Over the years, education has changed dramatically, due to the increase of access to computers for students and teachers. We are able to do so much more when it comes to computers an education than we could even just 5 years ago. For example, schools used to be lucky to have a few computers for the teachers to send e-mails on, but now computers are available for every student to use. Generally, secondary schools have been more fortunate than primary schools in the ICT department, as it was more common for a secondary school to have an ICT room, equipped with enough computers for a whole class to use. Nowadays, however, school facilities are lot more improved, with a lot more computers, accessible to every student and teacher. At any one time, half the school will be using a computer. ICT is no longer a discrete subject in school, as more people need to use it later on in life for things such as research, presentations, writing essays and communicating.
The increase in accessibility of computers also means that it unusual for most students not to have satisfactory, sometimes even better than teachers, keyboard skills, but this also means that teachers can be left feeling de-skilled in ICT, and unsure of how to keep up with their students.
Most schools will also have a network set up, which is a vital part of any educational establishment. It means that students can share work with one another, as well as software, and the teachers can share work with their pupils. It also allows teachers to give quicker feedback as it can be submitted to the network and reached by pupils instantly. Nowadays, teachers expect that most, if not all, students to have access to a computer at home, or even have their own personal PC. However, this can create a digital divide as there might be some cases where a student does not have access to any computer while not at school, meaning that they are put at an unfair disadvantage when it comes to equal access to the curriculum. It can also be very difficult for parents to keep up to date with software updates; however there are instances when there will be student discounts available for software updates, making it easier to maintain your pc. Often, the software in which students have at home will be better than the software at school, as it is harder to update it when there are 600 plus computers, and it can become very expensive. Transporting software has become a lot easier as well, with the use of data pens and USB’s, which reduces the need for lots of exercise books. However, they are easily lost or stolen, causing a lot of work to go missing at one time- a problem for both students and teachers. However, the easier access to other students work on the network leads to an increase in the possibility of plagiarism, as it is very easier to open someone’s work, and copy and paste it as your own. With the growth of access to computers comes the growth in interactive whiteboards which connects to the computers and allows teachers to show and display examples and videos etc. to a whole class at one time. It also allows students to get involved within the lesson due to the touch screen and projector, also making demonstrations and tutorials a lot easier.
School administrative tasks use ICT systems and networks in schools, which allows you to see the progress of any student at the press of a button. Instead of having hundreds of different files and folders in a filing cabinet, everything is stored on computers, meaning that many different administrative tasks can be done from the same computer. These tasks can include registration, pupil records, parental contacts, E-mails to parents, monitoring behaviour and monitoring progress. The fact that this can all be accessed from the same computer means that they can be done a lot quicker, and means that the information is easier to update and check if need be. However, it can also make things quite difficult as well, as not everybody will know how to work the latest software, so it can be quite time consuming when trying to understand and learn how to use it. Another drawback is also the amount of time it takes to enter all the information, as it was only recently that schools began to gain easier access to computers, meaning that, at one point, all this information was recorded manually on paper and kept in files, so when access to computers became more common and necessary, someone would have had to transfer all that information and data into a computer manually.
