The effects of ICT on school life

Online Revision Sites

There are a variety of websites all over the world designed to help children who are studying for exams; they offer topic by topic explanations for each subject and use small quizzes and tests to determine the student's ability and to give them feedback about what's going wrong and on what section they may need to revise more thoroughly. 

The most popular revision site in the UK is BBC bitesize; it offers help to those children from KS1-GCSE level but does not extend to further education courses. It divides its sections by subject and then into exam board, this is useful as there are several different exam boards a student may be studying for and they are all slightly different in their specifications. Bitesize then further categorizes the subjects into topics which use language that is relevant to the audience it is aimed at; the KS1 section uses much more basic language and vocabulary than the GCSE section for example. It then rounds off each section with a small quiz to reinforce what the child has learnt in the previous section; this style of reinforcement allows the student to realise they mistakes they have made and provides the student with a reason for why they are wrong- allowing constructive criticism to enhance learning. 


These types of online revision sites have made education a lot easier; not only can the student access a wide wealth of information at school but they can also learn at home. The depth of the explanations and mini tests at the end of each topic allow the students to have practice in exam style questions and to evaluate what they need to revise more thoroughly. The electronic aspect may also appeal more to youngsters; they may be more willing to work online as it means no handwriting and use of books. It can also be adapted into a teenager's routine after school; it can be administered as homework to revise online before they can participate in any other digital pastimes- therefore they can accomplish this quickly and easily and readily progress onto their free time activities by the click of a button.


BBC Bitesize is not the only online revision resource there is on the web; all around the world schools and universities have their own versions of online revision archives where students can access notes and presentation that will help them study in the period before exams. These can be put on sites such as Fronter; students and teachers alike can share files that can be accessed by everyone in your school via a secure log in. A collaboration of useful files can be placed online and can be used at home and at school, so revision can take place anywhere that is necessary. 




Advantages:

• The majority are free to use
• Provide mostly all relevant information for the subjects you need, without the use of a textbook
• Provides free tests to help you learn
• Can be done anywhere; at school or home
• Are popular amongst youths due to their use of technology

Disadvantages

• Can occasionally contain errors in spelling and grammar
• The specifications are updated so frequently that information may quickly become dated and inaccurate 
• System may crash due to excess usage
• Does not cover AS/A Level 

Online Learning Sites

Online learning sites are growing in popularity on the web; they are an effective method of tracking a student's ability and grading their effort and attainment via online tests. A good example of this that I'm familiar with is MyMaths; this online maths site provides digital presentations about each topic, using small tests and questions to reinforce the method. Anyone can use this site using their school's login however you are also given your own personal login information that allows you to take tests and do the 'online homework' that may be set by your teachers. All your marks can be seen by your teacher; you are given a traffic light colour that represents how comfortable you are with the topic. A green light implies you are fully confident, an amber light indicates you need some work on the topic and a red light means you are completely clueless about the work set. This traffic light feature is effective in providing the students with feedback about their results and it really highlights were they're going wrong and what they need to work on with their teachers.

It's also extremely useful for the teachers to see the marks that their class are achieving and can identify quickly where the problem areas may be for the individual or the group as a whole. This will enhance their teaching skills as they can understand where the children may not be as confident as they should be and make decisions on going back over units of work to ensure they are fully confident in all sections of the work. The tests and online homeworks that are used are also segregated into ability levels; this ensures that everyone from a year group can participate no matter if they're in the bottom set or top- it's tailored to everyone's needs. Using this method of homework may also decrease the number of forgotten homeworks as once it is completed digitally there is no need to bring in any pieces of paper; all the relevant information is available for the teacher to view online.

This option of learning is a great benefit for school children and positively effects their school life as it broadens the opportunities for studying they are given and provides more options to complete assignments and access important information that they might need online. It not only provides a digital environment that students can use to learn but tests their knowledge with exam styled questions and quizzes that will give them adequate experience and improve their confidence. 

Advantages:

• Gives students wide access to information needed for study
• Uses online tests and quizzes to reinforce knowledge
• Can be used by all ages, no matter the ability level
• Improves confidence in work
• Is good for the environment- cuts back on use of paper based resources
• Can be accessed from home and school

Disadvantages 

• Can be slow on old browsers or computers, and need certain downloads to work
• May not cover all areas of specification, would need to refer to a textbook to ensure you cover all topics
• Does not give enough background information to help you if you are really stuck (MyMaths)- to improve this it could have a link that would direct students that did not understand to a basic guide that may help them grasp the theory better

Interactive Whiteboards

Replacing the old fashioned blackboards and whiteboards, new interactive whiteboards are gaining places in many classrooms across the UK. These electronic boards allow for connection to a computer and the touch sensitive screen lets the teacher utilize the board from the front of the class instead of having to operate the PC whilst teaching. This gives the teachers a greater sense of control over the rest of the class as it allows them to continue teaching in full view of the students and reduces the need to keep moving across the classroom to activate resources. This also allows the teacher to provide their full attention to the class and can project their voice and ideas more clearly across the room.

