The IT in the classroom.

http://dstavrou.blogspot.gr/2013/04/the-it-in-classroom.html

The exploitation of  Information and Communication Technologies in the classroom are included into the systems of education of almost all the countries. I am convinced that using  the IT in the classroom is supposed to be not only  a discrete lesson but also  a very helpful kind of teaching aid. 

First and foremost, it depends on the way which the teacher uses the IT. There is a plenty of educative softwares which could be proved helpful. With them, the teacher can cultivate either the level of students’ knowledge or let them discover the new issues by interacting with the computer .

The innovation of interactive or smart boards as they are called, offers an enjoyable way to present a lesson by playing with amazing shapes, colors and new notions. A smart board can be used either by the teacher or by every single student so that he feels the protagonist of the lesson and avoid feeling  just a person who simply obeys the teacher. As a result, the students construct creatively their own way to the new information and enhance gradually their self-confidence.

If the IT is used properly in the classroom, the distance between the school and real life will get shorter. We should bear in mind that nowadays the children are able to obtain a huge number of data and save them into their USB stick, e.g. notes, books, videos. In addition, in the era of social networks, children have hundreds of “friends” from all over the world with whom are able to communicate and exchange data at any time of the day. So, why should the school not follow this tension? If we insist on an “immobile” traditional school which denies the openness to the new technologies, our students will simply lose their motivation and the society will gradually diminish its respect about the institution of education.

On the other hand, there is always the case of  bad use of the IT by the teacher. If so, it will be viewed only like a game by the students and will have nothing to offer in the process of  education but waste of time.

To sum up, it is worth being optimistic about the IT in the fields of education. We must enhance our efforts so that we create better qualified teachers, able to transfer to the students not only the new knowledge, but also the positive emotion of self-construction and self-confidence.