INTRODUCTION

The information society challenges the education system. In recent years, the
speedy, efective and gloal communication of !no"ledge has created a ne"
foundation for co#operation and team"or!, oth nationally and
internationally. The increasing role played y information technology in the
development of society calls for an active reaction to the challenges of the
information society.
$lready, ne" and greater demands are eing made as to the core
%uali&cations of individuals, as "ell as to their understanding and !no"ledge
of the conse%uences of the introduction of information technology for the
"or! and organisation of a company. Companies are no longer forced to
gather all their functions in one place. The !no"ledge#intensive functions
such as development and mar!eting can e sited in countries "here the
laour mar!et can supply highly educated employees, "hilst production itself
can e moved to lo" "age countries. The result is the e'cient handling,
processing, co#ordination and administration of company resources, "hich is
decisive for the competitiveness of the company.In a society "hich is
ecoming increasingly dependent on information and the processing of
!no"ledge, great demands are therefore made that the individual should
have a solid and road educational foundation on "hich to uild. (ducational
policy in the information society must ensure that)
IT %uali&cations are developed y means of their integration in all activities in
the education sector and
The individual citi*en must have an active and critical attitude to
developments and not passively allo" technological development to set the
pace.
IT educational policy must ensure)
Up#to#date %uali&cations in the information society
Up#to#date %uali&cations gained against the ac!ground of a high general
level of education in the population "ill e decisive if Denmar! is to maintain
competitiveness and its share of the gloal laour mar!et in the information
society. IT s!ills and IT understanding are thus central prere%uisites for the
individual, oth no" and especially in the future.
The advantage of using information technology is that time#consuming "or!
routines can increasingly e performed y means of this technology and time
can thus e devoted instead to communicating and informing, to the
processing of information and the production of !no"ledge.
Need
(ducation is a life long process therefore anytime any"here access to it is the
need
Information e+plosion is an ever increasing phenomena therefore there is
need to get access to this information
(ducation should meet the needs of variety of learners and therefore IT is
important in meeting this need
It is a re%uirement of the society that the individuals should posses
technological literacy
,e need to increase access and ring do"n the cost of education to meet the
challenges of illiteracy and poverty#IT is the ans"er
Importance
access to variety of learning resources
immediacy to information
anytime learning
any"here learning
collaorative learning
multimedia approach to education
authentic and up to date information
access to online liraries
teaching of diferent su-ects made interesting
educational data storage
distance education
access to the source of information
multiple communication channels#e#mail,chat,forum,logs,etc.
access to open course"are
etter accesses to children "ith disailities
reduces time on many routine tas!s
Information Technology in (ducation
INTRODUCTION Information Technology in (ducation, efects of the continuing
developments in information technology .IT/ on education.
The pace of change rought aout y ne" technologies has had a signi&cant
efect on the "ay people live, "or!, and play "orld"ide. Ne" and emerging
technologies challenge the traditional process of teaching and learning, and
the "ay education is managed. Information technology, "hile an important
area of study in its o"n right, is having a ma-or impact across all curriculum
areas. (asy "orld"ide communication provides instant access to a vast array
of data, challenging assimilation and assessment s!ills. Rapid
communication, plus increased access to IT in the home, at "or!, and in
educational estalishments, could mean that learning ecomes a truly
lifelong activity0an activity in "hich the pace of technological change forces
constant evaluation of the learning process itself.
1igni&cance of IT in education
$ccess to variety of learning resources
In the era of technology. IT aids plenty of resources to enhance the teaching
s!ills and learning aility. ,ith the help of IT no" it is easy to provide audio
visual education. The learning resources are eing "idens and "iden. No"
"ith this vivid and vast techni%ue as part of the IT curriculum, learners are
encouraged to regard computers as tools to e used in all aspects of their
studies. In particular, they need to ma!e use of the ne" multimedia
technologies to communicate ideas, descrie pro-ects, and order information
in their "or!.
Immediacy to information
IT has provided immediacy to education. No" in the year of computers and
"e net"or!s the pace of imparting !no"ledge is very very fast and one can
e educated any"here at any time. Ne" IT has often een introduced into
"ell#estalished patterns of "or!ing and living "ithout radically altering
them. 2or e+ample, the traditional o'ce, "ith secretaries "or!ing at
!eyoards and notes eing "ritten on paper and manually e+changed, has
remained remar!aly stale, even if personal computers have replaced
type"riters.
$ny time learning
No" in the year of computers and "e net"or!s the pace of imparting
!no"ledge is very very fast and one can e educated .One can study
"henever he "ills irrespective of "hether it is day or night and irrespective of
eing in India or in U1 ecause of the oom in IT.
Collaorative learning
No" IT has made it easy to study as "ell as teach in groups or in clusters.
