Educational Technology should always concentrate on enhancing the learning experience, GESS delegates told

The technology which allows students to migrate from being consumers to producers of information, is coming of age, delegates were told at the 2009 Gulf Educational Supplies & Solutions (GESS) Exhibition, organised by Fairs & Exhibitions, and which is running from March 10th – 12th at Dubai’s Airport Expo Centre.

Yvonne Biggins, Education Business Development Manager for EMEA Smart Technologies – the first company to create interactive white boards in 1991 – says that with the advent of Internet 2.0, and online applications such as Facebook and YouTube, there is a move towards peer-to-peer learning which is being facilitated by technology already entering schools.
“In the UK,” she says, “interactive white boards can be found in over 70 per cent of classrooms with £45 billion earmarked for the refurbishment and retooling of secondary schools across the country. Now that broadband speeds and internet access is becoming widely available across the world, a revolution in education is being witnessed in the way children interact with their teachers.”

David Fairbairn-Day, Head of Education Market Development at Promethean Limited, says that the last two years especially have witnessed a major shift in the student-teacher relationship. “Students live in a new environment, surrounded by computers, PS3s, DVDs, iPods and a whole raft of other technologies,” he explains. “What this means in practice is that, compared with the learning environment of a few years ago where we used books, libraries and our teachers as a knowledge base, nowadays there are numerous new sources of knowledge available. The challenge therefore is to embrace the new technologies into the learning environment and to realise that it isn’t what you know – it’s knowing where to find the information you need that counts.”

David Fairbairn-Day warns about being turned on to technology for technology’s sake. “Doesn’t it make more sense to learn to use technology in order to aid the teaching process?,” he asks, “as opposed to what I have seen so often in some countries where they are too busy learning the technology simply in its own right. At all times, teachers should surely concentrate on the fundamental question of how technology can enhance learning.
“Whenever I talk to teachers and ministry officials involved in the purchase of classroom technology, I always say to them: invest 70 per cent of your budget on the technology, but lay aside at least 30 per cent of your resources for training and teacher support.”