General benefits of ICT

· Greater efficiency throughout the school.

· Communication channels are increased through email, discussion groups       and chat rooms

· Regular use of ICT across different curriculum subjects can have a                 beneficial motivational influence on students’ learning.

Benefits for teachers

· ICT facilitates sharing of resources, expertise and advice

· Greater flexibility in when and where tasks are carried out

· Gains in ICT literacy skills, confidence and enthusiasm.

· Easier planning and preparation of lessons and designing materials

· Access to an up-to-date pupil and school data, anytime and anywhere.

· Enhancement of professional image projected to colleagues.

· Students are generally more ‘on task’ and express more positive feelings when they use computers than when they are given other tasks to do.

· Computer use during lessons motivated students to continue using learning  outside school hours.

Benefits for students

· Higher quality lessons through greater collaboration between teachers in planning and preparing resources.

· More focused teaching, tailored to students’ strengths and weaknesses,         through better analysis of attainment data

· Improved pastoral care and behaviour management through better tracking of students

· Gains in understanding and analytical skills, including improvements in        reading

· Comprehension.

· Development of writing skills (including spelling, grammar, punctuation,     editing and re-drafting), also fluency, originality and elaboration.

· Encouragement of independent and active learning, and self-responsibility for learning.

· Flexibility of ‘anytime, anywhere’ access (Jacobsen and Kremer, 2000)

· Development of higher level learning styles.

· Students who used educational technology in school felt more successful       in school, were more motivated to learn and have increased self-                 confidence and self-esteem

· Students found learning in a technology-enhanced setting more       stimulating and student-centred than in a traditional classroom

· Broadband technology supports the reliable and uninterrupted     downloading of web-hosted educational multimedia resources

· Opportunities to address their work to an external audience

· Opportunities to collaborate on assignments with people outside or inside     school

Benefits for parents

·Easier communication with teachers

·Higher quality student reports – more legible, more detailed, better       presented

·Greater access to more accurate attendance and attainment information

·Increased involvement in education for parents and, in some cases, improved self-esteem

·Increased knowledge of children’s learning and capabilities, owing to     increase in learning activity being situated in the home

·Parents are more likely to be engaged in the school community

·You will see that ICT can have a positive impact across a very wide range of aspects of school life.