ICT in education

ICT has lead to many developments not only in the world of work but also in education as well. One example of this is the fact that all students in some schools each have their own computer account and LAN (local area network) in order to study and do work.In teaching there has also been a phase out of blackboards into whiteboards which in turn are then being replaced by the interactive whiteboards used in teaching.

Computer in schools also allow teachers to collect students work on the computer's servers as well as look at the syllabus and track work via the school's intranet. IT also allows mny textbooks to be now used as e-books on computers rather than physical books. With ICT in school, students can now use IT to communicate their work via e-mail.

An issue that often crops up with IT in school is that with many fast developments in technology during the school year, many schools have to rely on out of date IT systems and old operating systems with (for example) an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista costing at least £74 ($99) and that is only for 1 computer. As a result of budget constarints and government cuts, many schools might not be able to afford to be able to keep up to date with the latest releases, models and updates in the world of ICT.

The software now used in Schools is PowerPoint which allows teachers and students to create slideshows and learn from them. The ease of IT now allows children to create professional looking leaflets using Publisher. As a result of this use of IT, essay quality improves due to a lack of writer's cramp however, it can lead to a rise in RSI (Repetative strain injury) due to bad typing posture.

The disadvantages are that children can then become over reliant on computers and as such their handwriting gets worse and their spelling and grammer also suffer due to over reliance on Spellchecker. Plagerism is often a problem as students can now access work from all around the world and copy and paste it into their work to pass it off as their own efforts. Another problem is that with the use of paper impacting on enviroment and children now tend to waste paper. To fix this schools put blocks on printing to limit the number of pages printed to save paper but this can be circumvented by printing one at a time but this slows down efficiantcy.