Technology has become an integral part of student's lives today. Between laptops, iPod's, smart phones, tablets,  social networks, and video games - students spend hours using technology on a daily basis. Therefore, it is our role as teachers to embrace technology and and use it's power to reach young people. The following are some ideas of how you can use ICT in Religious Education. 

· PowerPoint – PowerPoint has been around for a long time but do not underestimate the power of it. It can be used for displaying notes, images, diagrams, etc.

·  Videos – There are various websites that contain videos that you can use in the classroom. YouTube is particularly good website that contains videos that are of use in the Religious Education classroom. Be warned though, you could spend hours looking through videos on it. There are also various Television programmes that could be useful in the Religious Education classroom. RTE player is  a particular favourite of mine for use in the classroom – there is no need to record the television programmes  as you can play them direct from  rte.ie. The only disadvantage is that the Television programmes only stay on the website for 21 days after they have been aired on television. Click here for some video links that are of use in the Religious Education classroom.

· Prezi – Prezi is a new PowerPoint format that is more interactive and allows for a greater exploration of information. The navigation of the site may be cumbersome at first but with a bit of practice  it is easy enough to get the hang of! Prezi can be used to show images, notes, pictures, diagrams, videos, etc. Also, you can find great Prezi’s that other teachers have made that you can use yourself. All you have to do is save a copy of the Prezi to your own account(which is free to join) and you can edit any slide and use it yourself. Click here for a link to the Prezi website.

· Popplet - Many teachers and students use Popplet.com as a concept mapping interface. It is really easy to use and you can view other teachers popplet's too. It is a place to collect inspiration, share ideas with the possibility of collaborating with other teachers and students. When you join popplet, you can create upto five popplet's for free. At the moment, Popplet is mostly used for classroom activities and student's independent learning. Some teachers are also beginning to post class notes and subject overviews as popplets for their students.

· Facebook - there are many different ways to use Facebook in the Religious Education classroom. I have set up an accompanying Facebook for this website (click here ). This Facebook is going to be used to post homework for the class and links to resources for teachers. Teachers can also use Facebook as a tool for assessment , for example, they could get students to set up Facebook for famous religious persons. 

I hope some of these ideas are of use to you!  If you have any other ideas of how ICT could be used in the Religious Education classroom, let me know in the comments below or email me at  [email protected]. 

In recent years, there has been much debate about whether Religious Education should be examined or not. There are strong points for both sides of the argument. It has been suggested if Religious Education is a non-examination subject, some students are less motivated to learn about Religion and can begin to see Religious Education as a 'doss' class and view it as unimportant. When it is examined, not only do the students seem more motivated but so are the teachers, it gives them a sense of purpose. Of course, there are advantages too to having non-exam Religious Education, teachers are under less pressure and can spend more time on aspects of the course that are more interesting and relevant to the students. 

So, what do you think? Should Religious Education be examined or not? I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject!