Question Three

When I commenced this course I had no idea that there was such a thing a Digital natives and immigrants. I admit I have been sceptical of ICT in classrooms and their effectiveness simply because I have seen that it did not work.
I realise now that it is not the ICT in the classrooms, but it is the way in which they are integrated into the teaching and learning of the student that causes the problems and probably gives the medium a bad name. (to the digital native with a heavy accent)
Teachers can be well served by technology in the classroom provided that they use it a tool just like any other tool such as whiteboards and books. The mistake that I now know was being made was that the teacher was trying to get the technology to do the teaching for them and notuse it to compliment their instructional role.
ICT is necessary in the schools. They can accommodate all of the learning theories
The behaviourist theory can accommodate by games. That can be used in collaborative team exercises. They interact with the student and give feed back. They can be informative and interesting and hold the students attention.
In the cognitive theories Piaget and Vygotsky both acknowledge the collaborative nature of learning. Vygotsky theory of social and cultural influences in the learning process lends itself nicely to the ICT integration. Collaborative learning activities such as web quests and Wiki quests allow the students to research a topic together in class in real time or at home or wherever using the internet as a tool for them to communicate with each other and speak to the information being collected.
Even the humanists can get ICT to work for them. They can use it for activities such as simulations that allow the student to enquire and make connections with the world around them and the topic at hand.

On line learning definitely has a place in schools. They allow students time to work when it suits them (within a framework of course) they can prioritise their work, and collaborate with other students in the school or world wide. It allows them to be more creative and access information readily and now, not when the library opens. The student can be in touch with other students and the teacher long after the school bell has rung.
Using the net ,blogs texts and all other multimedia is simply talking to the students in the language that they understand and in using tools that they are used to just like pen and paper was to us.