be seen happening.

Schools and colleges across the world have embraced technology by bringing online school software into the system. Today, technology and education are going hand in hand by providing academic institutes with an easy way to manage and control the system. The traditional methods have started to vanish from the face of earth providing academic institutes with an easy way to not just manage and control schools, but also provide students with interactive technological amenities.

How Have The Methods Of Administration Transformed?

There was a time when principals used to maintain manual book keeping for all kinds of financial transactions and academic records. Admins and teachers had to prepare all important information via the pen and paper approach. School staff had to go through every little detail in order to locate important information on a daily basis. That is not the case anymore because school admins have shifted all important information on the cloud.

Teachers that used to mark attendance through registers are now seen using smartphones for that purpose. Principals who used to print hundreds of handouts and brochures on a daily or weekly basis, can easily circulate important information via the internet portal or the SMS communicator service. Most of the financial records have been automated providing academic institutes with a safe and secure accounts management system.

The digital student archiving system has also made it much easier for admins to locate students in groups or individually via the student ID system. They don’t have to go through stacks of papers or hundreds of excel sheets in order to keep track of a few pupils. Finance department, education department and student enrolment and attendance can all be managed and maintained via cloud-based technology.    

How Have The Methods Of Education Changed?

Students of today want easy access to knowledge and for that, schools and colleges have started to use internet, ebooks, tablet computers, projector screens and so on. Teachers that used to give lectures in class are showing children interactive presentations on projector screens. Children that used to carry heavy textbooks have started to read from tablet computers.

Instead of distributing schedule handouts, teachers are posting timetables and date sheets on the internet portal. Students on the other hand, also find it easy to view appraisal reports; result cards and all sorts of information via the internet portal improving the overall methods of education. Students that used to visit shops to buy books have started to download ebooks from the internet.

Because of technology, students have become more productive providing schools and college with greater margin to flourish in the education industry. There is absolutely no problem in admitting that technology and education go hand in hand providing the world of education a chance to be more creative and innovative. 

Students: Ten Steps to Succeed in School

I have been teaching college success courses for many years to both at-risk students who are taking developmental courses and to students who are beyond the need for developmental or remedial courses. There are some basics or fundamentals which enhance success in high school and college. Here is my list of ten important steps to avoid failure and to achieve success in school:

1. Be in class. Being on time and maintaining good attendance are important. If you are not in class then you are not learning what is being taught, will not be able to take notes and will not see what subject matter your teacher or professor thinks is important. Obviously it is also important to pay attention when you are in class.
2. Take notes. You cannot review the information that is being taught without class notes. Unless you review your notes several times most of the information is unlikely to get into your long-term memory and will be forgotten. It is best to learn and use a note-taking system such as Cornell, think link, outline or another system.
3. Turn work in on time. Start early on assignments and break them into smaller chunks. This is how to make the difficult easy. Use a planner/calendar to record upcoming assignments so that you can keep up with the work load.
4. Take pride in yourself and your work. Do quality work. If something is worth doing it is worth doing well.
5. Set educational and other goals. This will give you a purpose for going to school and this provides self-motivation. Remind yourself why you want a good education and what you want to achieve in school.
6. Set aside enough time to study. To excel in college you need to study at least two hours for every hour you are in class. Do important assignments first. Then reward yourself with play and you will have a stress free mind because you know the important school work is done. Study with concentration for short periods of approximately 30 minutes followed by short breaks in between. Say no to friends who want to play when your school work needs to be done and schedule another and better time with them.
7. Explain lessons to yourself. This is self-teaching. Read a paragraph in your text and then explain what you learned out loud in your own words. Read it again if you did not understand it. Do not go to the next paragraph until you think you understood the preceding one.
8. Create practice quizzes and tests. Self-testing is powerful. Go through your class notes and textbook. Write down every question you think could be on the test. Then give yourself your own quiz and grade it before you take the one in class.
9. Focus your attention. Do not multi-task and divide your attention in class or while reading your textbooks. These are the times when your full concentration and focus are important.
10. Take care of your brain. Getting enough sleep, exercise, water and good nutrition are important for optimum brain functioning. Avoid using recreational drugs and drinking much alcohol because they can impair your brain’s ability to function well.

