67
topic to measure the level of student achievement. All tests and assignment were administered in the same way each time and had the same format. The
effect of the new instructional method was evaluated from the comparison of the students’ test scores between classes where computers were used and
classes where computers were not used. Formal hypothesis tests were used to analyze the data.
CHAPTER 5 5.
THEORETICAL FRAME WORK
5.1 A brief overview of computers in classroom
5.2 How to use computers as a tool in teaching
5.3 Types activities in the classroom
5.4 What are the benefits for teachers and students ?
5.5
Potential of using ICT while teaching mathsscience
5.1 A Brief Overview Of Computers In Classroom
This section provides a short description of how computers can be used in a classroom to enhance teaching and learning. Researchers
who have tried to evaluate whether the use of ICT in education has a significant and reliable impact on student achievement, realized that
ICT can not be treated as a single independent variable, and that student achievement is not only measured by how well students
perform on standardized tests but also by students’ ability to use higher-order thinking skills such as thinking critically, analysing,
making inferences, and solving problems. Judging the impact of any particular technology requires an understanding of how it is used in
the classroom and what learning goals are held by the educator involved, knowledge about the type of assessment that are used to
evaluate the improvement in students achievement, and an awareness of the complex nature of change in the school environment. Evidence
indicates that when used effectively, “technology applications can support higher-order thinking by engaging students in authentic,
complex tasks within collaborative learning context” Means, Blando, Olson, Middleton, Morocco, RemzZorfass, 1993. The education
68
system educators must use the knowledge regarding the circumstances under which technology supports the students
achievement to make choices about what technologies will best meet the particular needs of the curriculum and also ensure that teachers,
students, parents, and community members understand the role of that technology application in the curriculum and how its impact is being
evaluated. The ICT qualifications such as processing and handling of
information are becoming as important as the traditional basic qualifications i.e. reading, writing and arithmetic, this makes
necessary for students to understand how to use computers and other ICT equipments to process data and handle information in their
learning process. In this case students have to be ICT users because they are prepared to become ICT users at work, and at the sometime
teachers have to be able to master ICT tools themselves in order to use them effectively in their teaching process as well as keeping of
records. Taylor 1980 suggested that there are three basic ways of using
computers in schools. These are:
1. The computer as a tutor
