There is a huge range of resources available to the modern teacher, and the right selection is
crucial in delivering effective lessons. I agree that there will always be a place for course books in
the school curriculum, despite the many benefits of the Internet.
Firstly, course books (whether conventional or digital) have been developed by pedagogical
experts and designed to be incorporated into a subject syllabus, leading to testing procedures such as
formal examinations or continuous assessment. This means that they are proven to improve
students’ academic achievement, enhancing their potential for progression to further or higher
education. Furthermore, the use of modern course books allows pupils to coordinate their studies as
part of group work, hopefully making their lessons less teacher-led and more about autonomous
learning. This in itself teaches study skills such as independent research and synthesising sources,
rather than old-fashioned rote-learning. This is where the Internet, in fact, can play a useful part: to
supplement and add to knowledge which the students are assimilating via their course books.
However, it is the role of teachers and school management generally to ensure that use of the Internet
remains a guided learning process, and not an exercise in data-gathering from Internet sources
which may be unreliable or even misleading.
It is true that the Internet can be invaluable for adults (for example in distance learning or
self-study modules) who are able to discriminate between sources and sift information to marshal
their facts. However, this is a mature skill and we should not assume that school-age pupils are ready.
There is a huge range of resources available to the modern teacher, and the right selection is
crucial in delivering effective lessons. I
agree
that there will always be a place for
course
books in
the school curriculum, despite the
many
benefits of the Internet.
Firstly
,
course
books (whether conventional or digital) have
been developed
by pedagogical
experts and designed to
be incorporated
into a subject syllabus, leading to testing procedures such as
formal examinations or continuous assessment. This means that they
are proven
to
improve
students’ academic achievement, enhancing their potential for progression to
further
or higher
education.
Furthermore
, the
use
of modern
course
books
allows
pupils to coordinate their studies as
part of group work,
hopefully
making their lessons less teacher-led and more about autonomous
learning. This in itself teaches study
skills
such as independent research and
synthesising
sources,
rather
than
old
-fashioned rote-learning. This is where the Internet, in fact, can play a useful part: to
supplement and
add
to knowledge which the students are assimilating via their
course
books.
However
, it is the role of teachers and school management
generally
to ensure that
use
of the Internet
remains a guided learning process, and not an exercise in data-gathering from Internet sources
which may be unreliable or even misleading.
It is true that the Internet can be invaluable for adults (
for example
in distance learning or
self-study modules) who are able to discriminate between sources and sift information to marshal
their facts.
However
, this is a mature
skill and
we should not assume that school-age pupils are ready.