The touch sensitive screen is one of the best features about these whiteboards; they allow the pupils to become more active in their learning and participate more fully in the learning around them. They can be called to the front of the class and be asked to, for example, click or drag what they believe to be the correct answer. This would appeal to students who prefer a hands on style of learning as it involves them doing activities and harbouring knowledge from the experiments they do physically which tend to stick more in pupils minds. The use of these whiteboards also makes the lessons more exciting as it appeals more than textbook work to most students; and the technological aspect may make pupils more eager to learn and participate within the lesson. 

There are also several pens that can be utilized by the teacher that 'draw' on the board- this mimics the original use of whiteboards. This feature can be used for many purposes; such as drawing images that may needs to be copied by the class such as mind maps and can be used by the students to add their own ideas to the board. This feature of the interactive whiteboard is essentially a digitally adapted version of the initial purpose of blackboards and still play a big part in the use of learning today. The images drawn can be erased and edited at the touch of a button and eradicates the need for buying pens and erasers that were essential on the older version of the board.

There have also been some recent features added to these boards; such as a feature that allows teachers to record their lessons as digital video files and post the material online or in a school based system such as Fronter. These files can then be accessed at later dates and can be an extremely effective strategy for students who benefit from repetitive learning, want to review the content again, pupils who are not completely confident in a subject and pupils who were absent from lessons can watch the presentation that was given in class in its entirety and will ensure they do not fall completely behind in class. As this feature can also record voices the students will not only view what was presented on screen but can hear the instructing the teacher conducted during the lesson verbally; thus no information is left out.

Advantages:

• Allows students to actively participate in the lesson
• Makes learning more fun and exciting
• Gives everyone the opportunity to take part
• Is a DVD player, whiteboard and computer all in one; saving money and power
• Increases the opportunity of hands learning

Disadvantages:

• The interactive pen is often out of alignment with the board, making it hard to write and draw intelligibly
• Can slow down learning as frequent calling on individuals to come to the board breaks the flow of teaching
• Lower ability students may react negatively to be called in front of the class when they are unsure of the answer

Other examples:

How does it effect the economy?

• Digital projectors which have eradicated the need for the old fashioned light projectors; these enable images from the computer to be projected onto a screen and videos and images to be seen without the need for a TV or printed images
• Printers have allowed students to have useful images from the computer on a piece of paper so they can be used to study and create a deeper understanding of a subject
• In most schools in the UK there is an electronic bell system that indicate the start and end of lessons/breaks and quickly tell the whole school population the timings of the day and where they are now required to be; this has caused the phasing out of the old 'bell' used in many primary schools

The development in ICT that aids school work has been discovered to be an extremely profitable business as rising standards in the Department of Education require all schools to be kitted out with the standard electronic equipment now available to ensure that all schools in the UK offer the same standard of teaching as others and all children have equal access to these types on technology to enhance their learning. In the UK 100% of primary and 98% of secondary schools have Interactive White Boards in their infrastructure meaning that every single child in the UK has access to them; this means that a profit of over $1 billion has been made since their development in the early noughties. There are over 20,000 schools in the UK, this means that any piece of technology deemed as required by the Department of Education will have to be bought using mainly Government funds and distributed to all 20,000 maintained schools in the nation providing manufacturers with plenty of opportunities to sell their units for a profitable price.

How does it effect society?
Society as a whole relys on the adequate education of our young people to ensure that a generation of capable children are produced and are able to replace the adults of today when their time comes to benefit society with their knowledge and skills. These developments in ICT that are now required by all schools in the UK enable the British youth to recieve one of the best educations in Europe with all the devices available to make learning a more enjoyable and satisfying matter; children are more encouraged by the interesting aspect of using technology to help them learn and are more enthusiastic about learning when using these items. Society also benefits from the assurance that all schools in the UK are using the same equipment as a standard so levels of computer interaction should not vary dramatically from area to area and it makes the UK a more balanced places in terms of education standards.

How does it effect the individual?
The benefits to the students of today in terms of education is huge thanks to the development and use of ICT in schools that mean we get to use resources from all over the world whenever we need them. Secondary school level students in particular