Answer 1_2_11

Describe two advantages and two disadvantages in using computers in education.

Advantages:

• Young people expect resources to be up to date;
• Pupils can learn at their own pace;
• Computers are infinitely patient (unlike a teacher!);
• Computer can demonstrate a difficult concept by animation, which is much harder on the board.
• Internet is a huge library for resources.

Disadvantages:

• Pupils are easily distracted.  They can be off-task while appearing to be working well (I know this one well!);
• Pupils can become bored with the material;
• System shortcoming can impair the learning (for example, a slow internet connection can make access to the selected sites almost impossible and as a teacher I have had several lessons go down the pan because of this).
• Pupils can abuse the internet by visiting inappropriate sites.

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