The impact of computers on teaching and learning is such a new area that it’s difficult to know what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’.

Even long established ideas in teaching can be seriously challenged in the face of new evidence- take the assumption that teaching assistants are good for the pupils that they assist on a one- to- one basis. Apparently not:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8236705.stm

Similarly, I would have assumed that keeping up to date with friends on Facebook have no appreciable effect on academic performance. It seems that I’m wrong- such activities and the playing of certain games is actually good for academic attainment:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/8241348.stm

I think the moral of the stories is that one shouldn’t trust gut feelings in education, but should test any assumptions in a rigorous and objective way. My gut feeling is that IT can have both good and bad effects on the learning situations into which it is introduced.

Of course I could be wrong…