Evaluating ICT in education

A comparison of the affordances of the iPod, DS and Wii

Abstract

This paper uses an evaluation method for Information Communication Technology (ICT) in education adapted from Morgan (2007) to conduct a comparison between the Apple iPod, Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii, in order to assess the potential cognitive impact on learners of the affordances of each ICT device. The ICT evaluation method uses the concept of ‘mediation’ to link cognitive impacts on learners of specific learning activities with the affordances of mediating artefacts employed during those activities. For each device a set of designed affordances are described along with as series of initial suggestions about how these affordances could be applied to educational contexts. A comparison of the different development options is then conducted to assess the relative educational potential of each device. Finally several avenues for further research are discussed.