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NEWS

WLANs "key to classroom of the future" say UK teachers

From "Teachers identify wireless as key to classroom of the future," PublicTechnology.net, 22 September:

"More than two-thirds (69%) of [UK] teachers believe that wireless connectivity will be the most important technology in the classroom over the next five years, finds a Dell survey. Greater flexibility in using classroom space and control of the environment are the key benefits cited by teachers in the survey.

"The research into teacher attitudes to ICT, carried out with 277 primary and secondary schools, also found that while access to desktops and notebooks for each student remains important (49%), it is the emphasis on mobility that reflects teachers changing needs to use technology in all elements of lesson delivery. Additionally, over half of teachers (55%) highlighted interactive [on-screen] whiteboards as being important for the future.

"Graham Cox, Vice Principal, Mossbourne Community Academy said: '...ICT is helping to reduce the time teachers spend on administration and allowing them to focus on the delivery of their lessons and the national curriculum. Students benefit too as they are more engaged through the use of interactive whiteboards and access to the internet. Together, this results in a more positive and productive classroom environment.'

"Barriers to technology use

"Concerns over downtime (56%) and slow connections (32%) are seen by teachers as one of the main challenges for ICT in lesson delivery... Other barriers and concerns identified by teachers over the next five years were future budgets (79%) and lack of computers (64%).

"Significant increase in ICT training for teachers

"Encouragingly, there is a significant increase in the number of teachers that have had some form of formal ICT training. 91% of teachers that took part in this year's survey had some form of ICT training, compared with 78% last year. This improvement in training is reflected by an overwhelming 98% of the teachers surveyed stating they are confident in their ICT skills. Growing confidence in using ICT suggests that teachers are being able to use technology to help deliver the national curriculum."

[WLAN: 22 September 2006]