The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using It in Education

Describe the advantages and disadvantages of using IT in education. Use Britain for your examples and quote authors of differing opinions.

This essay seeks to discuss the effect of using IT in education and whether it is beneficial to the learner. IT is used in a variety of ways to promote learning; the use of PCs, video, music and interactive white boards is commonplace in classrooms throughout the UK. This essay will focus on the use of computers in education.

IT has generally been developed on the premise that it will speed up everyday tasks and this also goes for using IT in education. Ager gives the example of children being able to collect data on outside temp and allowing them to analyse it and achieve a greater understanding rather than it being a follow the instructions' type of task:

" The fact that routine tasks can now be completed and repeated quickly allows children to concentrate on higher order thinking and tasks." (Ager 2003:3)

In regards to education it has meant that it has opened up the possibilities of e-learning, enabling people to learn in a more flexible manner as well as long distance learning. A study carried out at a university in South China (Zhan Z, Xu F, Ye H 2010) comparing the attitudes of online learners and face to face learners shows that the online learners ‘performed significantly better' than the non-online learners therefore online could be a means of improving learners performances.

The advantage of using IT such as computers in the classroom include the fact that it is interactive and therefore may be more stimulating for children, making it easier and more exciting them to absorb information. "There is evidence that the interactive nature of computer technology motivates and stimulates learning. In particular the immediate feedback…is perceived by the child to lack the value judgements that may be present when a teacher marks some work." (Ager 2003:5)

Dyslexic students who have difficulty with reading and writing tasks may find it easier to use computer software which scans printed text and then reads it out to them (McKeown 2006) Also with the current ethnic demographic in the UK it has been reported that teachers are finding it easier to communicate with children who do not speak English as their first language using such tools as