CSaLT Publications

The dramatic rampage in Winnenden/Germany is not the beginning of a big discussion in Germany about negative effects of media on adolescents. There are more and more critics in Germany, who want to ban computers from primary schools and reduce their use in secondary schools, because of their assumed negative effects on the development of students. In their view the use of ICT in schools fosters uncontrolled use of computers at home. They postulate that the private use of computers makes adolescent stupid, fat and violent and claim to base this postulation on empirical facts.

In the first part of the presentation the theoretical foundation of these postulations will be discussed.
Subsequently an overview about different approaches of media education and the German attempts to define Medienkompetenz (media competencies) will be presented and discussed. This basis leads us to different concrete issues for fostering Medienkompetenz in the digital age. Practical realisations for primary schools will be introduced and illustrated. Existing empirical facts about these interventions will be discussed.

Biography: Dr. Thomas Irion is lecturer and researcher in the field of Education in Primary Schools at the University of Education, Weingarten, Germany. His research focus lies on ICT in Education and Media Competencies in the digital age. He worked for seven years as a fulltime primary school teacher with a strong emphasis on the use of ICT in Primary Education. At the University of Education, Weingarten, he is Co-Head of the Primary School Center and Manager of the Research Center for Pre-Primary and Primary Education.

Downloads: [PDF of Slideshow] [PDF of "Hints for ICT use in Primary Schools"]

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Last Updated December 2004, Dr P Newhouse

Centre for Schooling and Learning Technologies (CSaLT)

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

CSaLT Seminar Abstracts

ICT Education in German Primary Schools: Theoretical and Practical Issues