Last month saw the European Commission unveil plans to reinvigorate the use of ICT in European schools.
Research shows that up to 80% of students never use digital resources such as e-textbooks, learning games and podcasts, which the Commission says is hampering efforts to create a digitally literate generation.
The EC also claims that 70% of EU teachers are looking for better teacher training when it comes to ICT.
VP of the European Commission, Neelie Kroes, said: "Education must be connected to real life; it cannot be a parallel universe. Young people want to use digital technology in every aspect of life. They need digital skills to get jobs. All of our schools and universities, not just some of them, must reflect that reality."
The new scheme is called ‘Opening up Education’. It aims to create opportunities for organisations and teachers to innovate, increase use of Open Educational Resources and provide better ICT infrastructure and connectivity in schools.
I remember having ICT lessons at primary school. Home computers were still relatively new and we didn’t have one at home. So getting to play on them at school was great fun, even if it was maths games, my most detested subject. At least I still got to play on a computer.
We learnt how to type, create a word document and graphs on Excel and surf the internet. Considering Wikipedia didn’t even exist at this point, I’m not really sure what we did. I do remember fiddling about with funny games and puzzles where you had to jump frogs over Lilly pads to the other side of the river in the right order and spelling games that involved a witch falling into a cauldron.
My favourite PC game was the Mavis Beacon typing programme which involved driving a car and having to touch type the letters that came up on the dashboard to keep at a constant speed and fuel level – great fun!
Once at secondary school, I progressed to more complex processes such as creating powerpoint presentations which could be used in conjunction with other lessons. I even got a half GCSE (whatever that is) in ICT. Then at university, some lecturers were a fan of the podcast – the perfect solution to lazy and hungover students who refuse to drag themselves out of bed to morning, or even afternoon, lectures.
Although today, most households have a computer and tablets are increasingly used as babysitters to keep children entertained, children respond well to learning through ICT. We are living in the video-game generation, so by introducing science games, maths games and spelling games through ICT, key skills can be taught in a fun way on computers.