There are many more strategies for succeeding in school, but without these ten basic steps your success is less likely. You can start following these ten steps now for better grades and enhanced learning.

By Raymond Gerson

Raymond Gerson is an adjunct professor of college and career success courses at Austin Community College. He is author of Achieve College Success and Achieve Career Success and trains educators how to teach these strategies.

Enhancing Cultural Awareness

Young children have a natural curiosity about self and surroundings that motivates exploration.  The educational environment, therefore, should be one that provides the child numerous and varied opportunities to explore, question and discover. The teacher, as the individual ultimately responsible for establishing and maintaining an educational environment that: 1.) promotes self-awareness; 2.) encourages positive, caring interactions; and 3.) promotes pride in cultural heritage, must outline an appropriate plan.
The following strategies can help teachers design an educational atmosphere where each
child feels important, accepted, and respected as a contributing member of the class:

• MAKE DIVERSITY A NATURAL AND NORMAL PART OF THE PROGRAM
• Establish and maintain an educational environment that has representative and positive examples of diverse cultures (bulletin boards, learning centers, etc.)
• Prepare thematic units, lessons, activities and projects that incorporate diversity
• Focus on the “unique characteristics” of the diverse cultures discussed/ presented in the educational environment.
• Provide numerous and varied educational opportunities that enable young children to experience aspects of diverse cultures (Have parents from various cultures to teach children words, songs, stories, etc. Prepare foods from various cultures.  Display clothing and discuss celebrations from various cultures).
• Use literature as a means of beginning a dialogue to identify what stereotypes or misconceptions children have about diverse cultures.  Use this information to develop lessons and activities that introduce, review and reinforce diversity.

Young children are responsive and receptive when concepts and skills are presented at the
appropriate level.  The classroom is an excellent social environment to provide experiences
that are a natural and normal part of the academic developmental process to support efforts
for learning to live with diversity.

Learning through Play

All children are engrossed in exploration and play in order to comprehend and make sense of the world around them. To analyse the importance of play during the early years I offer a brief summary in this reflection of mine.

