ABSTRACT
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be an extra, versatile tool for learning, which sits alongside books, pens, glue and other vital items in the primary and secondary teacher’s toolbox. In the past, children were introduced, sometimes reluctantly, to many such tools from slates to slide rules, and Heppell points out in the Foreword to Loveless and Ellis (2001) that they have even had innovations such as the ballpoint pen and mobile phones confiscated. However, it is now time to embrace new technologies and use them to change and improve pedagogy. The desire of the teacher should not be to set a standard that all children must achieve, but rather to enable children to realise that ICT offers
4 C H A P T E R
practical and fun ways to achieve more. The assistant in the classroom needs to be prepared to reinforce this ethos and Inez is an example of one who exemplifies the need for specialist support in the use of ICT if it is to become firmly established as a quality learning resource in school. We believe our children need to know about the use of ICT in everyday life around them and its potential for the future, but more importantly they deserve opportunities to begin to realise the full potential of ICT as a tool to support and present their developing learning and creativity.
