Jason Graham & Susiati Widiningsih

As Information Technology plays an increasingly significant role in our lives, it is not only the learner but also the teacher that needs to be aware of basic computer functions and how this IT will impact the world we are preparing our learners for. What will the world be like in 10, 20 or even 50 years? What technology will our learner be using in 20 years time? How can we possibly prepare them for that? Is IT even important? How can we implement IT in our schools and classrooms given the considerable costs, training  time (ie: the teachers - we are SO busy with everything else)? What about smaller schools that have few resources/money/experience with such IT developments that can change so rapidly? What about schools in developing nations?

These are some questions that seem to come up again and again from educators. I think we all agree that we NEED to be 'teaching' or at least introducing IT into our classroom and make it part of the learning environment. Just how much of it or where to begin was (is)? the most difficult question for me. Is it 'just another resource' or something bigger?

Upon talking to other educators, many have differing views as to how we must implement IT into the curriculum. Some still view IT as purely a learning tool, a means to an end. Others believe that this technology is what should drive a curriculum, almost as if a curriculum can be built around IT. I think that IT should not be taught in isolation and can be used cross curruiculum, however, perhaps there are larger issues here. For one, we need to examine how learners use this technology, what they will use this for in the future? Which types of technologies should we as teachers be supporting and for what purpose? I have used IT in many 'subject areas' for a variety of reasons but these have been in retrospect really a means to an end itself - to find information or to complete a task. Some educators argue that IT needs to be at the forefront of our curriculum if we are to prepare our learners for the future. (Citation needed)