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PowerPoint is ideal for helping young children to make basic self-authored e-books.

ICT as a tool for enriching the teaching and learning environment for young children.

Walsh (2008) and Healy (2000), we are not suggesting abandoning practices centred on the traditions of print literacy but instead propose early childhood professionals include a range of texts for young children that expand beyond the current print traditions. Self-authored e-books are one way to accomplish this, as they can create a partnership between ICT and reading.

What the research tells usResearch indicates that to implement ICT successfully in their classrooms teachers must ...understand what visual literacy is and rethink what learning to read and write means in the 21st century. (Goodwyn et al 1997; Reid et al, 2002) The research also indicates that ICT is most effective when embedded in the curriculum, and integrated into units of work (Dickinson, 1998). English teachers can maximize the impact of ICT in their classrooms by ensuring that they and their students use ICT as an integral part of lessons, present ideas dynamically, and use a range of media. (Becta, 2006). ICT should be integrated in such a way as to require purposeful application and meaningful engagement with the technology. 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. (Lewisham ICT Training for Teachers,2006)To implement ICT successfully in their classrooms teachers also need to:identify how ICT can be used to meet specific objectives within the English curriculum to improve pupils attainment (Moseley et al,1999)understand that successful use of ICT depends on other factors such as pupils’ work in the classroom away from the computer, discussions between pupils and between pupils and their teacher, and the ways in which pupils interact with each other at the computer (Mc Cormick and Scrimshaw,2001 cited in Becta, 2005)

Some of the best results in recent years have emerged from virtual worlds through thoughtful design of the learning environment that leveraged what we know about how children learn, especially in collaborative, technology-mediated spaces.

In the design perspective with the longest history, games have been viewed as conduits or vehicles for the delivery of curricular content

The research literature suggests three different perspectives on designing games for learning

Second, with the growing sophistication of game play and its rise in the general population, educators have looked for game elements or “game mechanics” that can be borrowed and transferred to educational settings to improve engagement

A third perspective on the role of games and virtual worlds in education is organic: looking for and exploiting curricular topics inherent in popular games

Virtual worlds are typically more focused on exploration than a specific game mechanic and they open up other possibilities for learning

Research on science learning in these multi-user immersive virtual environments (Barab, et al., 2010; Dede, 2009; Neulight et al., 2007) suggests that authentic designs and contextual narratives around science phenomena are not only engaging but also help learners acquire deep science inquiry skills and conceptual knowledge