The recent COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the way the teaching and learning experiences is delivered, as well as students are taught. Today ICT tools consist of an integral part of school education.  ICT tools for teaching and learning cover any aspect from digital infrastructures such as computers, laptops, tablets, printers, etc., to software tools such as learning management systems, word processing applications, spreadsheets applications, etc. According to the “2nd Survey of Schools: ICT in Education” prepared for the European Commission, the share of students taught by teachers that use ICT in 25% or more of their lessons ranges from 71% (ISCED 1) to 58% (ISCED 2) to 65% (ISCED 3) and is highest in Nordic countries. Moreover, according to the same study, across all ISCED levels, more than 90% of students have teachers using ICT to prepare lessons.

But why ICT-based tools are so important for teaching and learning at schools?

There are a lot of benefits that reap the different stakeholders of the school ecosystem and especially students and teachers. The more important are the following:

Benefits for students

1. It improves motivation, as the use of digital devices, such as tablets and PCs, gives students a fresh perspective in the class. For example, games in education are designed for success and can demonstrably motivate users (i.e. students) with unparalleled intensity and duration. When games are well designed, they tap into students deeply rooted, intrinsically motivated, biologically programmed love of learning.
2. It makes learning more fun, and it can deliver information to others visually and audibly. For example, students can use interactive simulations for STEM (e.g. https://phet.colorado.edu/) to better understand concepts and theories and engage them with the learning process through an intuitive, game-like environment where students learn through exploration and discovery.
3. Learning is accessible any time any place with mobile learning apps. Children can continue the educational activities when they get back home, not just in classroom.
4. Technology also offers lots of opportunities for collaboration between students in the classroom. For example, by using cloud services, students can work on the same document together at any time and share their thoughts easily with others.

Benefits for teachers

1. ICT-based tools for teaching and learning improves the operational efficiency and capacity for teachers. By using ICT-based tools, teachers save time and cost for schools to prepare and print-out hardcopies of teaching materials, scoring assignments, organizing the course, distributing learning materials, etc.
2. Teachers can apply new learning techniques such as gamification, exploration, active learning, collaborative learning, etc. For example, using Augmented Reality technologies, teachers can create immersive educational experiences on their own to help ensure their students understand curriculum content through exploration and active learning.
3. ICT-based tools for teaching and learning can also keep the school staff and students updated and connected.
4. Apps can ensure that homework and assignments are no longer forgotten or lost. Moreover the evaluation process is made easier for teachers as they have all student’s assignments properly archived.

However, ICT applications in the classroom are not exclusively beneficial to the students and teachers. Parents are other stakeholders that can benefit particularly in the view of teacher-parent interaction. For example parent-teacher communication apps facilitate teacher responses to the queries from the parents regarding the development of their child, given that regular physical interaction between parents and teachers is becoming increasingly difficult.

 Last but not least, exploiting ICT-based tools in teaching and learning connects firmly to 21^st century skills development. ICTs can play an important role in producing an educational experience for the development of students 21^st century skills, such as agile thinking, collaboration, and disciplinary knowledge.

The post was held as part of the INITIATION project, which is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Commission [Project Number: 2021-1-EL01-KA220-SCH-000031559].  To stay updated about the developments of the project you can follow the project’s Facebook page (@INITIATION).