ICT in religious education

ICT learning

ICT helps pupils learn in RE by enabling them to consolidate and deepen their knowledge, understanding and skills.

Using ICT can help pupils to:

• access, select and interpret information

• recognise patterns, relationships and behaviours

• model, predict and hypothesise

• test reliability and accuracy

• review and modify their work to improve the quality

• communicate with others and present information

• evaluate their work

• improve efficiency

• be creative and take risks

• gain confidence and independence.

ICT is a powerful tool that can improve teaching and learning in RE and can help to raise standards by encouraging pupils to:

• ask questions to promote knowledge and understanding of religion(s) and shared human experience. This can be enhanced by using the internet or CD-ROM sources, a database or spreadsheet and communication technologies (email and video conferencing)

• explore decisions on religious, social or moral issues and their consequences/significance for the faith communities concerned

• assess, evaluate and use a wide range of resources (eg internet and CD-ROMs) critically to develop understanding of religious issues

• understand, analyse and evaluate interpretations and arguments

• organise information and ideas to communicate meaning and understanding effectively (eg using a writing frame or concept mapping software)

• communicate (via email or video conferencing) with faith communities, organisations and experts.

The characteristics of ICT enable pupils to work effectively and to access much more information than non-ICT sources can allow. For example:

• the speed and automatic functions of ICT enable pupils to explore aspects of RE more effectively

• the capacity and range of ICT enables pupils to gain access to historical, recent or immediate information via the internet, CD-ROMs and video

• the provisional nature of information stored, processed and presented using ICT allows work to be changed easily to meet the needs of different audiences

• the interactive way in which information is stored, processed and presented enables pupils to explore models and to communicate effectively with others.

Hardware and software

ICT can support pupils to achieve learning objectives in RE by improving the quality and enjoyment of teaching and learning and by adding value to the learning process. ICT also makes planning and teaching more effective and contributes to pupils' understanding of ICT.

The following generic ICT resources can be used effectively to support teaching and learning in RE and to meet the expectations of agreed syllabuses and the national curriculum:

• class access to networked computers with a printer and scanner

• internet access (including email)

• word-processing software

• desktop publishing software

• talking word processors

• electronic whiteboards

• search facilities

• data files and spreadsheets

• generic software

• digital stills camera

• camcorder

• data/LCD projector

• electronic/interactive whiteboard

• concept-mapping software

• web-authoring software

• video/DVD

• multimedia software

• video-conferencing facilities.