IT in Primary Schools—the opportunities of the National Curriculum

Abstract

This paper examines the demands made by the National Curriculum on the IT skills of primary teachers and concludes that these demands are, in the short term, quite impossible to meet. However, a longer term view examines the reasons why primary education is, potentially, a very fertile environment for the effective use of IT in education. The stumbling blocks to progress are shortages of resources; hardware, software, technical support and INSET. Suggestions are offered to overcome these, particularly the final two, in the current climate of financial constraint.