Computer aided Teaching of Science and Physics

The use of information and communications technology (ICT) in education is a relatively new phenomenon. Educators, researchers and thinkers have taken up the challenges of using ICT since the 1980s with varied success. The advent of the internet and the World Wide Web has pressured new productivity and service demands as well as expectations on these endeavours although research to guide best practice remains scantandelusive.Enthusiastic teacher educators and teachers are casting the internet in a new light through the emergence of so called ‘web 2.0’technologies ,which place learners at the centreof online activities.Educators are using web 2.0 tools to promote new avenues of communication among teachers and students. The present study was designed to study the effectiveness of teaching through Web 2.0 Tools on learning achievement in Physics in students of class IX. The investigators adopted Quasi-experimental method for the study. A self made questionnaire was used to find out the awareness and an achievement test was administered. The study found that (i) among the students, web 2.0 tools, in order of popularity, were- Facebook, Youtube, and Wikipedia, among others, whereas Blogs were found to be unknown to a majority of students; and (ii) teaching through Web 2.0 Tools wasfound to be more effective in terms of learning achievement in Physics than the traditional approach.This work was designed to present Web 2.0 tools in the classroom and to study closely their use in the educational process.  The main aim was also to provide research evidence and draw conclusions about how effective the use of Web 2.0 tools can be.