Lesson 9 Notes PDF

Science & Technology in Education 1. Technologies that can Change Education - Virtual Reality - invented around the 90s - VR is becoming more accessible for classroom use thanks to inexpensive cardboard viewers. - 3D Printing - 3D...

Science & Technology in Education 1. Technologies that can Change Education - Virtual Reality - invented around the 90s - VR is becoming more accessible for classroom use thanks to inexpensive cardboard viewers. - 3D Printing - 3D printing is becoming more commonplace in classrooms. - It allows students to create complex parts cheaply. - Cloud Technology - Slowly replacing paper and textbooks for students. - It can be used to monitor and track data for teachers on how much students learn. - Biometrics - Fingerprint & Iris scanning can be used for borrowing books and to track focus on students. - Holograms - Still far away but in the future, this technology can be used to represent events to help students learn far better. 2. ICT in Education Introduction: - ICTs greatly facilitate the acquisition & absorption of knowledge, offering developing countries unprecedented opportunities to; - enhance educational systems - improve policy formulation; and - widen the range of opportunities for business & the poor. - ICTs can open access to knowledge in ways unimaginable not long ago. - ICTs have revolutionized the way people work today & are now transforming education systems. As a result, if schools train children in yesterday’s skills & technologies, they may not be effective & fit in tomorrow’s world. - Kofi Anan, the former UN Secretary-General, points out that to attain the goal of Universal Primary Education by 2015; we must ensure ICTs unlock the door of education systems. - Even though ICTs play significant roles in representing equalization strategy for developing countries, the reality of the “digital divide” makes a huge difference in the use of ICTs. - The introduction & integration of ICTs at different levels & various types of education is the most challenging undertaking. Failure to meet the challenges  would mean a further widening of the knowledge gap & deepening of existing economic & social inequalities among the developed & developing countries. Operational definition of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) - E-learning; - is a learning program that makes use of an information network (i.e. the internet, the intranet (LAN), or extranet (WAN)) whether wholly or in part, for course delivery, interaction &/or facilitation. - Web-based learning is a subset of e-learning & refers to learning using an internet browser such as Moodle, blackboard, or Internet Explorer. - Blended Learning; - refers to learning models that combine face-to-face classroom practice with e-learning solutions. For example, a teacher may facilitate student learning in class contact and use Moodle to facilitate out-of-class learning. - Constructivism; - is a paradigm of learning that assumes learning is a process individuals “construct” meaning or new knowledge based on their prior knowledge & experience. - Educators also call it the emerging pedagogy in contrast to the long-existing behaviorism view of learning. - Learner-centered learning environment; - is a learning environment that pays attention to knowledge, skills, attitudes, & beliefs that learners bring with them to the learning process where its impetus is derived from a paradigm of learning called constructivism. - In the context of the article, it means students' personal engagement to the learning task using the computer & or the internet connection. - The Benefits of ICT in Education; - Several studies reveal that students using ICT facilities mostly show higher learning gains than those who do not use it. - The use of ICTs in education also shifts the learning approaches. There is a common belief that the use of ICTs in education contributes to more constructivist learning & an increase in activity & greater responsibility of students. - Voogt’s description of the major roles, distinguished ICTs as an object for study, an aspect of a discipline or a profession, & a medium of instruction. - As a medium of instruction, ICTs fit to realize & implement the emerging pedagogy of constructivism. - Traditional Learning: Considers learning as the transmission of knowledge to students, which is the sole responsibility of the teacher. - Constructivist Approaches: this approach considers learning as authentic & learner-centered.  - A research review by Kozma suggests three significant concerns of consideration regarding ICT's impact on education: - Firstly, student outcomes such as higher scores in school subjects or the learning of entirely new skills needed for a developing economy. - Secondly, we should consider teacher & classroom outcomes such as the development of teacher’s technology skills & knowledge of new pedagogic approaches as well as improved attitudes towards teaching. - Finally, one has to consider other outcomes such as increased innovativeness in schools & access of community members to adult education & literacy. - Active Learning; - ICT-enhanced learning mobilizes tools for examination, calculation & analysis of information to provide a platform for student inquiry, analysis & construction of new information. The learners, therefore, learn as they do &, whenever appropriate work on real-life problems in depth. - Moreover, ICT makes the learning less abstract & more relevant to their life situations. - In