"Digital Planet"

Our ICT Elective is all about being 21st century thinkers and learning a range of ways to enhance learning in the classroom.

I listened to an episode of Digital Planet which looks at the advantages that technology can bring.

The episode really made me realise how far technology has come...Cassettes to DVDs to studying a course on the Internet. Open University allows students to complete courses online which would really benefits those people who would struggle to get to a University.

Using mobile phones:
Something which came to my attention was using mobile phones in Bangladesh to learn English. The British Government is financing the project and Shihan Zuberi said "Mobile phones are making it possible". The Bangladesh population would struggle to read the english words but they are finding that hearing the words is "making it possible". This shows how technology can break down barriers between countries. I thought that Voices of the World would also help to increase their recognition of words and knowledge of other languages.

Using Laptops:
In Brazil, 350 schools are involved in the initiative OLPC (One Laptop Per Child). At first, the laptops were estimated at costing 100$ but unfortunately they are still priced at 300$. A teacher from one of the schools trialling out the project talked about how important these laptops were in improving the education of the children and making a positive influence of their lives. The laptops include many activities and learning opportunities (games for maths and language...)

The programme says that technology can help to personalise learning through giving children more choice in what they want to use to learn. This fits perfectly with the principle "Personalisation and Choice" of Curriculum for Excellence (Lts, 2009).

The final part of the episode ponders how to ensure that teachers are prepared to use and teach technology in schools. Hopefully, this elective will help to make me prepared to use technology confidently and I am sure I will have to keep on learning as technology keeps on changing...

I will end this with a quote which I think sums up what technology should bring to schools:

Technology is a tool that is used across content areas and throughout everyone's daily lives. Technology is not something that should be considered seperate from the curriculum. Instead, our goal should be to make technology a seamless part of our teaching and instruction (Brown, Green and Robinson, 2008. p3)