Is the use of ICT in schools excessive?

[Reallytired]

Many educational computer games are good, but if they are used to excess, do they become a baby sitting tool rather than an education tool?

A website like this is fun, but is it really the best use of school time.

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/laac/story/sbi.shtml

Do children suffer from senory overload and fail to develop good concentration skills if they see computer screen? interactive whiteboards all the time.

Esecally in primary schools I think the use of ICT is actually a lot less than you might imagine. Not many primaries have wole ICT suites, so have to share limited computers.

Interactive whiteboards are very useful teaching tools, but I still think many teachers still just use them in the same way they used blackboards and whiteboards TBH. If used well they can be fatastic.

A lot of ICT use in primaries IME is quite superficial TBH. And in a fir few secondaries as well!

ds (P1) calls his the International Whiteboard

He's on the computer everyday and plays the same 2 number and spelling games everyday.

I wish it was policed better and that he was encouraged to progress a bit more.

In my secondary schhol it was totally overused. We had a government initiative to fund new whitboards being introduced and tablet PCs. Teachers seemed to spend all their time training, and even then a lot of the time it didn work. NOw 2 years on a lot of the teachers have given up and are going back to the old methods of white, black boards.

We had a lo of IT suites which were also just for doss lessons, not much work was ever done in them and as you sugest they were more babysitting tools for supply taught lessons, or when a teacher ahd other things to do.The only thing they were useful for were doing computerised coursework.
We used to spend a lot f time on the BBC website doing very little, also social networking sites.

I was an ICT teacher in secondary and I never let my pupils on the internet unless using very specific sites for specific learning goals. We taught ICT as a discrete subject at KS3 upwards though and we, at least tred, to do it properly. I think we were sucessful most of the time.

Some teachers seemed to have no idea when it came tot he interactve wgiteboards. the training was so superficial it was hardly suprising.

In my experience, ICT isnt used as a babysitting tool. But, when you think about the future, being confident with ICT will be a real bonus, so I think it's a good thing to have a lot of ICT in schools.

Message withdrawn

I think it is... dd1 is expected to write up homework on the PC, and in her Y3 report was criticised for not knowing the layout of the keyboard better
Her handwriting is still slow and not very good, and she doesn't do a proper tripod pencil hold either, I wish they'd bloody concentrate on that instead

To some extent yes. DSs (Y4 & Y2) both hate writing and their teachers say they can type homework instead. No farking way - I male them write it.

The interactive nature of these whiteboards is the key- it engages lots more kids than traditional talk and chalk methods. Wish my dds independent school had a few- she is quite bored for a lot of the time.(But perhaps that's just her.) I do know of teachers who do not really "teach "the skills necessary and kids are allowed to "play" which of course they could do at home. Used well in the right well they are totally fab teaching tool.

Agree thought that the blardy things are unreliable- SOOOOO agravating when you have found a great resource on the net to use in a lesson then the server goes down and you have to think of something else quick! (Especially if ofstead are in!)

One also has to bear in mind that there are very few jobs nowadays that don't rely in someway or another on use of ict.

Year 3 being critised for poor keyboard skills! RIDICULOUS. Agree handwriting much more important at this age.

I think that in terms of the cost and relative benefits it is over-used and over-promoted. The ongoing cost of maintenance, training upgrading work previously done in older formats etc is going to be huge in the long term. The interactive stuff is more helpful in secondary school where at least the same teacher can use the same material with a large number of pupils. But I don't see a huge increase in terms of benefits in education. Any "computing" that I did in school (back in the days of BBC computers and when the ZX spectrum was a "big thing") was out of date by the time I left school, so I'm don't think that not having pcs in the reception classroom will limit my dcs eventual workplace skills.

Whlst I like the idea of IT in schools, I think that it is a luxury rather than an essential, and would rather spend the money on other things (teachers, books, buildings).

AHHHH the old BBC computers. Makes me feel quite nostalgic.

Don't agree it is not useful in the primary sector. Can't speak for infants but I work with deaf older juniors and the visual nature of this resource is invaluable especially when they are struggling with vocabulary and a picture of the word can be found instantly.

DC get VERY little ICT time in their state primary. So answer would be fat NO to thread title Q.

As a teacher I agree tha ICT is probably underused and very often badly used (e.g. death by PowerPoint which often makes the kids very passive). I know schools that have interactive whiteboards ine vey classroom but are rarely used except for playing videos and the occasional PowerPOint.

Cod - you are right. Internet searching is a fine art really. We used to spend a fair bit of time, esp at GCSE and GNVQ level, just on searching techniques.

hurricane - really? That is bad; if schools are investing in this technology they should be doing adequate training to get teachers using tem properly and effectively.

I used my interactive whiteboard ALL the time when teaching. My lesson were all done on it - starting from my lesson objectives (kept in small window on screen at all times to refer too) to tasks and activities, demos, and plenary. Sometimes the children would use the board, sometimes me, sometimes just used as a noticebaord other times for acually doing stuff. It was such a fantastic tool - an great enhancement on a plain whiteboard.

DD's school (primary) has interactive whiteboards in every classroom and from what I have seen, and heard from DD, they are used really effectively too.

It is all in the teacher's training - that is the key.

I was really lucky to work in a school where all the classes had IWBs and all the teachers were passionate about using them as a teaching and learning tool.

I really, really miss mine now I'm out of school.

Interestingly, the children (Reception), didn't seem to realise that the IWB was ICT . They just accepted it as part of our classroom.

yes, technolgy is overused and abused