And unlike most other places, Britain has put more computer technology in primary classrooms than in secondary ones.
In primary classrooms, teachers who have used the technology for longest are seeing the greatest benefits, this latest review concludes.More teachers use computers in the classroom in Britain than anywhere else in Europe (see chart).
They participated in the project to investigate their classroom practice in the use of ICT to promote creativity in the making of digital video movies, and to reflect upon the development of their pedagogy with ICT in primary classrooms.
It takes a book to do that". Last month's Sats results showed no improvement in English at key stage 2, and no improvement in reading at key stage 1. "An analytical and vigorously tested drills-and-skills approach has come to predominate in primary classrooms at the expense of enjoy ment and the making of meaning," writes Powling.
Gorard said he couldn't explain the success of the debates in improving an unrelated subject such as maths, but suggested that such open-ended discussions were unusual in primary classrooms, and meant children were more engaged and found school more enjoyable.
"So when children are playing with these creative representations of language they have to use and rehearse their understanding of letter-sound correspondences: a skill which is taught formally as phonics in primary classrooms.
In his book "Crisis in the Primary Classroom" (David Fulton Publishers, £12.99), Professor Maurice Galton of Leicester University reckons that, until recently, primary-school teachers typically spent 77% of their time doing this.
Kath describes what happened when a mysterious golden trainer magically "appeared" in her primary classroom and how one can manifest in your classroom too, if you so desire it.
