Developing Social Skills by the Implementation of New Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Religious Education in Primary School: A Teaching Scenario

Abstract: The dynamic and structural component of exploiting Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the teaching process can enhance the multimodal social skills of students in the teaching of Religious education. The applicable functionalism of alternative teaching approaches with the familiarization of ICT, in the teaching of Religious education, strengthen the faculty of student’s effective interaction not only with the course content but also with the development of good interpersonal relations. The exploitation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the teaching process is used as a mean for students’ activation and substantial participation during teaching via their sensory receptive capacity. Information and Communication Technology (ICT), in Religious education in the Primary School, are energetic means of multisensory pupil’s activation in the process of identifying and comprehending knowledge, in the configuration of values and in the field of interactive opportunities for active participative action and communication. The purpose of this paper is to present the possibilities of the development of students’ social skills with the contribution of programming, interactive, multimedia, hypermedia, simulation and modeler potential of new technologies in the teaching of Religious education in Primary school. In the present paper a teaching scenario for the functional exploitation of the ICT in teaching the lesson of Religious Education is suggested. It is referred to a case study in the fifth grade in a Greek elementary school. The results emerged by a structured questionnaire for the cognitive level, the participation and cooperation demonstrated by the students during the instructional scenario. The implementation of the ICT tools maximized the students’ academic achievements, highlighted the potential of using effective alternative teaching methods and generated a better and more productive learning environment.