It’s a fairly basic question that does not get asked all that often. One example is the Nintendo DS Brain training (http://www.braintraining.com.au/what.html for the corporate spiel), which promises to improve your thinking logical skills. Also look at Maths Training for the DS. Then there is an article from the times in the UK, Nintendo brain-trainer ‘no better than pencil and paper’, which gives some interesting information from some scientific studies.
The children were split into four groups. The first two did a seven-week memory course on a Nintendo DS, the third did puzzles with pencils and paper, and the fourth just went to school as normal.
Before and after the programmes, the children were set a variety of tasks – logic tests, memorising words on a map, doing sums and interpreting symbols. Researchers found that children using the Nintendo DS system failed to show any significant improvement in memory tests. They did do 19 per cent better in mathematics – but so did the pencil-and-paper group, while the fourth group did 18 per cent better. When it came to memorising, the pencil-and-paper group recorded a 33 per cent improvement, while the Nintendo children were 17 per cent worse. In logic tests the Nintendo children registered a 10 per cent improvement, as did the pencil-and-paper group. The children who had no specific training improved 20 per cent.
Technology can hinder a students progress (see above for memorization), and can be less beneficial than not using technology at all (see logic tests).
And the best way to improve someones results?
Professor Lieury saids “that helping one’s children with their homework, reading, playing Scrabble or Su Doku or watching documentaries instead of soap operas matched or beat the console.”
So, Why use Information Technology at all?
It boils done to a question of student engagement. Do do you make students interested in a world that has so many entertaining high quality media? Many of the tried and true (and possibly outdated) methods of teaching, now have to deal with the inundation of new technology, which is forcing change. A problem is that teachers are now competing against advertising and other media outlets, and this conflict is in a domain that teacher lack experience.
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