Information and communication technologies in schools: a ...

Modern electronic digital media such as DVD can accommodate hundreds
of thousands of text pages. The digital lecture-textbook can thus be organized to
display different levels of material, both in the sense of depth and breadth of subject
matter and in the sense of how it is presented to the student. It can contain
references or links to other related material whereas the lecturer has to point to
the blackboard or show a slide again. The digital video textbook can also provide
links to another part of the course, or to another course, or indeed to any piece
of information available in the school library and beyond on the Internet.
Broadening the range of materials used in classrooms
ICT are making it increasingly easy for teachers and students to have access to a
broader range of materials than they can use in the classroom. The simplest
example is the copying machine, which allows teachers to make copies of articles,
charts, or printed instructional materials from outside sources and to distribute
these among students. Supplementary computer tools such as scanners or digital
cameras allow teachers to bring in outside sources, enter them into a computer,
and customize assignments. For example, teachers can bring a timely article from
the morning newspaper into class, scan it in minutes, and have their students
work on rewriting, editing, or adding other research material to the story on the
same day. Encyclopedias, art collections, atlases, and other reference books in a
less expensive, and less space-consuming electronic format will be of everyday
use in classrooms.
Already, in many schools, students can browse interactively or conduct
electronic searches in CD-ROM databases, encyclopedias, or other reference
work. Thus, the new technologies allow access to a broader range of instructional
resources. They also offer students the opportunity to learn how to use
electronic tools to access information and develop research skills in solving
problems.
Web learning
Learning on the Web is one of the most promising and rapidly developing areas
of ICT in education. At the same time, it is one of the most complex psychologically
and socially controversial fields. There may be problems for some students
with sensitive topics like sex education, narcotics, and political or religious
extremism. Some voices are calling for compulsory technical restrictions
imposed on accessing objectionable sources of information.
ICT in Learning and Teaching
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