Life in the information age-Education

Life in the information age - Education

This week I am going to discuss how information technology plays a huge role in education. I plan to discuss 3 topics in which a range of examples will be given along with illustrations.

A short introduction

Information technology plays a huge part in education providing the means to carry out tasks simply and effectively. Everything a student to a teacher does in school will involve information technology so it is important to recognise the significant role that information technology plays in the education sector.

The 2 topics that I plan to discuss in this section are: Interactive whiteboards and electronic registers and what they provide to education.

Interactive whiteboards

An introduction to interactive whiteboards

Saving of pen ink on whiteboards- I think one of the biggest advantages that these interactive whiteboards have brought is that pen ink is saved. The pen it is saved by because it is all interactive. I think this is a major advantage because when ink runs out on pens frustration will occur; finding a replacement also becomes hard. However with the interactive whiteboard teachers/students can control the medium via a special pen that will never run out make the pen workable electricity is all that is needed.

Creation of learning object- They allow teachers to create learning objects from a range of content and can change certain content to the needs of an individual or a class. For example the majority of the students may prefer to learn visually so the teacher could create graphs in Microsoft word for an experiment done recently by the students to reinforce what was previously learnt in class. I personally believe this is a good feature of the interactive whiteboards because normally in the classroom making diagrams can be hard; also the diagrams in the classroom hand done can be hard to interpret without the use of the interactive whiteboard.

Easy to use- Interactive whiteboards can be described as being just like a normal whiteboard with the difference being it is interactive and doesn’t require actual ink to white on it. Many teachers have expressed worries with using the interactive whiteboard; however they can help teachers especially when using PowerPoint presentations in class because students can see visually what the teacher is trying to express.

Disadvantages

The expense- Interactive whiteboards cost considerably more than a conventional whiteboard which means that any schools wishing to have these whiteboards will have to spend a lot of their budget just on this equipment alone. The actual cost for these whiteboards alone can be up to £1,450.

Damage to the boards- One of the biggest disadvantages faced with the interactive whiteboards is damage to them. If damage is caused to them e.g. marks on the board for example that will made visually seeing content on the board mote difficult will, result in the boards having to be replaced. The replacement costs vary on the size of the board however the biggest sized boards can cause up to £1,450 as I have previously stated.

Users blocking the screen- This is one of biggest disadvantages faced with these boards because viewers may not be able to see the board by users blocking the board. Also in my experiences of these boards the light used to project the images on to the board is highly annoying when you are trying the think what to write on the board.

Remote access- Another disadvantage of these interactive whiteboards is if remote access is allowed users may attempt to write abusive/disruptive comments on the board for people to see with will disrupt the lesson and lead top lack of concentration from the students in the classroom. I personally believe that remote access should be avoided to students because a large percentage of the students will be tempted to do his which is annoying for the people that are trying to learn something in the classroom.

My experiences of interactive whiteboardsI personally believe that the interactive whiteboards are great for the students that learn visually and seem to be a great assist for teachers because they are used a lot of the time. However my biggest concern with them is how expensive they are, if you consider how many are in each classroom then that cost becomes more frightening. However overall I think they are.

School registers/SIMS
Introduction to SIMSSIMS (school information management system) is a school based database that provides information about individual’s personal data such as medical records and their previous achievements and their past behaviour in school. It is used by more than 21,000 schools in the country. Recently SIMS has moved away from being an administration tool for school into a MIS (management information system) that gives the school a comprehensive look on a particular student/s.

Advantages of SIMS
Assistance- SIMS Helps schools manage student registration throughout the day, track student performance, personalized learning e.g. any learning disorders they may have, exam organization, cover management if teachers happen to be away for any reason. I believe that this is an extremely useful tool for what it brings schools because it saves a lot of time manually writing down information about students.

Stores information- SIMS allows schools to store information about students for as long as it is needed for example if a student asks for a reference the school can use SIMS to give an employer or university the information they need to say whether or not this student behaved well in school. They can also use the system to promote good achievements in school and assist in a students learning.

Teacher access- Teachers can use this system to log stunt progress in their classes to suggest improvements for the student’s development via an integrated desktop tool. Teachers can also access information about students to understand how best they learn and plan lessons around their behavior and particular skills. I think that it is good that teachers can use this system because it makes putting marks on the system very easy and it is easy to see how good or bad particular students have been in their school career.

Parent involvement- parents can also look at information about their child through SIMS web based gateway system. It is a good system because parents will like to be involved with their child’s progress through school and this can be done through this system. I personally believe that this a good advantage because any inaccurate information can be checked by parents and under the data protection act of 1998 they have the right for this to be changed.

Disadvantages of SIMSI think it is fair to say that the SIMS system has been a revelation for schools so finding disadvantages is very hard. However there are a few that I have found.

Personal information stored- One of the biggest disadvantages I find is that personal information is stored about you. Although the information is relevant I find that anyone looking at your profile can see everything about you which shouldn’t really be allowed because that is personal information.

Cost of the system- I think it is fair to say that every system costs along the line and the SIMS system is no different. Because the system costs that is a disadvantage because schools will have to spend some of their budget on buying the system.

My experiences of SIMSAlthough I haven’t personally used SIMS before I still feel that this is a good stem after researching about. It has become what I feel a revelation for schools and tackles problems that schools were faced with before such as having to write out behavior reports or even constructing timetables for example. However there are small disadvantages regarding the extent of the information that can be seen by the school and teachers and the cost of the system In general; but despite this I feel the pros out way the cons dramatically.

Interactive whiteboards are now used in the majority of every single classroom in a school. What this statement tells you is the significance of information technology in schools, five years ago having interactive whiteboards in every classroom probably wouldn’t have been possible as IT in schools has been valued as a low priority.

However in recent years the importance of IT in schools is now being recognised as very important for the development for students. What these interactive whiteboards give to the students and the teachers is more freedom, freedom to explore different means of using them whether that is for general class work or revision. Visually the interactive whiteboard is a very useful tool practically if the students learn best through visual means. For the teachers it is used many times a day in the classroom and it can be classed as a good assist tool for putting up work via PowerPoint presentations for student’s to copy notes off.


Advantages of interactive whiteboards

Visual aid- the interactive whiteboard can be described as the perfect tool for students that learn in a visual way. However having said that the interactive whiteboard overall is a very useful tool for students and teachers alike. Visually the student can see the work that has been set and can copy class notes directly given by the teacher through the interactive whiteboard. I personally believe that the creation of the interactive whiteboard has made information more easily to absorb because of the freedom that it offers you.