BED HONOURS 2ND YEAR ICT ASSIGNMENT 1

THE MODERN LEARNER REQUIRES A DIFFERENT METHOD AND A

DIFFERENT VIEW ON CONTENT.

MODERN LEARNERS ARE FACED WITH NEW DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING

PATHS TO BE EXPLORED.

Modern students are nurtured by digital devices which not only entertain them, but make
their lives much easier. The brain make-up of modern learners, process information largely
different from the way traditional learners process information. They have their own new
vernacular which other authors call it a “digital, multimedia vernacular” and learn in a
manner that is different from how most of us learn.

The curiosity of modern learner on a new subject matter is only raised when learning is
enhanced by digital devices. Learners easily find their way in getting around the problem
when using digital devices. It is rather amazing how easily our children operate sophisticated
gadgets without a user manual. However most learners are not willing to pay for the services
those educational devices offer. As John Seely Brown (exploring the edge 2006) clearly puts
it “Given that constraint, we need to find ways to tap the naturally occurring curiosity of our
students so that we can turn them loose to do more learning on their own”

Modern students are not invariably skilled in a particular profession. Instead, they are likely
to pursue a working course that encompasses multiple careers that will make them
independent on what they learned in school a some year ago. They are the go getters, people
on the adrenalin rush and will not feel satisfied until they maximize their knowledge base and
be able to apply the acquired knowledge in solving day to day problems. What is being taught
at school is inadequate to cater for their inquisitiveness for information. They will need to be
able to expand new skills outside today’s conventional educational institutions.

One teaching and learning approach will not solve the problems of modern learners rather;
cross-branch of knowledge approaches that encompass numerous areas of proficiency and
habits of knowing will have to become the routine. People will need to be able to work in
such cross-branch of knowledge teams.

Modern learners differ from traditional learners as the latter are concern with “learning
about” whereas the former are concern with “learning to be” Learning about occurs on the
acquisition of concepts, facts procedures and knowledge. Learning about is insufficient for
developing effective ways of seeing and solving problems bridging the gap between
knowledge and application of knowledge. The modern learner is concern with how
knowledge can creatively be used to solve problems. What is of critical importance is not
how much you know, rather how the knowledge that you have acquired can be applied in
various circumstances to solve problems.

COMPUTERS AND OTHER DIGITAL DEVICES HAVE A SIGNIFICANT ROLE TO

PLAY IN TEACHING AND LEARNING IN MODERN AGE

Information Communication and technology (ICT) services enables a student to learn by

executing special teaching and learning programs relating to various learning areas.
Computers teaching and learning is especially effective for teaching people to use computer
applications because the Computer program can be integrated with the applications so that
students can practice using the application as they learn.

AUTHORS: - BENSIO D.C STUDENT NO: 920172389 AND RADEBE J.M STUDENT NO : 920416117
BED HONOURS 2ND YEAR ICT ASSIGNMENT 1

The increase in PC computing power, and especially the growing prevalence of computers
equipped with DVD-ROMs, is making ICT a more viable option for schools, corporations
and individuals alike. Many PC applications now come with some modest form of ICT, often
called a tutorial. Web-based training (WBT) is a type of training that is similar to ICT;
however, it is delivered over the Internet using a web browser. Web-based training frequently
includes interactive methods, such as bulletin boards, chat rooms, instant messaging,
videoconferencing, and discussion threads. Web based training is usually a self-paced
learning medium though some systems allow for online testing and evaluation.

Teaching staff in our school use ICT most effectively in the development of learners’
capacities in aspects of language, number work and environmental studies. We use number of
computer suites that support learning and teaching in a wide range of subject areas, including
Mathematics, physical science, computing, art and design, engineering, media studies,
business and management, and languages. Open access areas are also used frequently by
learners.

Examples of activities teacher and learners engage with using ICT

The use by teaching staff of the interactive whiteboard, in conjunction with its notebook
application to deliver an effective lesson on punctuation and direct speech;
learners and teaching staff using the floor turtle to investigate concepts of position and
movement; and
The use of the Internet by many teachers to research and present information sources to
learners in relation to project work in environmental studies.
This encouraged learners to use the Internet purposefully and effectively for independent
and personal learning.
Teaching staff made effective use of computers (ICT) in provision for pupils with
additional support needs;
Research for suitable learning and teaching materials on the Internet for lesson planning
purposes;
Science through use of digital microscopes;
Religious and moral education for background research; and
Physical education for data logging in monitoring children’s fitness.

Teaching staff had the confidence and competence to extend their use of computers for
enhancing teaching into more experimental areas, such as the use of mind mapping software
to document and organise class discussions, and the use of an interactive whiteboard for the
teaching of listening skills in modern foreign languages.

Teaching staff in lower at schools make use of presentation software for whole-class delivery
of the curriculum. The following benefits were reported in lower classes regarding the use of
computers for teaching and learning. These benefits include among others:

➢ enhanced support for pupils with additional support needs;

➢ a more interactive approach to teaching and learning;
➢ the promotion of structured play;
➢ increased learner engagement through use of images and sound; and
➢ the use of still and video cameras to document learners’ work.

There were varying degrees of sophistication in the use by teaching staff of interactive
whiteboards. In lower classes, teaching staff generally engaged learners well in interacting

AUTHORS: - BENSIO D.C STUDENT NO: 920172389 AND RADEBE J.M STUDENT NO : 920416117
BED HONOURS 2ND YEAR ICT ASSIGNMENT 1

with this equipment, thus involving them more effectively in the learning and teaching
process. Some teachers in higher classes incorporated a wide range of resources, including
the built-in text processing applications, handwriting recognition, timers and clocks, symbol
libraries, sound and animations, and commercial software designed for teaching.

Imaginative uses of interactive whiteboards across a wide range of subject areas

included:

 electrical circuit design in physics;

 science through use of digital microscopes;
 vocabulary exercises in modern foreign languages;
 demonstrations of application software in computing studies;
 simulation and animation in Life Science (human biology) and in chemistry;
 video clips used by school chaplain at assembly;
 video in teaching of map bearings in mathematics; and
 the use of geography teaching materials and lists of useful websites

Many teaching staffs with reasonable confidence in their ICT skills were using interactive
whiteboards effectively, where security arrangements allowed it, to present interesting and
appropriate websites to their classes. These resources added immediacy and currency to
lessons, and pupils reported that their use enlivened lessons and enhanced their engagement
with the subject. Many teaching staff continued to make good use of recorded video material
from computers

Our school has well configured network systems to allow teaching staff to place learning and
teaching materials in common areas and to allow learners to access these materials for
personal and independent study. Learners make good use of these resources...The growth in
broadband access to the Internet has allowed our schools to provide Internet Services to
teaching staff and learners. Telkom foundation is a custodian of internet services at our
school.

An increasing number of teaching staff realised that it was important to provide guidance to
learners on the most appropriate sites for their studies and had created portals to gather
together useful learning or revision materials which they presented to learners through a web
page.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

○ Mortimer, E. & Scott, P. (2003). Meaning making in secondary science classrooms.

Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
○ Mercer, N. (1995). The guided construction of knowledge: Talk amongst teachers and
learners. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
○ Lund, K. & Baker, M. (1999). Teachers' collaborative interpretations of students'
computer mediated collaborative problem solving interactions. Proceedings of Artificial
Intelligence in Education. Amsterdam: IOS Press. 147-152.

AUTHORS: - BENSIO D.C STUDENT NO: 920172389 AND RADEBE J.M STUDENT NO : 920416117