. I have often been asked for insights into what would ensure the highest degree of quality integration of technology into the classroom. There are a number of compulsory components that must be effectively addressed if we are to truly observe the full benefits to learners and educators. The one area however that seems to […]
I think all people will agree that training in the use of new technology is important. Nobody will disagree this is necessary. The more important questions may be to “Train for what?” and “How to train?”
Today, much of the training is on how to use the technology and is usually done by a technical person who has little experience in teaching. The training covers things like turning on the PC, using the mouse, typing etc and then gets into using Word, Skype and perhaps some educational games or searching for resources with Google.
The trainer does not understand the pedagogy of teaching and there is little focus on how to use ICTs in the classroom for teaching and learning.
. In 2003, I was commissioned to provide information and communication technology (ICT) literacy training to all 90,000 public school teachers in Jordan through World Links. The UNDP and the government of Jordan estimated that we would reach 20,000 teachers by 2006. Using a well studied training model, I was able to achieve gradual training […]
The most popular answer to the question of how to improve the quality of schools and education in developing countries is: Invest in more teachers and more schools.
I think there are few people who would contest that having one full time, fully qualified teacher in front of every class of 25 children would bring education of the highest standards to any country.
But could this really be the solution to the educational problems in poor countries? I sincerely doubt whether this solution is feasible. I even fear it is completely impossible to solve the plight of education in the developing world by this route alone.
We all know that the current state of ICT usage in education is sub-par. We’ve just had a month’s worth of debate on ICT use in schools with much of it centered on one reoccurring theme: most ICT investments in education are wasted.
I think Sam Carlson expressed the best reason why this is happening during the Live Debate in India, where he successfully argued that There is Enormous Wastage in the Implementation of Education Technology for Schools:
“The basic problem is that teachers are not given the incentives, the time, the encouragement, the opportunity to take advantage of the educational technology, which is made available to them.”
. The opening statement of this Education Technology Debate was titled “Is ICT in education a revolution or a fool’s errand?“. This is a puzzling question. Over the last decades, there have been many studies on the introduction of ICT in education. So why is it that we can still have a debate about the […]
. Computers are present in all aspects of modern society; from simple applications such as automatic doors and programmable air-conditioning systems in the home, to more complex uses in the medical field. Computers have changed many fields of study. However, computers have not influenced education in the ways predicted by researchers and early advocates of […]
There are plenty of good reasons to be skeptical that ICT can bring about a revolution in education: Lack of solid research showing better learning outcomes than other innovative methods; enormous cost (much of it hidden) in providing sustainable ICT resources and training; and the fact that there is now a long history of educational technology promoters over-promising and under-delivering.
I suspect others in this forum will discuss these issues. But one powerful argument for continuing to inject more technology into schools seems to remain untouched by all of those concerns. That is the inevitability, at least in the foreseeable future that our children’s lives will be saturated with technology and they will have to know how to deal with a technologically driven society. Thus, all academic or financial arguments that might cast doubt on the efficacy of ICT are typically overwhelmed by the sense that we have to adapt education to the realities of the 21st century.
In that respect, it seems to me that the debate over whether schools have to find a place for ICT is over. The only question remaining is how to do it. In this brief introductory comment, I’d like to introduce just one of several factors having to do with the character of ICT that make that “how” question revolutionary in a different way than most technology promoters believe.
After ten years of continuous effort to bring digital technologies to the classroom (particularly in the secondary and tertiary education levels) the European Commission has acknowledged in several policy assessments that the impact of these regional investments in technology have not been as effective as it was expected. From these evaluations arose the discussion that in addition to the public initiatives that encourage and promote the acquisition of technology, it is also compulsory to develop e-skills that enable the proficient use of the Internet and other technologies. The reduction of this “divide” will demand a transversal, multidisciplinary and mid but also long term collaboration between the private and public sector. But also it will demand a more ecological approach to combine formal and informal environments of learning.
Sloppy thinking leads to careless policymaking about technology’s link to learning. While no “revolution” has yet occurred in schools, a “fool’s errand,” technology is not.
Why? Because schools are political and social institutions that have to be responsive to voters and parents who provide funds to build schools, hire educators, and insure that children get taught what the community expects. What every U.S. community now expects from its schools is for their children to be technologically literate, college-educated, and skilled to step into the labor market upon graduation. With these expectations, public schools, dependent upon voters and parents, must make some effort to buy and deploy the most recent technological tools even as school boards and superintendents know that they cannot keep up with constant technological changes.
