Why use it?

I found some of Roblyer and Edwards points interesting, especially the part about justification for using NET.  I am in the situation at the moment where the management at my school is resisting the move to interactive whiteboards because they are worried that they are just a very expensive version of 'chalk and talk'.  

Some of the justifications they made for using NET were:

• Motivation of students is high when using NET
• NET provide unique instructional capabilities
• Support for new instructional approaches
• Students require these skills to make it in the world today

Because my school uses Inquiry Learning I was also very interested in Kellow's comments about how NET can be used to support the inquiry process:

• Helps the children understand complex concepts
• Helps with decision making
• Gives the children access to current information
• Strengthens the home-school connection
• The children are able to communicate their findings to a wider audience.
• Gives the children tools to use at all stages of the inquiry process

I would like to use NET more during the inquiry process but my school uses COWS and the children always seem to have problems connecting to the internet, logging in etc.  They are also quite time consuming to set up.  I think COWS would be more suited to older children who would be able to set them up independently.  I would rather use a computer suite with 7 & 8 year olds to eliminate the frustration that we seem to experience every time we use the COWS.  The 4 computers that are permanently in my classroom are constantly in use though.