IMPROVED EDUCATIONAL SERVICES THROUGH THE USE ICT
Abstract
A study was conducted in Kenya being a developing country to evaluate the use of information and technology in high schools and teacher colleges. As the part of that study we established how ICT has improved educational services. This article explores a number of ways in which information and communications technologies (ICT) have been incorporated and integrated in a teacher education program in order to extend opportunities for students to interact with ICT as part of their preparation for becoming early childhood professionals. It describes three examples where ICT have been utilized in different contexts to promote understanding of the implications of technologies in educational settings, to engage students with powerful conceptual ideas and as a means of communication between students on campus and those in remote areas. The examples reveal that both undergraduate and graduate students indicated that they were at a novice stage of use and understanding before embarking on the courses. In addition, the examples show that participation in the courses helped students to come to terms with computer technology as a device that could help them both to acquire new forms of knowledge as well as extend the possibilities for interactions with other early childhood professionals who were located in remote areas. The examples also highlighted the need for teacher educators to become aware of the variety of ways in which ICT can complement and extend teaching and learning contexts in new and dynamic ways rather than be used to perpetuate existing pedagogical strategies that need to be reconceptualized in the information age.
- Increased use of ICT technology and knowledge to improve quality of education services and effectiveness of ICT in learning
- Improved ICT infrastructure and technology applications to increase access to ICT resources and services
- Well-defined policies, regulations, and standards and disseminating best practices in ICT resources, services, data usage and their successful use in education
- Repository of resources, best practices and case studies
- Web publishing for ICTs in education and virtual exhibition of world-renowned ICT products and services in education
- Community clusters among organizations and individuals on development of resources to promote ICTs in education and on R&D for advanced forms of education and learning processes.
- Global community of practice enabling communication and sharing of educational resources
- Teachers can create their contents and sell for distribution to others schools or to be downloaded by other teachers in various parts of the country
- Motivate the students and makes education enjoyable and also allow the teacher to teach difficult concepts to the students by use of videos ,animations, pictures, text ,URL etc
- Can be offered offline or online
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
v Lower the cost of internet access in developing world
v Developing inclusive technologies that will equally cater people with physical disabilities
v Availability of low cost computers and related hardware’s
v Lack of proper ICT infrastructure and proper technology applications to increase access to ICT resources ,services ,data usage and successful use in education
v Teachers being reluctant in using technology in learning
v Lack of proper government policies addressing the issues of educational technology ,copy rights rules, cyber crime etc to avoid content manipulation and illegal downloads
v Lack of power in rural areas and frequent power blackout hampers the use of technology in affected areas
Education exists for the benefit of society, so technology needs to be part of education if it is to truly benefit today’s society. The needs of society and education have directly impacted how technology is used in classrooms. In today’s global economy, the need for students to be technology literate means that the schools need to find ways to meet this need. In today’s high- stakes testing reality, there is not much room for schools to experiment with different technology possibilities while meeting the standards. In order for the schools to adequately prepare the students for the future economy, the economy needs to invest in the schools and work as a team.
MULTIMEDIA LEARNING
When televisions and radios became a part of society, many felt that using them in the schools would provide many great benefits to the schools. One reason that television and radio was seen as an appealing resource for schools was that there was a shortage of teachers. However, those who came up with this idea did not take into account that the student would not have the opportunity to be actively engaged in their learning, so the television lessons did not work as planned.
Too often televisions and radio have been used by teachers to occupy the students while they do something else. Videos are commonly given to substitute teachers by teachers when they are absent so that the substitute does not have to try to teach material that they are not familiar with teaching. When used appropriately, television, radios and videos can be very effective teaching tools. The video can be stopped in the middle of viewing or their content can be copied in their computers as they watch to allow students to discuss what they have seen so that they do not have to be asked to remember everything they saw at the end of the class period. The content copied on their computers can also be played again and again by individual student on their computer so that they understand the whole idea. Like any other technology incorporated into schools, the technology must be relevant to what is being taught in the classroom and not just used for the sake of using technology.
Too often televisions and radio have been used by teachers to occupy the students while they do something else. Videos are commonly given to substitute teachers by teachers when they are absent so that the substitute does not have to try to teach material that they are not familiar with teaching. When used appropriately, television, radios and videos can be very effective teaching tools. The video can be stopped in the middle of viewing or their content can be copied in their computers as they watch to allow students to discuss what they have seen so that they do not have to be asked to remember everything they saw at the end of the class period. The content copied on their computers can also be played again and again by individual student on their computer so that they understand the whole idea. Like any other technology incorporated into schools, the technology must be relevant to what is being taught in the classroom and not just used for the sake of using technology.
Computers have being used in classrooms. During this time period, the paradigm of tutor- tool- tutee was established. Computers initially are used in classrooms to teach students by drilling them on the information learned in class and also to quiz students on knowledge. Tools then developed to further teach students the content and test them on the content. The educational software’s have been introduced to automate classrooms environment. This software’s enables the learning to be more interactive and the assessments could be graded by the computer. This have given students immediate feedback and saved the teacher time by not having to grade the tests. Tools have also been developed to allow the student to program what they were learning into the computer. One example of this today would be using a music notation program to write out music.
