Technology in the classroom

The microcomputer has such a profound effect on teaching style that it cannot be thought of just as an aid similar to an overhead projector. It requires a totally new approach to teaching, whether this be within a formal lecture or an individual tutorial. Such a change will not be welcomed by inexperienced or unprepared staff, and will be resisted resolutely. Those staff, however, who have witnessed the enhancement of some parts of a teaching programme by the intelligent use of a microcomputer, and who are prepared to make the effort, will be well rewarded. This is not to say that the micro has applications in all subject areas to the same degree; but this degree cannot yet be stated with any clear precision, since new applications are being discovered continuously in subjects which have previously been considered immune.