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Information and communication technologies

The effective use of information technology in science is a matter of fitness for purpose. Technology in the form of dataloggers, sensors, spreadsheets, simulations, robotics, modelling, multimedia (authoring and CD-ROMs) and the Internet (World Wide Web and electronic mail) lend themselves to particular facets of science teaching and learning, for example, using:

• simulations for modelling experiments and real life situations not otherwise accessible to students because of safety aspects or ethical considerations
• computer controlled devices in robotics
• spreadsheets for recording and processing data in a variety of ways, including graphical representation
• dataloggers for recording slow and fast reactions
• sensors for measurement of a variety of factors
• CD-ROMs, the Internet and authoring tools for accessing, presenting and communicating recent and relevant concepts.