The ability of the student to manipulate programs is still limited due to how software is sold, but there are products that give students the opportunity to manipulate data in more efficient ways. Because of these programs, students are able to focus more time on the interpretation of data, which leads to more time students are involved in higher learning processes. Students get to see the big picture and they have the opportunity to learn more in-depth about different subjects.
The Internet have opened up many different opportunities for computer use in schools. Not only could schools use the technology within the school, they could now network with other schools. The “classroom” as we know it today goes beyond the walls of the classroom to include all that is available on the Internet. Students today are able to access sources outside of their school library on different topics. The ability to network with other classes and students around the world also provides many exciting opportunities for students.One example in Kenya,the Kenya institute of education have digitized the whole curriculum of secondary schools,teachers are able to log in to KIE servers from remote ares and download learning contents and different exercises
However With the creation of wireless connections, schools are able to access the Internet easier than before. With wired connections, computers could only reach out as far as the cable could reach, and the classroom setup is influenced by where the computers could go in the room. With wireless technology, computers can better adapt to the classroom setup with the use of wireless laptops. With the portability of these laptops, schools are starting to move towards issuing laptops that have electronic textbooks on them for the students, eliminating the need for textbooks. Network thus is a very important aspect in E-learning,because information and educational content runs on it.It acts as the backbone of the whole process. Fiber optic cables being laid in different parts of the country will harness transmission and transportation of educational content through internet to many places of the country.
Technology roadblocks in education
The reasons that technology does not always work in education have not changed much since electronic technology began to enter classrooms. Since teachers are likely to teach the way they have been taught, they are less likely to try something new that they are not familiar with. Common reasons for not using electronic technology in classrooms include the following:
• The technology is not accessible when needed
• The technology does not work well with the existing curriculum
• The technology is difficult to use
• The technology does not meet an educational need
The ability of the student to manipulate programs is still limited due to how software is sold, but there are products that give students the opportunity to manipulate data in more efficient ways. Because of these programs, students are able to focus more time on the interpretation of data, which leads to more time students are involved in higher learning processes. Students get to see the big picture and they have the opportunity to learn more in-depth about different subjects.
The Internet have opened up many different opportunities for computer use in schools. Not only could schools use the technology within the school, they could now network with other schools. The “classroom” as we know it today goes beyond the walls of the classroom to include all that is available on the Internet. Students today are able to access sources outside of their school library on different topics. The ability to network with other classes and students around the world also provides many exciting opportunities for students.One example in Kenya,the Kenya institute of education have digitized the whole curriculum of secondary schools,teachers are able to log in to KIE servers from remote ares and download learning contents and different exercises
However With the creation of wireless connections, schools are able to access the Internet easier than before. With wired connections, computers could only reach out as far as the cable could reach, and the classroom setup is influenced by where the computers could go in the room. With wireless technology, computers can better adapt to the classroom setup with the use of wireless laptops. With the portability of these laptops, schools are starting to move towards issuing laptops that have electronic textbooks on them for the students, eliminating the need for textbooks. Network thus is a very important aspect in E-learning,because information and educational content runs on it.It acts as the backbone of the whole process. Fiber optic cables being laid in different parts of the country will harness transmission and transportation of educational content through internet to many places of the country.
Technology roadblocks in education
The reasons that technology does not always work in education have not changed much since electronic technology began to enter classrooms. Since teachers are likely to teach the way they have been taught, they are less likely to try something new that they are not familiar with. Common reasons for not using electronic technology in classrooms include the following:
• The technology is not accessible when needed
• The technology does not work well with the existing curriculum
• The technology is difficult to use
• The technology does not meet an educational need
Teachers are also reluctant to hand over the control of learning to the student. In today’s society, where learning accountability falls on the teacher, teachers need to know that what goes on in their classroom is getting students to learn what they need for the standardized tests. If they are not sure about whether a new technology program will work, they are more likely to stick with what they know is working for the majority of the students in order to ensure that they get the required results, even if that means not allowing students to learn material in more depth.
Much of the technology created for the schools has also been developed by those who are not working in the schools. These technology professionals do not know the way that schools work, so they are not able to create technology that works with what is being done in classrooms. For technology to be truly effective in the classroom there needs to be teacher input in the creation process. Teachers also need training on how to use technology and they need to be able to give input on how they are able to successfully or unsuccessfully use technology. The society has long expected education to fix the problems of society, so educators need to be involved in the creation of policies that directly affect them.
HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN CHANGE THE FORMAT OF EDUCATION
With the availability of different technology programs, students will be able to learn in ways they could not learn before. These programs will allow students to become more efficient at learning by doing some of the work for them; this will allow the students to be able to have more time to look at the big picture. Students will have more opportunity to engage in higher thinking skills; depth over breadth. The standards that are required of teachers to cover in class could have a better chance of being covered, and those standards are likely to be reviewed regularly to adapt to the needs of the society.
Online college courses allow working professionals to work on higher degrees while working. Online high schools will allow students to participate in the extracurricular activities of their choice while working on their high school diploma. Students who once could not finish their high school classes due to chronic illness are able to finish their classes now. Students will also be able to enter the workforce sooner and start college sooner.
Education as we know it is reversing itself in that the student will be able to complete their education at their own pace, similar to the education of students in the one room schoolhouses. Students will no longer be grouped based on age. With computers being able to do some of the work of the teachers, education will become more individualized.
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