Topic 6 - I.C.T. and Learning

• Use ICT for learning
• Contain content to instruct students
• Simulations allow students to see what happens in different situations
• Animations help students understand how things work
• Self-tests let students know how much they have learnt

Advantages

• Flexibilty as to where and when students can learn
• Students can work at their own pace
• It does not matter if you get things wrong, the computer will not judge you
• Materials can be accessed with lots of different devices
• Keeps students interested and motivated by the variety of activities

Disadvantages

• Students often need the interaction of their classmates in order to learn
• Can present an opportunity for students to take a break rather than work on the online tutorial
• It is hard for teachers to gauge progress using some of the packages
• Lack of flexibility as human teachers can explain things in different ways to help you

• Exams and tests performed on the computer
• The computer marks your work and gives you your results

Advantages

• The results are obtained immediately
• You can analyse what you did well on and what you did less well on, so you can target your revision
• Frees up teacher time as there are no assessments to mark

Disadvantages

• Danger of hackers accessing the system and changing marks
• Reliance on equipment that may go wrong
• Only suitable for certain types of assessment as it would be hard to get a computer to mark an essay

Virtual Learning Environments

Main features:

• Student assessments
• Allows teachers to add their own content
• Allows teachers and students to communicate with each other
• Students can submit work electronically
• Teachers can mark and return work electronically
• Teachers can set different homework for each students

Advantages

• Students can access the VLE using a number of devices
• Learning can take place anytime
• Students can assess themselves at any time
• Students can do work that is more closely matched to their ability

Disadvantages

• Some software is very expensive
• There is a danger of hackers altering reports, test marks etc.
• Staff need lots of training to use them
• Entering content can be time consuming

Learning devices and software to support disabilities

• There is a huge range of specialist input devices that can be used by people with disabilities
• Braille keyboards are used to enter etxt into a computer and are used by the blind

Microphones - These can be used to issue instructions and enter text into a computer system. They can be wired or wireless. Can be used in a range of ways by disabled people

Joystick - For making selections

Braille keyboards - For blind people

Touch sensitive data entry services - These allow a person to make selections by simply touching a screen. They are used in a range of ways in supermarkets, airports, train stations as learning devices. The main advantages is they are really simple for everyone to use.

Voice Recognition Software

• Allows you to enter data by talking into a microphone
• Enter data into word processing software
• Issue commands
• Enter text into emails
• Enter data into a database

Customised Desktop Environments

• There are many ways in which the desktop environment of a computer can be changed to suit the needs of the user. These are the ways it can be used to help disabled users:
• You can use an on screen keyboard and a mouse or joystick to point and select letters from it
• You can use an on screen magnifier that will blow up certain areas of the screen
• You can alter the combination of colours used (this is useful for users who are colour blind)