Before the development of oral language children are engrossed in sensory and physical exploration as a natural process to understand their immediate environment. There are a number of definitions to define play and one cannot deny the significance in the learning that takes place through play. Theorists like Piaget and Vygotsky considered play to be an important part of childhood as a path to the learning process.
Learning through play for Piaget was defined as a movement through practice play, imaginative play, and continuing on to play with a set of rules. On the other hand, Vygotsky thought that children could be assisted in moving from their level of performance to a level of what they could have a potential of doing. Vygotsky believed the zone of proximal development was created through play which was when children could, "operate at their highest possible cognitive level" (Smidt, 2006, p. 46). As children make sense of the world around them Vygotsky thought that those who expressed themselves through imaginary play stood a 'head taller'. This meant that in pretend play, "children reveal more about what they know and can do than in other activities" (Smidt, 2006, p. 46). Like Piaget he acknowledged that play developed into those with rules but highlighted the importance of the social nature of learning through play.
Vygotsky suggested that play is the main source of development in early years. "In play a child deals with things as having meaning. Word meanings replace objects, and thus an emancipation of word from object occurs" (Vygotsky, 1933, p. 11). However, there is a transfer of meanings as a child in imaginary play can think of a stick as a horse as he or she mentally designates the object or property as the word. "Play is the source of development and creates the zone of proximal development. Action in the imaginative sphere, in an imaginary situation, the creation of voluntary intentions and the formation of real life plans and volitional motives - all appear in play and make it the highest level of preschool development" (Vygotsky, 1933, p. 16).
Bruner also showed an interest in play which he described as an approach to, "doing something and not an activity in its own right" (Smidt, 2006, p. 46). This suggests that children can learn through the process of play which is not an activity in itself but a tool to comprehend aspects of literacy, numeracy, and anything in the environment around them. Bruner also believed that through imaginative play children substituted reality in a way, and with that approach created symbols. "In essence, in pretend play, the child stimulates an action in play as if it were real, or the child tries out new combinations and consequences in a what if fashion" (Smidt, 2006, p. 46). I would like to empasise that the lack of pressure during pretend play is of significance in the learning and development of the child.
Children also build on their fine and gross motor skills during play. Suitable outdoor play areas that are set up to encourage this development are essential in early childhood settings in my opinion. If these environments are not available teachers should explore nearby outdoor parks or playgrounds to promote play. Unfortunately a number of children today spend a great deal of time indoors as they watch television and should be encouraged to explore outdoor environments to play.
In Steiner kindergartens children are exposed to experiences that generally occur at home like cooking, cleaning, sewing, gardening, and building. These activities provide a link to what happens at home and creates a sense of well-being and security for the children who can relate to those particular activities.  Children are encouraged to use their fantasy in imaginary play and are exposed to resources that stimulate this type of play. Generally these resources are natural items and materials that are quite often unfinished. The logic behind this is that, "an 'unfinished' toy leaves children free to exert their imaginations, a 'finished' toy ties the child to a certain group of activities" (Trostli, 1998, p. 95-96). For example, if a child has a yellow taxi, play is limited to activities around taxis. Whereas, if the child had a plain wooden car, imaginary play could involve a number of endless possibilities from which the child can extend and initiate their own play. This is similar in concept to what I mentioned earlier with regard to a child imagining a stick to be a horse as he or she mentally designates the object or property as the word. Trosli (1998) also states that Steiner kindergartens, "allow the children's intellectual faculties to unfold naturally so that by the time children enter the elementary grades, they are ready and eager to experience new forms of learning" (p. 97).  
Smith (1998) suggests that there is a gender segregation in play from the early years. Girls tend to express themselves emotionally and develop nurturing skills whereas boys tend to apply and operate through rules and get on better with others that they don't like. If children are left to themselves they generally form groups of the same gender but mix together and play when adults set up roles and situations for children to play in.
Research in the developed world that is spoken of is Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) that presents itself as the most recent knowledge about children. However, this research is only from the US and does not take into account any cultural values and perceptions of other groups of children. DAP's outlook is 'age and stage' and strongly promotes play that is self directed and initiated. However, it doesn't look at cultural and lifestyle issues as well as socio-economic factors (Smidt, 2006). DAP mentions the declining state of imaginary play as children are being led into more adult driven activities and media use and state that, "Active scaffolding of imaginative play is needed in early childhood settings if children are to develop the sustained, mature dramatic play that contributes significantly to their self-regulation and other cognitive, linguistic, social, and emotional benefits." (p. 15). DAP also suggest that, "Rather than detracting from academic learning, play appears to support the abilities that underlie such learning and thus to promote school success" (p. 15).
In conclusion, children learn through play that they discover for themselves in their own environment. Play promotes cognitive, social, and emotional development and is essential for physical development during the early years. Te Whāriki states that, "Children learn through play - by doing, by asking questions, by interacting with others, by setting up theories or ideas about how things work and trying them out, and by the purposeful use of resources" (Ministry of Education, 1996). Play eventually leads to creative thinking, and through what they are doing children can reflect on their own play to answer questions and solve problems for themselves to develop an understanding of the world around them.

How Students Struggle with mathematics and why students should choose mathematics

Year after year, the competition level is increasing and the youth of our world facing numerous problems regarding their studies. After an annual survey you come know that the teenagers list math as a subject in which they can face the most difficulties. But the reality is different because math is an objective subject, which means that each math problem has its one right answer or solution, but infinite number of wrong solutions. It is also a sequential subject because what you learn at starting as a basic it is all depended on it and what you have learned in the past will help you to solve your further arriving problems. Mathematics provides us many different opportunities like concept building, problem solving, reasoning and ability to understand the real-world situation. There is a way for students who feel math difficult subject, they can choose mathematics tutor for learning it with easy methods.

Educational Materials:

Twisting the educational material provides opportunities for students to manage with the content developmentally over time. Concepts can be developed with the previous learning throughout the education as students and it also helps students to be proficient and more experienced in mathematics. It is too difficult for the students to learn the same content year by year and almost in the same manner.

The Gap between the students and subject matter:

When the students being taught the subject matter which is not directly connected to the student’s ability and experiences, it develops a gap between the student and subject. This situation may occur if the students are absent frequently due to some reason during the academic year. A student may find mathematics more difficult and advanced if the student is unable to understand the basic concepts of mathematics during the previous school sessions. 

