The Role of ICT to Support Development of Literacy - Essay Example

? REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ON THE ROLE OF ICT TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF LITERACY Introduction Becta commissioned the impact of ICT in schools and in busting literacy on behalf of the department for education and skills (DfES) to analyze the impact that the use of ICT specifically the film technology has in the school sector in the UK. For the research over 350 literary sources were consulted which range from policy documents, professional journals, research reports, reviews as well as commercial publications. In our case, we analyze six of these documents critically to find out the impact of film technology on the school-going children and we list all the sources used. Aims of research on ICT/Digital film use in schools This critical review sets out the key messages from the literature, which focuses on:- a) The infrastructure to support the use of ICT in schools, b) The impact of this on learning and literacy levels c) The extent to which its adoption has supported communication in schools and the community at large The report analysis will further present an opportunity for further exploration and research. Research indicates that there is an increase in the use of computers and other new technologies in homes though the same suit is not followed at the schools where the authorities are so strict on print and print based texts. The embracing of technology is viewed as a lot of a waste of times, which should not be the case as children and school going individuals are already expressing enormous interest to learn through the adoption of the new technologies like the digital film techniques (BESA 2006). Setting the context: ICT/Digital film technology provision and access In the recent years there have been numerous surveys formulated to provide information on the extent to which schools are developing the capacity to integrate digital technology in learning and teaching to improve the level of literacy in the UK. The evidence gathered shows an increase in the number of computers and other technologies like the digital technology over time with most schools achieving the baseline for the computer-to-pupil/student ratio (BESA 2006). The evidence on the impact on learning and teaching indicates that the use of digital film technology is effective and efficient in enhancing the students learning experience and therefore teachers are motivated to integrate a number of technologies like the laptops to produce an interactive environment with whiteboards and the internet. Through the emergence of the digital technology, teachers have been in a position of integrating a combination of hardware; software and connectivity to allow them have an innovative approach towards learning and teaching hence a bust in the level of literacy (Watts 2007). A critical factor in the effective use of digital technology is the fact that there exists a school level e-strategy; this gives room for the future development and maintenance of the ICT systems. Research has it that school going aged children is embracing the use of new technology through the engagement of a wide variety of Digital practices. These ranges from the use of CDs, playing computer games, play stations, the internet mobiles and the mobile phones. It worth noting that computer games so far is the most popular components engaged in by children as they are able to access internet at a very tender age (BESA 2005). From research therefore, it is evident that children have been engaged in multimodal literacy’s in a manner that the print media is being faced out. Because digital texts are fast facing out print media most so in the young populations perspective, schools through the authorities need to adopt such systems as they will in the first place engage the youth keeping them away from accessing intolerable material online. Research on the use of digital film technology in the UK shows that, through the new technological advancement, teachers are able to develop creativity within potentially limited confines, and pressures of curriculum guidelines. The confines that the researcher shows confine is the inclusion of film as a creative, engaging and effective strategy for teaching reading using data from a small scale research project. Research also indicates the fact that the literary changes resulting from the adoption of new digital film technology has made images gaining a very strong hold on the texts in the lives of the modern generation and is likely to advance into the future (Watts 2007). The main setback of the digital film technology is through the original literacy framework and it is the omission of speaking and listening as the key components of literacy work. This has been addressed in the revised primary framework (2006) and the address gives teachers back thinking time, for discussion and problem solving; time for role play and imagination and time for craft’s ‘possibility thinking’ (2000). The department of education urged teachers to be creative in devising and developing the curriculum while shaping it and owning it to extensively integrate digital film technology with all the required contents. DfES, (2005) notes that it is worth noting that the current learning system must embrace the use of film, this is because from research it is prudent to note the underlying enjoyment that children get by watching a film, for most school going children media texts are outdated that the children should be exposed to before school. Film is fast replacing learning manually through the paper technology. With relation to literacy in schools, digital technology is highly embraced as it applies across the age’s right from the tender age. Digital technology influences individuals in all aspects politically, socially and economically (Wallis 2005). Studies of children out of school indicate that children most so the older ones have their lives revolving around digital technology. The focus school for this piece of work was an entry village school in England with 181 pupils on their roll. The school-integrated pupils from varied social backgrounds predominated with British pupils and staff. Theories were withdrawn from the project using the triangular perspective of data collection. These ranged from audio taped and interviews, videotaped observations and field notes, which are substantiated with children’s works in form of pictures, writings and their own films (DfES 2005). Using purposive sampling a focus group was selected and an analysis was conducted to find out the understanding of the students from the texts through their creation of meaning, strategies they used and the ascertainment of the mode in which he strategies changed. It was found out that the children’s final piece of recorded work was from their own films, hey used digital camcorders (Condie & Munro 2007). Findings & Conclusions According to Becta (2006), it is important to note that as the schools researched on grew in e-confidence, ICT through digital film technology became embedded in the everyday practice of the school through its stakeholders, drawing a range of technologies to support learning, teaching and attainment. Therefore, the development of ICT in schools and in specific the digital film technology is on the rise progressively within schools and across technologies (Condie & Munro 2007). Some seem to be contented in achieving the government set targets in terms of computer student ratio while others go overboard to be innovative and capitalize on the benefits brought about by ICT. Craft’s idea of creativity integrates the notion of originality (2000) that teachers already had experience over with film being viewed as creative in pioneering sense. Digital technology if used wisely in schools have more benefits than disadvantages as the programs are likely to reduce wastage of time in schools which is a valuable resource. Digital technology will facilitate this by advocating for learning from everywhere, as the teachers will be able to assign to students work even when they are at homes through emails and receive them through the same mode hence creating more time for other learning activities (Becta 2006). References Becta, 2006, The Becta Review 2006. Evidence on the progress of ICT in education. Becta: Coventry. BESA, 2006, ICT in UK State Schools 2006 – summary report. http://www.besanet.org.uk/ BESA, 2005, Information and Communication Technology in UK State Schools http://www.besanet.org.uk/ Condie, PR, & Munro, B, 2007, The impact of ICT in schools – a landscape review. Becta Research, 1(1), 3-84. DfES, 2005, Harnessing Technology: Transforming Learning and Children’s Services. London: DfES http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/e-strategy/docs/estrategy. pdf Watts, R, 2007, Harnessing the power of film in the primary classroom. Power of film in the primary classroom, 41(2), 102-109. Read More