This text looks at how computers are being used in primary classrooms and how they could be used better. Its three sections focus upon: how do we investigate learning through talk around computers? What affects the quality of group work around computers? What can teachers do to improve this?

As computers become more widely used in schools, it is clear that they have the potential not just to support the achievement of conventional goals, but also to redefine what we mean by reading, writing and discussion. The contributors to Language, Classroom and Computers - all with experience of teaching about language and computers for The Open University - use teachers' accounts together with their own research to examine how the use of computers in school can affect the ways in which children learn and teachers teach. The first section looks at some generic aspects of computer use, focusing particularly on class management: individual and group learning, the role of the teacher as facilitator and co-learner and the problems of limited access. The second section examines the contribution of specific sorts of software package: word processing, e-mail, hypertext and so on to lanugage learning. This is a book for everyone who wants IT to add a new dimension to their teaching.

As computers become more widely used in schools, it is clear that they have the potential to redefine the scope of the language curriculum. But for this potential to be realized they need to be fully integrated into classroom activities. The contributors to "Language, Classrooms and Computers" - all with experience of teaching about language and computers for The Open University - use teachers' accounts and research findings to examine how the use of computers in school can affect the ways in which children learn and teachers teach. The first section looks at some generic aspects of computer use, focusing particularly on class management, including such topics as individual and group learning, the role of the teacher as facilitator and co-learner and the problems of limited access. The second section examines the contribution of specific sorts of software package to language learning. This is a book designed for everyone who wants Information Technology to add a new dimension to their teaching.