EDUC1049: Blog Assignment: ICT Current Trends

ICT Current Trends

EDUC1049 – Blog Assignment

“Technology has often been viewed as a tool to assist both teachers and students. But is that all?” (Howell, 2012)

In the first chapter of Howell’s text Teaching with ICT: Digital Pedagogies and Collaboration and Creativity (2012), she argues that the development of a digital pedagogy is essential for all teachers for the following reasons:

1. We are situated in a global information society.

2. The Australian workforce needs to be digitally prepared.

3. Not everyone is a digital native.

4. Using digital technologies in the classroom is engaging and motivating.

5. Life-long learning.

“So technology appears to be more than a mere tool in the classroom: it changes how and what we learn.”

She describes one of the reasons some teachers consider technology incompatible with secondary teaching is due to students physically moving classes most lessons unlike in primary. This requires the teacher spend time setting up and putting the technology away each class, often time consuming and impractical if intending to arrive to the following class on time. Additionally, booking computer labs could be difficult. As Howell quotes; “The list of reasons not use technology can be endless.” She continues on however to contend that “these hurdles are slowly being nullified” and that “schools are now equipping classrooms with more technology – data projectors, computer points and interactive whiteboards are increasingly present in classrooms”. Whilst the role of ICT in the classroom continues to be debated, ICT integration is becoming increasingly embedded as illustrated in Figure 1. Some of the proposed benefits of ICT are that it enables teachers to “perform traditional classroom tasks more efficiently” and offers “students the opportunity to construct their own knowledge” (Finger, Russell, Jamieson-Proctor, & Russell, 2007). Ongoing research is yielding surprising results pertaining to ICT use in schools that are transforming and challenging traditional teaching pedagogies, attitudes, and methods, however it is crucial to distinguish that “learning and teaching needs to be underpinned by theories of how students learn, rather than simply making ICT the curriculum focus.”

Figure 1 - Computers in Schools

Average ratio of number of computers to number of students in schools, taken from PISA 2000 and 2009 studies (OECD).

“Throwing a computer into a classroom doesn’t make the learning effective: teachers need to understand how to use technology effectively, understand the learning theories behind the practice and know how to select the right technology for the learning outcomes they seek.”

Some links to educational content found online:

Online Periodic Table (Yiga, 2012)

Khan Academy
Fold It Game designed to help Biology students understand protein.
Mathway
Mathletics