ICT as tutor

There are many claims found in the literature for and against the usefulness

of computer games in encouraging learning. It is asserted that the use of

such games can stimulate the enjoyment, motivation and engagement

of users, aiding recall and information retrieval, and can also encourage

the development of various social and cognitive skills.

ICT games are generally created to help develop specific skills in children and young adults. The end result is that students get to enjoy learning through educative games. Areas most used include:

1. Numeracy - all areas of maths can be learnt, taught and assessed. These include addition, subtraction, multiplication, money, fractions, shapes, measuring angles. A very simple example is the Gingerbread man counting game where you can drag and match a Gingerbread man with his partner bearing the same number in different forms.
2. Literacy - many activities including word hunt, punctuations, synonyms, antonyms spellings and sentence formation which can be learnt through ICT games.
3. Phonics - interactive phonic games are also used to enhance reading of words and spelling. Learning phonics can be made very interesting for children with games such as this.

Advantages of ICT Games

The major advantages are listed below:

1. Assessments can be carried out to see how much a child has learnt. This is usually done in stages or phases.
2. Children concentrate more and remain focused on the activities.
3. Children indirectly learn computer skills that they will need as adults in the work place.
4. This technology is particularly good for children with special needs and learning difficulties.

Finding the Best ICT games

It is easy to find specific games for children online. Some sites are developed specifically for this category of games. For instance, ictgames.com is a very useful site for maths and literacy games. A good place to look for interactive games on phonics is phonicsplay.co.uk. CDs and DVDs can also be bought from Amazon websites.

Useful guidance, materials and resources are usually complied for teachers and parents to enable them to choose wisely and to develop their own ideas.

Available technologies are always based on age groups, so it is important to use resources appropriately and according to a child's age.