Rethinking ICT in the classroom - Dr Alison Elliott

Dr. Alison Elliott wrote an article “Rethinking ICT in the classroom” which discusses how relevant and practical technology, such as computers, can be for teachers. Technology was initiated in the classroom 20 years ago; Elliott goes to explain in her article, where she mentions how students have more ICT experience than their teachers do. I interpreted this article to be somewhat biased against technology and other ICT’s in the classroom.

Elliott questions the “access, cost, training and quality” of ICT’s and how teachers how have little confidence with technology (due to their inexperience’s with it) won’t show interest in integrating ICT into their classrooms, even if they do have it available. I agree with this suggestion because I have experienced teachers who were not confident with using ICT and therefore never incorporated it into their teaching, even though my school did have good access to ICT’s. I think ways to prevent this is the CPAW program, which could build confidence amoungst teachers, or staff professional development days (as Elliott mentioned) to assist with further understanding upcoming and new technology that teachers could use in their teaching.

Dr. Alison mentioned CPAW (computer pals across the world) which is an “educational electronic network” that provides the chance for people to share experiences, ideas and knowledge about ICT. It is spread across 20 countries and helps enhance the worlds understanding of ICT.


I also want to talk about how Elliott mentioned how “One area to benefit from ICT developments has been communications and partnerships with parents”. I think this is one of the most influential aspects of ICT because parents are able to access information about their children and what they are doing in class (i.e. ‘my classes’ page), where parents can monitor and contribute to their children’s education.

In my opinion, I do not think ICT should be excluded from the classroom, because it provides an interesting and engaging classroom-learning environment, and allows different levelled students to learn in different ways. If teachers are not confident in their usage of ICT, then there are ways around it, like PD days or the CPAW program. I think Students would be at a disadvantage if ICT’s were removed from their learning, as it enhances their thinking and understanding, provided it is used appropriately.

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants By Marc Prensky

The Article Digital Kids by Marc Prensky is an insightful text that illustrates how technology has evolved throughout the world and it's impact on the classroom. Prensky came up with the notion of Digital Natives (commonly the younger generations/students) and Digital Immigrants (teachers or older generations). Prensky suggested in this article that teachers (Digital Immigrants) are believed to be following and old-fashioned style of teaching, however they need to adjust their methods of teaching to better suit students of today's society. Therein lies the answer to the majority of the problems that are arisen in the classroom. I agree with the idea that teachers today tend to favour the old-fashioned, traditional style of teaching and therefore create a boring and uninteresting subject area and that leads to students becoming less involved/engaged in classroom learning.

Prensky conveyed an idea of how students have grown up with technology and are therefore this change called 'Singularity' has occurred. I agree with this in the sense that students have changed (their brains - in the way they operate) because of the fact that their whole lives have been influenced by technology and therefore teachers should find a method of teaching that upholds Prensky's idea of legacy and future content (legacy meaning traditional, for example reading, writing, logic etc; and future meaning more digital and technology).

However, I do not believe that it is impossible for students to learn through the methods used by the Digital Immigrants. Most students of today's society are found to be more lazier and less respectful to authoritative figures and students also need to find a balance between both legacy and future content, its not totally dependant on the teacher and their ability to adapt.

I believe that in order for teachers and students to achieve the best in the future, there needs to be an equilibrium on both parts, and an understanding of both the needs of the teacher and students.

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