Memory Ability:            

Some of the students lack behind due to the inability of developing well mental strategies for remembering the complete process of algorithm and the combinations of basic facts. But this kind of inability in which students can’t remember the complete algorithm procedure can be removed by practicing it. It also includes the problem regarding the multi-step algorithms or problems which creates problem for the students who are unable to recall the data while solving the mathematics problem. For this kind of problem students should take help of private math tutors or online math tutor, to remove your inability of remembering the algorithm data.

Maths requires practice and patience:

To succeed in math students require practice, patience, plenty of time and mental capacity. Practice makes perfect to the student or learner, there is only a way by which you can command on math and the way is practice.   

Why Students should choose mathematics

A student should choose mathematics subjects in the higher school, not just to prepare for higher education but also to understand the importance and need of math in their life. Students feel math as a boring and irrelevant subject and start avoiding it but their tutor should motivate them for choosing math subject by showing them the advantages of mathematics subject like easier admission in higher education, importance of math in our life etc.

Here are some reasons for which you should choose mathematics:

Math makes you smarter: 

Math helps you to face hard challenges in your life which can be possible only by logical thinking. It helps you to understand the actuality and mistakes of a person, helps you to recognize when people are lying to you or trying to cheat you.

Math makes you capable to compete in global world:

In this global world you have to compete with many people to get your interesting job. To achieve your goals you have to choose math because it will provide you a strength and capacity to compete against people from the whole world.

Choose math to grab opportunities:  

If you don’t choose math subject, you will close door of interesting studies and careers. Student, who wants various opportunities and success in their life, should choose mathematics in high school. 

Advantages of Using ICT in Learning-Teaching Process

nformation and Communication Technologies (ICT) have recently gained a groundswell of interest, becoming a significant research area for many scholars around the globe. One of the reasons for this surge is that nature of ICT has greatly changed the face of education. For most European countries, the use of ICT, in education and training, has become a priority during the last decade; however, very few have achieved progress. Indeed, only a small percentage of schools, in a few countries, effectively used ICT to support and change the teaching and learning process in diverse subject areas.  Others are still in the early phases of adopting ICT.

Balanskat, Blamire & Kefala (2006), conducted a study carried out in national, international, and European schools, with the aim of gathering evidence regarding the advantages and benefits of ICT in school achievements. The study sought to measure the impact of ICT on student performance by trying to establish a link between the use of ICT and students’ results in exams. The findings are interesting. ICT has shown a positive impact on student performance in primary school, particularly in English language, although the effects are less significant in the sciences.  Schools with higher levels of e-maturity (E-maturity is demonstrated when students apply ICT in strategic and discriminating ways, taking into consideration a balance of advantages and alternatives.) show a rapid increase in performances in scores compared to those with lower levels.

In addition, schools with adequate ICT resources achieve better results than those that are not so well-equipped. There appears to be a direct correlation to well-appointed ICT schools and a significant improvement on learners’ performances. Finally, many teachers are convinced that educational achievements of pupils are due to high ICT utilization. In fact, a high percentage of teachers in Europe (86%), state that pupils are more motivated when computers and the internet are being used in class.

Many pupils consider ICT tools very helpful for completing assignments. Also, teachers are attuned to the fact that ICT enables students with special needs or difficulties to achieve and grow as well.  ICT may also help to reduce social disparities between pupils, since they work in teams in order to achieve a given task or common goal. Additionally, students often assume more responsibilities when they use ICT, such as organizing their work through digital portfolios or projects.  The study also showed that ICT has had a significant impact on teachers and the teaching processes.

Government interventions and training seminars have encouraged the use of ICT tools to stimulate teachers.  Indeed, an absolute majority of teachers in Europe (90 %), claim to use ICT to complete tasks such as preparing lessons and sequencing classroom activities.  Therefore, by utilizing ICT, teachers are able to plan their lessons more efficiently. ICT also helps teachers to work in teams and share ideas related to their school’s curriculum. There is also evidence that broadband (a form of high speed internet) and interactive whiteboards play a central role in fostering teachers’ communications and help to increase collaboration between educators.

The ICT Test Bed Evaluation (Underwood 2006), provides evidence that many teachers use ICT to support innovative education. The report states, “New technologies that provide a good fit with existing practices, such as interactive whiteboards, are first to be embedded, but others, like video conferencing, digital video and virtual learning environments are now being incorporated, providing evidence of ongoing learning by the workforce. Training needs to continue to support innovative pedagogy.”