contrast to memorization-based or rote learning, which is the feature of traditional pedagogy; ICT-enhanced learning promotes increased learner engagement. - ICT-enhanced learning can also be ‘just-in-time” learning in which learners choose what to learn when they need. - Collaborative learning; - ICT-supported learning encourages interaction & cooperation among students, teachers, and experts regardless of where they are. - Apart from modeling real-world interactions, ICT-supported learning provides an opportunity to work with students from different cultures, thereby helping to enhance learners teaming & communication skills as well as their global awareness. - It models learning done throughout the learner’s lifetime by expanding the learning pace to include not just peers but also mentors & experts from different fields. - Creative learning; - ICT-supported learning promotes the manipulation of existing information & the creation of real-world products rather than the duplication of received information. - Integrative learning; - ICT-enhanced learning promotes a thematic integrative approach to teaching & learning. - This approach eliminates the artificial separation between the different disciplines & between theory and practice, which characterizes the traditional approach.  - Evaluative learning; - ICT-enhanced learning is student-directed & diagnostic. - Unlike static, text or print-based education, ICT-enabled learning recognizes the presence of different learning pathways to explore & discover rather than merely listen & remember. - ICT is becoming more fitting to realize & implement the emerging pedagogy of constructivism. - Nevertheless, a study by Pelgrum & Anderson shows a major obstacle for ICT integration & that is the difficulty of integrating computers & internet into classroom practices. - Teacher’s lack of competence & enthusiasm to use computers in the instructional process also contribute to the difficulties. Functions of ICT in education: - ICT as an object. Refers to learning about ICT. Mostly organized in a specific course. - ICT as an “assisting tool”. ICT is used as a tool, for example, while making assignments, collecting data & documentation, communicating, & conducting research. Typically, ICT is used independently from the subject matter. - ICT as a medium for teaching and learning. This refers to ICT as a tool for teaching & learning itself, the medium through which teachers can teach & learners can learn. It appears in many different forms, such as drill & practice exercises, simulations & educational networks. - ICT as a tool for organization & management in schools. Examples of ICT use in Education System of Developed Countries; - A new society requires new skills; - ICTs increasingly pervade every aspect of life (work, learning, leisure, & health). - Because ICTs are excellent tools for information processing, the new generation needs to become competent in their use, should acquire the necessary skills, & therefore must have access to computers & networks while at school. - Schools are information & knowledge holding institutions. Therefore ICT should be a fundamental information management tool for all levels of an educational system, from classrooms to ministries. - A Quest for Quality Learning - Schools should profoundly revise present teaching practices & resources to create effective learning environments & improve life-long learning skills & habits in their students. - ICTs are versatile, & powerful tools that can help in this purpose & should therefore be present in every classroom, library, & teacher room. - Developed nations are using ICT in their education systems. In the UK, the ‘rising of standards’ of teaching & learning has become intertwined with the use of ICTs. Using  digital technologies to improve the delivery of education has enormous potential to raise standards & increase employability. - The use of computers at an early age helps students learn ICT skills that help as tools in the education process. Implications of ICT-Enhanced Education for Policy & Planning; - There is a common belief that ICTs have significant contributions to changes in teaching practices, school change & innovations, and community services. - Thus, policymakers & project leaders should think in terms of input factors that can work together to observe the right impact of ICT in education. - Matching the introduction of computers with national policies & programs related to changes in curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, & teacher training is more likely to result in greater learning of students & other outcomes. - The need for linking ICT to education policies requires recognition. In reflecting the importance of technology, education policies should focus on the following; 1. Education policies have to reflect alternate and new teaching paradigms that ICT can offer in terms of providing a more effective, relevant, and flexible mode of learning for the underprivileged and the general masses. 2. Policies must take into account the retraining of teachers incorporating the use of ICTs in education. Teachers should skilfully redesign learning environments so that students can transfer their newly gained ICT skills to other applications to use in an ICT-rich environment. 