ICT teacher handbook/ICT for connecting and learning

One of the most powerful things about a computer is the ability to connect to another computer. The transfer of information through digital methods allows devices to be connected across time and space. It is not difficult to see the possibilities that this has for the way knowledge can be accessed and shared. The by-line of one IT company, Sun Micro-systems, was "The network is the computer". By connecting people to one another, ICT allow the sharing of knowledge with one another and allow collaborative work and creation.

The emergence of the internet and the web has changed the way we are accessing information. The internet is a network of thousands of computers, many of which 'serve' the network by providing data and services. Getting data about something is not so difficult any more. Emergence of email has changed the way we think of communication, on-line communities are emerging in various interest areas. All of these have a great impact on the way we learn. However, making meaning depends on our skills to evaluate and organize these resources. The resources available on the internet can be organized into a meaningful personal digital library on our own computer, thus enabling self learning. The web itself can be seen as a 'global digital library' which has resources on many topics. Resources are available on almost all topics that may be of interest to a teacher in the English language. However, teachers need and can contribute to on-line resources in local language, to increase the local language resources on the web.