Both of these examples show that ICT is continuously being integrated into the traditional classroom setting. Therefore, ICT can improve teaching by enhancing prior knowledge and introducing new ways of teaching and learning. Transforming teaching is more difficult to achieve, “changes that take full advantage of ICT will only happen slowly over time, and only if teachers continue to experiment with new approaches.” (Underwood 2006)  This evaluation came from a teacher training seminar in Information and Technology (IT) during the Information Technology Management Forum (ITMF) project. It demonstrates that teachers have not fully adopted the use of ICT in education. However, many educators continue to change their way of thinking about the application of ICT in education and the learning process.

Accordingly, although many teachers have increased their use of ICT in lessons where students look for information on the internet and then use it afterwards for subject specific areas, hardly any teachers use ICT for class presentations. Furthermore, teachers do not use ICT to engage students more actively to produce knowledge. Similarly, the e-learning Nordic 2006 study shows an increase in the use of ICT to teach but not to innovate teaching methods, stating, “ICT generally has a positive impact on teaching and learning situations, but compared with the ideal expectations; the impact of ICT on teaching and learning must still be considered to be limited.” (Ramboll, 2006).

Many teachers use ICT to support traditional learning methods, for example, information retrieval in which students are ‘passive learners of knowledge’ instead of ‘active producers, able to take part in the learning process.’ In a document entitled Teaching and Learning with ICT, G. Galea (2002), it is explained how ICT can promote teaching and learning. According to Galea, there are two main reasons to increase the use of ICT in education in the United Kingdom. First, ICT can change the lessons’ pace.  She states that children in modern society need to develop sufficient skills to take full advantage of the new opportunities that ICT offers. Secondly, there is a growing rise of academic interest in the UK, especially in how technological tools can enhance the quality of teaching and learning in schools, and by doing so, help learners to achieve better outcomes.

ICT Advantages & Disadvantages

ICTs stand for information and communication technologies and are defined, for the purposes, as a “diverse set of technological tools and resources used to communicate, and to create, disseminate, store, and manage information.” These technologies include computers, the Internet, broad casting technologies (radio and television), and telephony.

The  Effectiveness  of ICTs in Education

ICTs are a potentially powerful tool for extending educational opportunities, both formal and non-for mal, to previously underserved constituencies—scattered and rural populations, groups traditionally excluded from education due to cultural or social reasons such as ethnic minorities, girls and women, persons with disabilities, and the elderly, as well as all others who for reasons of cost or because of time constraints are unable to enroll on campus.

•  Anytime, anywhere.  One defining feature of ICTs is their ability to transcend time and space. ICTs make possible asynchronous learning, or learning characterized by a time lag between the delivery of instruction and its reception by learners. Online course materials, for example, may be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. ICT-based educational delivery (e.g., educational programming broadcast over radio or television) also dispenses with the need for all learners and the instructor to be in one physical location. Additionally, certain types of ICTs, such as teleconferencing technologies, enable instruction to be received simultaneously by multiple, geographically dispersed learners (i.e., synchronous learning).

•  Access to remote learning resources.  Teachers and learners no longer have to rely solely on printed books and other materials in physical media housed in libraries (and available in limited quantities) for their educational needs. With the Internet and the World Wide Web, a wealth of learning materials in almost every subject and in a variety of media can now be accessed from anywhere at anytime of the day and by an unlimited number of people. This is particularly significant for many schools in developing countries, and even some in developed countries, that have limited and outdated library resources. ICTs also facilitate access to resource persons, mentors, experts, researchers, professionals, business leaders, and peers—all over the world.

·         ICTs help prepare individuals for the workplace.

One of the most commonly cited reasons for using ICTs in the classroom has been to better prepare the current generation of students for a workplace where ICTs, particularly computers, the Internet and related technologies, are becoming more and more ubiquitous. Technological literacy, or the ability to use ICTs effectively and efficiently, is thus seen as representing a competitive edge in an increasingly globalizing job market.

 Benefits/Advantages  of ICT in Education

Here are some of the benefits which ICT brings to education according to recent research findings.

General benefits

·         Greater efficiency throughout the school.