3. Most educational policies reflect the need for ICT infrastructure but they leave out the need for local educational content. The development of instructional content-ware remains a neglected area, affecting investments in hardware and resulting in a heavy economic and educational loss. 4. The focus of developing countries should be on how they use ICTs to compensate for the factors that are lacking in education, namely, well-trained teachers and the resources to pay for expensive equipment. The task is to concentrate on technological alternatives that, at low cost, bring to students the imagination and creativity of a few excellent teachers. Promises of ICT Use in Developing Countries; - The World Links Program; - The World Links program is a good initiation in the form of a project, originally managed by the World Bank to place internet-connected computers in secondary schools and train teachers in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia. - The goal of the program is to improve educational outcomes, economic opportunities, and global understanding for youth using information technology and new approaches to learning. Services provided by the program include: 1. Feasibility studies and consultation on connectivity solutions and telecenter management. 2. Internet connectivity for secondary schools in developing countries. 3. School-to-school partnerships, as well as regional and global partnerships with public, private, and non-governmental organizations.  4. Teacher professional development on issues of technology in the context of innovative pedagogy. 5. Workshops for policy makers on coordination of policies and implementation strategies. - With the help of the World Links program, many countries are now using ICTs as ways of providing innovative pedagogies in the classroom. - Chile acquired familiarity with computers for professional & out-of-classorm tasks. - India, Thailand, & Indonesia realized the importance of ICT integration to their education policies, investing in ICT infrastructure for schools & creating network links of education institutions. - Developed countries are making online education, smart schools, & virtual universities more of a norm. Developing countries are also fast catching; - India, announced an ambitious program titled ‘Vidya vahini’ that is to create computer laboratories with facilities like internet access, an online library, academic services and web-casting across 60 thousand schools in the country in 2003. - Vietnam has also invested to develop a computer based information network system for education called Education Network (EdNet) and improve computer facilities at educational institutions. EdNet is the country’s first step towards developing a computer based information network system for education. - Thailand also launched School Net, which has connected 4758 schools throughout the country. School Net Thailand is using the internet to improve the overall standard of education in the country by reducing the gap in quality of education between schools in urban and rural areas. - Pakistan invested 5.18 million US dollar to provide connectivity across universities, secondary and primary schools in 2003. - ICTs make curriculum implementation learner-centered with a self-learning environment that enables students to cutstomize his/her own learning experiences. - Malaysia initiated the concept of smart school, a learning institution with objectives to foster self-assessed, self-paced, and self-directed learning through the application of ICTs. - The Sri Lankan Government also runs several key initiatives connecting 92 education centres across provinces, regions and sectors to the ministry, and developing computer-training centres at 8 hundred selected schools. - In Namibia, integrating ICT into education and training systems, issues of access to the local and global knowledge and information found to be important. - For this, the education and training sector created the ICT policy for education to enhance the use and development of ICT for education and training. - Hence the five distinct development areas for the use of ICT mentioned in the policy are: (1) investigation and development of appropriate ICT solutions (2) deployment of ICT (3) maintenance and support of ICT (4) ICT literacy, and  (5) ICT integration. - ICT provides a great deal of advantage in the delivery of equitable quality education thereby providing an opportunity to improve the lives of our people. - ICT’s benefits to the classroom & the education process: 1. Offer the opportunity for more student-centred teaching. 2. Provide greater opportunity for teacher-to-teacher and student-tostudent communication and collaboration. 3. Give greater exposure to vocational and workforce skills for students. 4. Provide opportunities for multiple technologies delivered by teachers. 5. Create greater enthusiasm for learning amongst students. 6. Provide teachers with new sources of information and knowledge. 7. Prepare learners for the real world. 8. Provide distance learners country-wide with online educational materials. 9. Provide learners with additional resources to assist resource-based learning. - ICT’s policy goals: 1. Producing ICT literate citizens. 2. Producing people capable of working and participating in the new economies and societies arising from ICTs and related developments. 3. Leveraging ICT to assist and facilitate learning for the benefit of all learners and teachers across the curriculum. 4. Improving the efficiency of educational administration and management at every level from the classroom, school library, through the school and on to the sector as a whole. 