ICT FOR CHILDREN

ICT for Children

ICT for Children

Introduction

The use of computers by school students can be categorized according to five headings: computer-aided learning, information retrieval and processing, design and production, communication, and the study of the computer itself. All these uses can be subsumed, in a general way, under the heading “e-learning.” A general theme that runs through all use is the current convergence of computers as information processors and as the successors of older technologies of representation, such as photography, cinema, print, and radio. This convergence is leading to shifts in the curricular use of computers, just as it is leading to wider cultural shifts in society. Although schools often respond positively to new opportunities, they are also often at a loss to know how to respond to new forms of digital culture among children aged 3 to 5 years.

Discussion

It is difficult to give an accurate general picture of school use of computers because of the economic digital divide, which produces widely different patterns of computer availability and connectivity—not only between the developed and developing worlds but also between different groups within individual countries, and between wealthier and less wealthy European economies, including, for instance, new member states in the European Union. The following descriptions are, therefore, broadly typical of schools in the developed world. However, digital divides exist within these countries too; the digital divide therefore has traditionally been a powerful rationale for providing students with computers to compensate for lack of access at home for children from poorer families.

Recent studies show that, in countries where access to computers is lower (such as Italy and Greece), provision of computers in schools is also lower, so the resources available to overcome the digital divide are least available where they are needed most. Finally, this research also points to a different kind of divide: between children's uses of computers at home (driven by social communication, play, and entertainment) and “official” uses of computers in schools (driven by information retrieval). Some argue that this divide reduces real access by alienating children.

Computer-Aided Learning

Computer-aided learning (CAL) covers a wide range of specialized software, which uses computers to present content (through media such as CD-ROM novels, picture books, or textbooks), to teach skills (such as literacy or numeracy), and to alter the nature of classroom presentation (using programs such as PowerPoint or Interactive Whiteboard technology). Key questions about such software are whether a given package improves the nature of learning by, for instance, increasing learner autonomy or making skill acquisition more efficient, or whether it simply replicates older predigital practices, such as “drill 'n' skill” approaches to spelling or arithmetic.

Information Processing And Retrieval

Computers are used in this sense in much the same way as they might be in the adult world. Generic tools such as spreadsheets and databases are widely used across the curriculum. The Internet is an increasingly important source of information for students working in all curriculum contexts, although its uses go far beyond information ...