,ith online "e can e unite together to do the desired tas!. ('cient postal
systems, the telephone .&+ed and moile/, and various recording and
playac! systems ased on computer technology all have a part to play in
educational roadcasting in the ne" millennium. The Internet and its ,e
sites are no" familiar to many children in developed countries and among
educational elites else"here, ut it remains of little signi&cance to very many
more, "ho lac! the most asic means for susistence.
3ultimedia approach to education
$udio#4isual (ducation, planning, preparation, and use of devices and
materials that involve sight, sound, or oth, for educational purposes. $mong
the devices used are still and motion pictures, &lmstrips, television,
transparencies, audiotapes, records, teaching machines, computers, and
videodiscs. The gro"th of audio#visual education has re5ected developments
in oth technology and learning theory.
1tudies in the psychology of learning suggest that the use of audio#visuals in
education has several advantages. $ll learning is ased on perception, the
process y "hich the senses gain information from the environment. The
higher processes of memory and concept formation cannot occur "ithout
prior perception. 6eople can attend to only a limited amount of information at
a time7 their selection and perception of information is in5uenced y past
e+periences. Researchers have found that, other conditions eing e%ual,
more information is ta!en in if it is received simultaneously in t"o modalities
.vision and hearing, for e+ample/ rather than in a single modality.
2urthermore, learning is enhanced "hen material is organi*ed and that
organi*ation is evident to the student.
These &ndings suggest the value of audio#visuals in the educational process.
They can facilitate perception of the most important features, can e
carefully organi*ed, and can re%uire the student to use more than one
modality.
$uthentic and up to date information
The information and data "hich are availale on the net is purely correct and
up to date.
Internet, a collection of computer net"or!s that operate to common
standards and enale the computers and the programs they run to
communicate directly provides true and correct information.
Online lirary
Internets support thousands of diferent !inds of operational and
e+perimental services one of "hich is online lirary. ,e can get plenty of data
on this online lirary.
$s part of the IT curriculum, learners are encouraged to regard computers as
tools to e used in all aspects of their studies. In particular, they need to
ma!e use of the ne" multimedia technologies to communicate ideas,
descrie pro-ects, and order information in their "or!. This re%uires them to
select the medium est suited to conveying their message, to structure
information in a hierarchical manner, and to lin! together information to
produce a multidimensional document.
Distance learning
Distance 8earning, method of learning at a distance rather than in a
classroom. 8ate 9:th#century communications technologies, in their most
recent phases multimedia and interactive, open up ne" possiilities, oth
individual and institutional, for an unprecedented e+pansion of home#ased
learning, much of it part#time. The term distance learning "as coined "ithin
the conte+t of a continuing communications revolution, largely replacing a
hitherto confusing mi+ed nomenclature0home study, independent study,
e+ternal study, and, most common, though restricted in pedagogic means,
correspondence study. The convergence of increased demand for access to
educational facilities and innovative communications technology has een
increasingly e+ploited in face of criticisms that distance learning is an
inade%uate sustitute for learning alongside others in formal institutions. $
po"erful incentive has een reduced costs per student. $t the same time,
students studying at home themselves save on travel time and other costs.
,hatever the reasoning, distance learning "idens access for students unale
for "hatever reason .course availaility, geographical remoteness, family
circumstances, individual disaility/ to study alongside others. $t the same
time, it appeals to students "ho prefer learning at home. In addition, it
appeals to organi*ers of professional and usiness education, providing an
incentive to rethin! the most efective "ay of communicating vital
information.
;etter accesses to children "ith disailities
Information technology has rought drastic changes in the life of disaled
children. IT provides various soft"are and techni%ue to educate these poor
peoples. Unless provided early "ith special training, people profoundly deaf
from irth are incapale of learning to spea!. Deafness from irth causes
severe sensory deprivation, "hich can seriously afect a person<s intellectual
capacity or aility to learn. $ child "ho sustains a hearing loss early in life
may lac! the language stimulation e+perienced y children "ho can hear. The
critical period for neurological plasticity is up to age seven. 2ailure of acoustic
sensory input during this period results in failure of formation of synaptic
connections and, possily, an irremediale situation for the child. $ delay in
learning language may cause a deaf child<s academic progress to e slo"er
than that of hearing children. The academic lag tends to e cumulative, so
that a deaf adolescent may e four or more academic years ehind his or her
hearing peers. Deaf children "ho receive early language stimulation through
sign language, ho"ever, generally achieve academically alongside their
hearing peers.
The integration of information technology in teaching is a central matter in
ensuring %uality in the educational system. There are t"o e%ually important
reasons for integrating information technology in teaching. 6upils must
ecome familiar "ith the use of information technology, since all -os in the
society of the future "ill e dependent on it, and information technology
must e used in teaching in order to improve its %uality and ma!e it more
efective.