What is ICT?

What is ICT?
Online Projects
Information and Communication Technology is defined in the document "Interactive
Education: An Information and Communication Technologies Strategy for Schools" Online
(Ministry of Education, 1998) as: Activities

"Information Technology (IT) is the term used to describe the items of equipment Reference sites
(hardware) and computer programs (software) that allows us to access, retrieve, store, 4-kids
organise, manipulate and present information by electronic means…". Examples include:
Art Gallery
scanners, computers, projection equipment (hardware) and database, spreadsheet, and
multimedia software programs (software). Writing Spot

"Communication Technology (CT) is the term used to describe telecommunications Activities and
equipment through which information can be sought and accessed…". Examples include; ideas
facsimile (fax) machines, teleconference phones, and modems.
Instruction
Ways in which ICT can be integrated into learning and sheets
teaching.
Developing an
ICT culture
One key function of ICT in teaching and learning is to
enhance the development of student information literacy. Building ICT

An information literate student is able to gather information, infrastructure

process information, publish information and communicate Reference sites

information within a range of contexts across all learning 4-tchrs
areas. This inquiry process (or information development
Inquire &
process or action learning – it has many names) is similar problem solve
across all learning areas and is the same, no matter what
achievement level the student is working at. What changes is ICT & Maori

the degree of complexity at which students operate at each of About this

its four stages. For example, a student just starting school project
might be expected to find out about the work people do
during social studies, by sending a fax with three questions
that they have prepared with support from a teacher’s aide.
Meanwhile a student in year eight could be expected to have
independently developed a range of questions, and be
required to use email, fax and a recorded audioconference to
find out the same kind of information from a range of people.

Teachers can assist students to enhance the development of

their information literacy by providing opportunities for them
to use a range of information and communication
technologies during all four stages of the inquiry process.
Technologies such as the internet, cdroms,
audioconferencing, faxes, library catalogues, videos, etc can
be used to gather information. Technologies such as
spreadsheets, databases, wordprocessors, video editing, etc
can be used to process information. Technologies such as
publishing software, drawing programmes, photo editing, etc
can be used to publish information. Technologies such as
ohps, videos, multimedia presentations, etc can be used to
communicate information. Wherever possible the
development of skills in the use of ICT should be undertaken
within the context of the classroom programme as opposed to
developing these as a ‘learning area’ in their own right.

The Information Development Process diagram shows the stages students may go
through when using ICT to develop information. Students need to be taught within
relevant classroom contexts how to:

• Ask questions to meet their research needs;

• Decide what information is required;

• Select the most appropriate resources and tools;

• Sort, manipulate and interpret the relevant information to meet their learning

needs;

• Present and communicate the new information; and

• Reflect on the process and findings for future modification.

A second key function of ICT in teaching and learning is to

enhance the development of student problem solving
capability. A student who is capable of solving problems can
identify potential problems or issues, can conceive of a range
of possible solutions, can design the most appropriate
solution, and can implement and evaluate its effectiveness. As
with the inquiry process, problem solving can be developed
across all learning areas, and the core elements of the
problem solving process remain the same irrespective of the
achievement level at which students are operating. For
example, a year two student working on a technological
problem might use a draw programme to draw a one
dimensional depiction of their solution to a technological
problem, while a year seven student might be expected to use
a CAD programme to create a three dimensional electronic
model of their design. The process remains the same but the
complexity of the outcome increases as students move
through the achievement levels.

As with the inquiry process, teachers can enhance the

capability of students to solve problems by providing
opportunities for them to use a range of information and
communication technologies during all four stages of the
problem solving process. Technologies such as the internet,
cdroms, audioconferencing, video, etc can be used to identify
problems or issues. Technologies such as databases, mind
mapping software, spreadsheets, etc can be used to develop
possible solutions to the problems or issues. Depending on
the learning area, technologies such as CAD, drawing
programmes, publishing software, video recording, etc can be
used to design possible solutions. Technologies such as
databases, multimedia presentation software, publishing
software, etc might be used to implement, evaluate and
present a report regarding the effectiveness of a chosen
solution. Once again the focus should not be on teaching
students to use various information and communication
technologies. The teaching focus should be on facilitating
students to develop ICT skills whilst they solve authentic
problems within the context of learning across the
curriculum.

Information and communication technology has a role in the

learning and teaching process as a teaching tool. This role is
of less significance than the potential of ICT to enhance the
inquiry and problem solving processes, and should be
transparent to the learner in much the same as the whiteboard
or chalk is. Never the less ICT can be a powerful teaching
tool. For example, the concept of how data can be represented
in different ways can be easily taught by using graphing
software. By making a pie graph and a bar graph linked to the
same data, a teacher can change the values for different data
categories and ask students to predict what will happen to
each graph. The outcome is instantaneous and the concept is
grasped with comparative ease. Similarly interactive cdroms,
such as the PM range of talking books add another dimension
to a classroom’s reading programme, while contemporary
distance education initiatives would be unfathomable without
powerful teaching tools such as audiographics and the
Internet. These are only some of the many ways in which ICT
can be used as a teaching tool.

ICT can also enhance the administrative functions of learning

and teaching, which in turn has a direct impact on pedagogy.
One key administrative area in which ICT is becoming more
and more important is recording and analysing student
achievement. The process from planning classroom
programmes, through to implementation, through to
assessment, through to planning again can all be managed
effectively with ICT. Schools can either create their own
databases or use commercial software, which allows teachers
to plan their classroom programmes, design their assessment
tasks and then record student achievement against their
chosen criteria. The identification of next learning steps for
individual students or cohorts of students then becomes easier
and more efficient, leading to more effective decision making
about individual, class and school wide initiatives.

One further key use of ICT at an administrative level is

resourcing the learning process. More and more resources
are becoming available to teachers through initiatives such as
Te Kete Ipurangi. Teachers can utilise the Internet to access
resources in support of their classroom programmes, such as
graphic organisers available through Curriculum Integration
Online, or assessment exemplars from the NZCER
assessment resource bank, or English units available through
English Online, or problem solving activities from NZ Maths.
Teachers into the future will use the Internet for resource
based learning in the much the same way as they currently
use services such as the National Library interloan
programme.

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