Undoubtedly, the potential benefits are great. For one, it gets children familiarised in the use of ICT at an early age. It enables pupils to work at their own pace, and it is widely thought that interactive learning is more productive. But are these potential rewards blinding us from possible negative repercussion? There are possible adverse effects to health, with over-exposure to computers at a young age, and a lack of human interaction could have a negative impact on social development

Official statistics reveal several significant increases in the use of ICT in schools over the last five years. The average number of computers used for teaching and learning per school has risen from 27.1 in 1998 to 64.1 (provisionally) in 2002, with an average of some 155.6 computers per secondary school. This shows the reality that is the impending movement towards computer-based teaching and learning in schools.

Only time will tell us how successful this transition is, and all of the positive and negative repercussion it will have, but it would be ignorant not to venture down a path of such vast potential rewards, not only to the education system, but to society as a whole.

The future of ICT in teaching and learning is likely to consist of more sophisticated educational software, designed to make designed to make interesting and exICTing for pupils, to cover a wider range of material, and to communicate messages more effectively. It is probable that future software releases will focus on ‘interactivity’ and ‘user-friendliness’ as these are crucial to how productive the learning will be.

We can be sure that the transition to computer-based teaching and learning is in full swing and is set to continue. The entire look of schools across the country will change, with computers and labs gradually replacing desks and classrooms.

Whilst this explanation of the case study findings seems to hold water, it also throws up another question about the use of ICT in schools. If one full academic year is not enough for pupils to realise the benefits of ICT, how much more time needs to be invested? Obviously, this is impossible to gauge with any degree of accuracy at present, as the entire concept of ICT in teaching and learning is still in its infancy. Nevertheless, it is a crucia

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