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Because Learning by Doing Works When people learn by doing, and then teach others, too, research shows that kids (and adults) learn faster and more deeply. That's why Citizen Schools apprentices don't just study newspapers—they publish their own. They don't just use the Web—they design websites for their schools. The result is feelings of confidence, self-discipline, and mastery.

In English ICT can enhance teaching and learning by enabling pupils to: plan, draft, revise and edit their own writing using a word processor and other desktop publishing packages; easily locate and read significant parts of the text by using search strategies; locate information quickly, confidently and accurately; publish writing in a variety of forms; have access to a wider number of texts online e.g. newspapers; communicate with a wider group of people e.g. via e-mail, newsgroups, online conferencing; integrate different media into one text; use a wider range of texts to: compare the way information is presented; identify the features of particular text types; discuss the merits and limitations of particular text types; investigate how reading strategies are adapted to suit different texts.

ICT is increasingly used in education and in the business and leisure industries. This means children have access to ICT in many different aspects of their lives. It is essential, therefore, that we give them a wide variety of opportunities to explore how the technology can support them in their learning. For example, while pupils are using a desk top publishing package to create a school newspaper they are also developing their ability to communicate more effectively. This provides both a context and a meaning for the ICT activity. Taking the IT out of context and teaching IT skills separately, not only decontextualises ICT but also places additional burdens on curriculum time. The use of ICT therefore should be a meaningful part of an activity where it is used to consolidate or extend pupils' learning. Some examples of how ICT can be used to support pupils learning are: word processors to write up and present their work; using a spreadsheet to enter their data collected as part of an investigation, creating charts, and interpreting the results); using a database to enter data collected as part of an investigation, interrogating the database by searching and sorting, in order to answer questions to help solve problems which form part of the investigation; using hypermedia to write up, lay out and present their work for publication on the Internet; using the Internet and CD-ROMs to help with research during an investigation.

shared computer access

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