‘The Internet will never replace traditional course books in schools.’ How far do you agree with this prediction?

There is a huge range of resources available to the modern teacher, and the right selection is crucial in delivering effective lessons. I agree that there will always be a place for

course

books in the school curriculum, despite the many benefits of the Internet.

Firstly

,

course

books (whether conventional or digital) have been developed by pedagogical experts and designed to be incorporated into a subject syllabus, leading to testing procedures

such

as formal examinations or continuous assessment.

This

means that they are proven to improve students’ academic achievement, enhancing their potential for progression to

further

or higher education.

Furthermore

, the use of modern

course

books allows pupils to coordinate their studies as part of group work, hopefully making their lessons less teacher-led and more about autonomous learning.

This

in itself teaches study skills

such

as independent research and synthesising sources, rather than old-fashioned rote-learning.

This

is where the Internet, in fact, can play a useful part: to

supplement

Suggestion

Supplement

and add to

knowledge

Suggestion

the knowledge

which the students are assimilating via their

course

books.

However

, it is the role of teachers and school management generally to ensure that use of the Internet remains a guided learning process, and not an exercise in data-gathering from Internet sources which may be unreliable or even misleading. It is true that the Internet can be invaluable for adults (

for

example in

Accept comma addition

example, in

distance learning or self-study modules) who are able to discriminate between sources and sift information to marshal their facts.

However

,

this

is a mature skill and we should not assume that school age pupils are ready to do

this

. Overall, it appears that

course

books, with their quality and depth of material, are set to remain an integral part of the syllabus. The internet can be judged a useful supplement to

this

, if used carefully and under supervision.