ABSTRACT
The learning needs of pupils are constantly changing and none more so than in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The reason is that pupils in the twenty-fi rst century have been raised in a digital era. Electrical items such as HD TVs with interactive services, superfast broadband, social media and smart phones are commonplace in modern families. Mention a video that you have seen and pupils instantly say YouTube. Mention downloading music and they pull out their iPod. Give them a fact to look up and they use their smart phones with 3G wireless Internet. As a result of this explosion of digital media the expectation placed upon teachers is that they must keep pace with these developments and have the skills to use ICT effectively to support learning and teaching. The rationale for using ICT was provided by Hopson, Simms and Knezek (2002) who focused on pupils using a technology-enriched environment. They reported that the technology-enriched classroom differs from the traditional classroom in several signifi cant ways: (1) the learning is more pupil-centred and less teacher/ textbook-driven; (2) the environment facilitates pupil participation; and (3) the use of cooperative groups focused on application rather than knowledge acquisition.
