| The ubiquity of the internet across society has | | | | Furthermore, if the portable computers are linked |
| helped develop technology awareness and skills in | | | | wirelessly to a printer, pupils can print from their |
| people of all ages. Those born at the dawn of the | | | | PC no problem. |
| internet age may be IT-experts before they | | | | Web and wireless technology aside, what other |
| reach their tenth birthday, whilst those old enough | | | | digital tools could classrooms be using to their |
| to remember black and white television are | | | | advantage? Well, educational technology |
| encouraged to ‘go online’ at every | | | | incorporates countless contraptions designed to |
| opportunity, be it for internet banking or to book | | | | optimise children’s learning experiences. This |
| a holiday. | | | | could be an interactive whiteboard (IWB) which |
| This change in mindset towards interactive | | | | performs a number of functions, and as far as |
| technology means that many teachers – old | | | | collaborative devices go, an IWB should be high on |
| and young – will feel just that little more | | | | any teacher’s technology request list. |
| confident about adopting new digital tools in the | | | | Any teacher will confirm that it can sometimes be |
| classroom, which is good news for youngsters | | | | difficult to make themselves heard over a |
| brought up on a feast of computer games, | | | | cacophony of excitable kids. This can be |
| multimedia players and the World Wide Web. | | | | problematic at the best of times, but for children |
| From a technology perspective, the internet | | | | with reduced hearing or a short attention span, |
| should be the core underpinning feature of any | | | | tuning in to what a teacher is saying might be |
| modern classroom. Research is the chief basis for | | | | impossible. This is why wireless microphones and |
| utilising the internet in education because pupils can | | | | strategically placed speakers are a good idea, as |
| tap into a wealth of facts and stats, learning the | | | | they help to bridge any inherent acoustic gaps in |
| fundamentals of investigative study along the | | | | the classroom. |
| way. The World Wide Web helps to solve many | | | | Throw into the mix a plethora of interactive |
| problems relating to the access of information in | | | | multimedia applications and educational software |
| schools, in terms of constantly having to update | | | | that have been designed by teachers for |
| school libraries. | | | | teachers, then what you have is a fully |
| An extension of this should be wireless | | | | modernised, technologically switched-on classroom |
| connectivity. This involves laptops being | | | | that is well equipped to manage the myriad of |
| interconnected in the classroom, allowing | | | | scenarios encountered by educators on a daily |
| youngsters to work at their desks without lots of | | | | basis. We are in the 21st century, after all. |
| cumbersome wires strewn across the room. | | | | |