5. Broadening access to quality educational services for learners at all levels of the education system. 6. Set specific criteria and targets to help classify and categorize the different development levels of using ICT in education. - Limitations of ICT use in Education: - Many conditions can be considered as limitations of ICT use in education. - The limitations can be categorized as; 1. Teacher-related 2. Student-related; and 3. Technology-related 1. Teacher-related: - Teachers’ attitude plays an important role in the teaching-learning process that utilizes computers & internet connections. - Although teacher’s attitude towards use of these technologies is vital, many observations reveal that teachers do not have clarity about how far technology can be beneficial for the facilitation & enhancement of learning.  - Some teachers may have positive attitudes towards technology, but refrain from using it in teaching due to low self-efficacy, tendency to consider themselves not qualified to teach with technology. - Self-efficacy: the individual’s opinion of capabilities to organize & perform courses of actions to achieve particular types of performances - Attitude, motivation, computer anxiety, & computer self-efficacy are factors affecting teachers’ use of computers in their lessons. - Teacher resistance & lack of enthusiasm to use ICT in education may also be another limitation. - Many teachers may not have the required IT skills & feel uncomfortable, nor have the training needed to use the technology in their teaching. 2. Student-related: - Appropriate use of computer and the internet by students have significant positive effects on the student’s attitude & their achievements. - Nonetheless, it is very common to observe limitations related to student behaviour. - Students tend to misuse the technology for leisure & less time to learn and study. - Internet access at home may be a distraction because of chat rooms & online games, reducing the time spent in doing assignments & learning. - Therefore, the impact of availability of ICT on student learning strongly depends on its specific uses. - If ICT is not properly used, the disadvantage will overweight the advantages. - While students use the internet, it may confuse them by the multiplicity of information to choose from. - Limitations of ICT use in education as related to student behavious: 1. Computers limit student’s imagination. 2. Over-reliance on ICT limits student’s critical thinking & analytical skills. 3. Students often have only a superficial understanding of the information they download. 4. Computer-based learning has negative physical side-effects such as vision problems. 5. Students may easily be distracted from their learning & may vist unwanted sites. 6. Students tend to neglect learning resources other than the computer & the internet. 7. Students tend to focus on superficial presentations & copying from the internet. 8. Students may have less opportunities to use oral skills & hand writing. 9. Use of ICT may be difficult for weaker students, because they may have problems with working independently & may need more support from the teacher. 3. Technology-related: - The high cost of the technology & maintenance of the facilities. - High cost of spare parts - Virus attack of software  - Computer & Internet interrupions - Poor supply of electrical power - The Key Challenges of ICT’s Integration in Education - The integration of ICTs in education systems may face various challenges with respect to policy, planning, infrastructure, learning content and language, capacity building and financing. - ICT-enhanced education requires clearly stated objectives, mobilization of resources and political commitment of the concerned bodies. - It is wise to specify educaional goals at different educaion & training levels as well as the different modalities of ICT use that can facilitate in the pursuit of the goals. - Identification of stakeholders & harmonization of efforts across different interest groups. - The piloting of the chosen ICT-based model. - Specification of existing sources of financing. - Development of strategies for generating financial resources to support ICT user over the long term. - Infrastructure challenges that may exist are absence of appropriate buildings & rooms to house the technology, shortage of electricity & telephone lines, and lack of different types of ICTs. - We have to develop competencies of teachers and school administrators for the successful integration of ICT in the education system. - One impeding factor of ICTs integration in education systems is the skill gap of people implementing it. - ICT integration in education should parallel with teachers professional development. - The school leadership also plays a key role in the integration of ICT in education. Lack of support from the school administration is also a big challenge. - Learning content and language also challenge the integration of ICT in education. - Content development is a critical area that educators overlook. In integrating ICT in education, we have to care for the relevance of the learning content to the target groups. - With respect to language, English is the dominant language in many of educational software, while English language proficiency is not high in many of the developing countries. - ICTs in education programs require large capital investment and developing countries need to predict the benefit of ICT use to balance the cost relative to the existing alternatives.