·         Communication channels are increased through email, discussion groups and chat rooms

·         Regular use of ICT across different curriculum subjects can have a beneficial motivational influence on students’ learning.

Benefits for teachers

·         ICT facilitates sharing of resources, expertise and advice

·         Greater flexibility in when and where tasks are carried out

·         Gains in ICT literacy skills, confidence and enthusiasm.

·         Easier planning and preparation of lessons and designing materials

·         Access to up-to-date pupil and school data, any time and anywhere.

·         Enhancement of professional image projected to colleagues.

·         Students are generally more ‘on task’ and express more positive feelings when they use computers than when they are given other tasks to do.

·         Computer use during lessons motivated students to continue using learning outside school hours.

Benefits for students

·         Higher quality lessons through greater collaboration between teachers in planning and preparing resources .

·         More focused teaching, tailored to students’ strengths and weaknesses, through better analysis of attainment data

·         Improved pastoral care and behaviour management through better tracking of students

·         Gains in understanding and analytical skills, including improvements in reading

·         Comprehension.

·         Development of writing skills (including spelling, grammar, punctuation, editing and re-drafting), also fluency, originality and elaboration.

·         Encouragement of independent and active learning, and self-responsibility for learning.

·         Flexibility of ‘anytime, anywhere’ access (Jacobsen and Kremer, 2000)

·         Development of higher level learning styles.

·         Students who used educational technology in school felt more successful in school, were more motivated to learn and have increased self-confidence and self-esteem

·         Students found learning in a technology-enhanced setting more stimulating and student-centred than in a traditional classroom

·         Broadband technology supports the reliable and uninterrupted downloading of web-hosted educational multimedia resources

·         Opportunities to address their work to an external audience

·         Opportunities to collaborate on assignments with people outside or inside school

Benefits for parents

·         Easier communication with teachers

·         Higher quality student reports – more legible, more detailed, better presented

·         Greater access to more accurate attendance and attainment information

·         Increased involvement in education for parents and, in some cases, improved self-esteem

·         Increased knowledge of children’s learning and capabilities, owing to increase in learning activity being situated in the home

·         Parents are more likely to be engaged in the school community

·         You will see that ICT can have a positive impact across a very wide range of aspects of school life.

ICT and Raising Standards

Recent research also points to ICT as a significant contributory factor in the raising of standards of achievement in schools.

• Schools judged by the school inspectors to have very good ICT resources achieved better results than schools with poor ICT.
• Schools that made good use of ICT within a subject tended to have better achievement in that subject than other schools.
• Socio-economic circumstances and prior performance of pupils were not found to be critical.
• Secondary schools with very good ICT resources achieved, on average, better results in English, Mathematics and Science than those with poor ICT resources.

A range of research indicates the potential of ICT to support improvements in aspects of

literacy, numeracy and science.

• Improved writing skills: grammar, presentation, spelling, word recognition and volume of work .
• Age-gains in mental calculations and enhanced number skills, for example the use of decimals .
• Better data handling skills and increased ability to read, interpret and sketch graphs Improvements in conceptual understanding of Mathematics (particularly problem solving) and Science (particularly through use of simulations)

The use of ICTs help improve the quality of education

ICTs can enhance the quality of education in several ways: by increasing learner motivation and engagement by facilitating the acquisition of basic skills, and by enhancing teacher training. ICTs are also transformational tools which, when used appropriately, can promote the shift to a learner-centered environment.

Motivating to learn. ICTs such as videos, television and multimedia computer software that combine text, sound, and colorful, moving images can be used to provide challenging and authentic content that will engage the student in the learning process. Interactive radio likewise makes use of sound effects, songs, dramatizations, comic skits, and other performance conventions to compel the students to listen and become involved in the lessons being delivered. More so than any other type of ICT, networked computers with Internet connectivity can increase learner motivation as it combines the media richness and interactivity of other ICTs with the opportunity to connect with real people and to participate in real world events.

Facilitating the acquisition of basic skills. The transmission of basic skills and concepts that are the foundation of higher order thinking skills and creativity can be facilitated by ICTs through drill and practice. Educational television programs such as Sesame Street use repetition and reinforcement to teach the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes and other basic concepts. Most of the early uses of computers were for computer-based learning (also called computer-assisted instruction) that focused on mastery of skills and content through repetition and reinforcement.

