Hi
Sounds like people need something more than NOF training.
I'm not sure that we really have the existing resources under control but
when used effectively students seem to respond well and the gains seem
obvious. I still remember using one of the ancient Computers in the
Curriculum products on marginal utility - Steve Hurd will remember it well.
One girl who had failed to grasp the concept, despite the most careful
explanation, sat in front of the computer and suddenly let out a shriek of
delight - the penny had dropped! People learn in different ways so we need
to work out how to take this into account.
As new technology continues to hit classrooms, everyone continues to need
help to work out how to teach with it most effectively. Interactive
whiteboards, for example, are starting to become quite common so there is a
need for subject specific ideas about how to use them to help students to
learn.
Jenny
----- Original Message -----
From: "richard.bowett" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, November 03, 2002 7:01 PM
Subject: Re: IT in schools
> There is no doubt that IT can be a massive waste of time and money. It
can
> also be, as the research suggests, an actual barrier to learning. As I
see
> it, one of the main problems is that of INSET. When a school proudly
> unveils its latest hardware or software acquisition, staff are given INSET
> on how to operate the new system. Very rarely is the question raised as
to
> how the new system, however expertly operated, actually contributes to
> learning, and therefore how it should be used as a teaching tool.
>
> This is a subtle and difficult question. There is one range of issues as
to
> which kinds of topics/lessons a particular piece of apparatus or an
> application is best suited. As Duncan points out, there is a range of
> business topics which seem well handled by spread-sheets.
>
> But there is a further range of issues which is even more rarely
discussed.
> Information, and therefore learning is mediated by the means of
> communication. We all use language a lot, and are therefore familiar with
> the ways in which language mediates the learning in question. For
example,
> students with weak language skills find that so much of their cognitive
> processing is given over to the task of decoding the language that there
is
> very little left for learning the lesson in question. Similarly, IT
> mediates the information in different ways that I for one don't fully
> understand, and I would only claim to be a step ahead insofar as I am
aware
> that there is a question in need of an answer. The affective is prior to
> the cognitive, and we are all aware how the feelings about IT experienced
> by the technophobic student can form a barrier to learning. But that is
> only one of a possible range of affective responses to the use of IT. But
> what the cognitive consequences are is a further question. For example,
for
> all that many web-pages look like book pages, the web 'packages'
information
> in very different ways to books and libraries. How does this affect
> learning? Does it make it easier, or more difficult, or just different?
If
> so, what are the differences, and how are they best catered for?
>
> I welcome any thoughts on this matter.
>
> Richard Bowett
>
>
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