Enhancing teacher training. ICTs have also been used to improve access to and the quality of teacher training. For example, At Indira Gandhi National Open University, satellite-based one-way video- and two-way audio-conferencing was held in 1996, supplemented by print-materials and recorded video, to train 910 primaryschool teachers and facilitators from 20 district training institutes in Karnataka State. The teachers interacted with remote lecturers by telephone and fax

Examples of ICT-based activities

What kind of classroom activities are suited to the use of ICT? The following is a brief guide to some of the most common uses of ICT in teaching and learning.

Finding out

Students can use ICT to find out information and to gain new knowledge in several ways. They may find information on the Internet or by using an ICT-based encyclopedia such as Microsoft Encarta. They may find information by extracting it from a document prepared by the teacher and made available to them via ICT, such as document created using Microsoft Word or a Microsoft PowerPoint slideshow. They may find out information by communicating with people elsewhere using email, such as students in a different school or even in a different country.

Processing knowledge

Students can use ICT as part of a creative process where they have to consider more carefully the information which they have about a given subject. They may need to carry out calculations (eg. by using Microsoft Excel), or to check grammar and spelling in a piece of writing (perhaps using Microsoft Word), or they may need to re-sequence a series of events (for example by re-ordering a series of Microsoft PowerPoint slides).

Sharing knowledge

Students can use ICT to present their work in a highly professional format. They can create documents and slideshows to demonstrate what they have learned, and then share this with other students, with their teacher, and even via email with people all around the world.

Computers and the Internet use for teaching and learning

There are three general approaches to the instructional use of computers and the Internet, namely:

1)  Learning about computers and the Internet, in which technological literacy is the end goal;

2) Learning with computers and the Internet, in which the technology facilitates learning across the curriculum; and

3) Learning through computers and the Internet, integrating technological skills development with curriculum applications.

Learn about computers and the Internet

Learning about computers and the Internet focuses on developing technological literacy. It typically includes:

•        Fundamentals: basic terms, concepts and operations

•        Use of the keyboard and mouse

•        Use of productivity tools such as word processing, spreadsheets, data base and graphics programs

•        Use of research and collaboration tools such as search engines and email

•        Basic skills in using programming and authoring applications such as Logo or HyperStudio

•        Developing an awareness of the social impact of technological change.

Learning with computers and the Internet

Learning with the technology means focusing on how the technology can be the means to learning ends across the curriculum. It includes:

•Presentation, demonstration, and the manipulation of data using productivity tools

•Use of curriculum-specific applications types such as educational games, drill and practice, simulations, tutorials, virtual laboratories, visualizations and graphical representations of abstract concepts, musical composition, and expert systems

•Use of information and resources on CD-ROM or online such as encyclopedia, interactive mapsand atlases, electronic journals and other references.

Technological literacy is required for learning with technologies to be possible, implying a two-step process in which students learn about the technologies before they can actually use them to learn.

Learning through computers and the Internet mean

Learning through computers and the Internet combines learning about them with learning with them. It involves learning the technological skills “just-in-time” or when the learner needs to learn them as he or she engages in a curriculum-related activity.

Computers and the Internet used in distance education

Many higher educational institutions offering distance education courses have started to leverage the Internet to improve their programme’s reach and quality.

Disadvantages of ICT

                One of the major barriers for the cause of ICT not reaching its full potential in the foundation stage is teacher’s attitude. According to Hara (2004), within the early years education attitudes towards ICT can vary considerably. Some see it as a potential tool to aid learning whereas others seem to disagree with the use of technology in early year settings. Blatchford and Whitebread (2003:16), suggests that the use of ICT in the foundation stage is “unhealthy and hinders learning”. Other early years educators who are opposed to offering ICT experiences within the educational settings take a less extreme view than this and suggest that ICT is fine, but there are other more vital experiences that young children will benefit from, (Blatchford and Whitebread, 2003). In theory some people may have the opinion that the teachers who had not experienced ICT throughout their learning tend to have a negative attitude towards it, as they may lack the training in that area of the curriculum.

              Another important drawback to using ICT in schools is the fact that computers are expensive. According to the IT learning exchange (2001), in most schools ICT will be the single largest curriculum budget cost. This may be seen as a good thing but on the other hand there will be little money left over for other significant costs.