ASSIGNMENTS

SPECIALIZEDAREA: EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

MASTER OFARTS (EDUCATION)-2nd YEAR
January 2019 & July 2019

MES-032: COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

a) Discuss the technologies used for self-learning. (500 words)

b) Explain the barriers in communication. (500 words)
c) How will you integrate technology in teaching? Discuss with examples. (500 words)
Answers
a) Discuss the technologies used for self-learning.
Ans.: The use of communication technologies in teaching and learning process require us to
think, plan and design its appropriate use to result in optimum level of effectiveness. We
can’t use technology indiscriminately for educational purpose. Just because technologies are
available, they should not be used for teaching and learning without thinking about their
appropriate usefulness. While access and availability are important considerations, the
context of use (such as classroom, distance learning, online learning) becomes more
significant for deciding on the right communication technology. However, there is no wrong
technology as well. The appropriate mix and match of technology and pedagogy makes a
technology better than another.
Throughdut the world, communication technologies have acquired a central and powerful
role in people's learning. They provide a valuable source of learning, knowledge, skills and
attitude. Communication technologies provide self-development opport'unities for all and
empower them to become well-informed individuals of the society. The technologies which
developed as part of the processes of industrialisation, provided lifelong dducation with its
educational means. Technology will change the teacher's role from dispenser of knowledge to
learners to that of facilitator of acquisition of knowledge from a vliety of sources, in an
individualised way. Technology, if properly desinged, impleme$ted and monitored can
increase the productivity, in terms of both quality and quantity. tethnology can be used for
managing both information and activities.
One of the important initiatives for self-learning may be to establish a learning group which
will permit learners to benefit from shared experiences of a group engaged in the same study.
This has become more important for a developing country where all the learnersway not have
home-based access to modem communication technologies. Tk learning group (besides
arranging affordable access to technologies) will provide opportunipes to share and assess
their ideas and points of view with others in the group. The group will provide a solid source
of support for discussion and obtaining answeis'to important questions and believing that they
could successfully complete the course. In fact, the l$arning group can contribute to the
feeling that this was a 'real' class.

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Communication technology provides the capacity for greater interaction, both immediate
(such as in computer-assisted instruction) and delayed interaction (such as thraugh audio/
video cassettes). To gain from various technologies, the learners should have the intention
(mental .and psychological readiness for learning) and the skill to use interaction effectively
to accomplish the objectiks, They should involve themselves in various cognitive tasks in
terms of listening, viewing, reading, speaking and any combination of the above. Meaningful
involvement of the learners in those tasks will keep them alert and active in their learning.
Computer has brought with it some very interesting possibilities for self-learning. One of the
applications of computer is to access internet which is one of the most important
technological innovations to reach individual users, thus giving tremendous capability to
them to learn individually. And this it does at a low cost. It provides learners access to the
global world of electronic (computer) communication. Simply by connecting a computer to a
telephone line, through a modem, the learner can obtain access to other computer networks,
including the internet. Education provided automatically by computers, connected to
networks, is capable of adjusting to the requirements of every learner.
The learners learning through distance mode need orientation and training in the meaningful
use of communication technology and technology based sources of learning. They can be
provided self-learning manuals giving step-by-step instructions to use communication
technology-based components. It is important to try and understand as to how technology is
to be effectively used in acquiring knowledge, skills and attitudes.
b) Explain the barriers in communication.
Ans.: At any point in the communication process a barrier can occur. Barriers keep us away
from understanding other’s ideas and thoughts. Barriers can appear at any point of the
communication loop. There are two types of barriers—internal and external. Examples of
internal barriers are fatigue, poor listening skills, attitude toward the sender or the
information, lack of interest in the message, fear, mistrust, past experiences, negative attitude,
problems at home, lack of common experiences, and emotions. Examples of external barriers
includes noise, distractions, e-mail not working, bad phone connections, and environment.
Barriers keep the message away from getting through. When communicating, watch out for
barriers. Monitor the actions of the receiver. Watch his/her body language; check to make
sure the message the receiver received is the one sent—ask questions and listen.
The prominent barriers to communication are delay, distortion and dilution. Delay is caused
by the faulty working of the distribution system. Distortion of information or message is
caused by personal idiosyncrasies of the intermediate communicators, by impatient or faulty
listening of the communicatee, inadequate vocabulary, badly chosen and empty words.
Psychological barriers caused by prejudice, preconceived notion, distrust of the
communicator, misinterpretation of his intention and so on. Status consciousness among
managerial personnel may cause distortion and dilution in communication. Sharing
information with subordinates is interpreted as loss of status because status is equated with
the possession of greater knowledge. Dilution of communication is caused by a yes man
telling the boss what does he want to hear rather than giving him a correct feedback.

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Communication barriers may be personal, physical and semantic. Personal barriers arise from
human emotions, values and poor listening habits. Our emotions act as filters in all our
communications. We see and hear what we are emotionally tuned to see and hear, so
communication cannot be separated from our personality. We communicate our interpretation
of reality instead of reality itself. One psychological barrier to communication is the
egocentric tendency of all human beings to view every activity from a highly personal point
of view. Communication is not the simple speaking and hearing of words and sentences. Each
man creates for himself a set of filters which affect the transmission of communication from
one individual to another. The sender’s filter causes him to project ideas which are related to
his personal frame of reference and the receiver receives the message from his point of view.
Another personal barrier to communication is the tendency to evaluate and judge others. This
can be fault of both sender and receiver, although it is mostly the receiver who evaluates and
judges the sender. The evaluation is made not only of the communication but also of the
sender himself, his dress, speech habits and physical appearance. Instead of listening to the
actual communication, the receiver analyses other irrelevant facts and often rejects the
message on such grounds.
Hierarchy and status can be barriers to communication. The existence of excessive hierarchy
creates physical distance between people. Effective communication exists where anyone in
the organisation is allowed to contact anybody who can help him solve his problems. But
organisational hierarchy restricts channels through which communication should move
officially. Members have to contact others through formal channels. Which may cause
hardships. In the organisational hierarchy, a certain status is attached to a position, which
boosts the ego of the incumbent. Subordinates become aware of the existence of such status
in their relationships with their superiors. This may distort the upward communication
process. Subordinates
Communication can be thwarted if the potential content of the message threatens the
psychological or economic well being of the recipient. People hear only what they want to
hear but if the message has a bad content, the receiver pretends of not hearing it. This gap can
be eliminated by removing fear and distrust. Many companies use AVOs (Avoid Verbal
Orders) to stress the importance of using written rather than oral communication in order to
prevent this type of problems. As mentioned by Koontz and O’Donnell, in oral
communication something in the order of 30 per cent of the information is lost in each
transmission. Therefore, in large scale enterprise, it is impossible to rely on oral
communication from one level to another
Lastly, semantic barriers widen communication gap. Semantics is the science of meaning as
contrasted with phonetics – the science of sounds. Nearly all communication is symbolic; that
is, it is achieved using symbols (words, pictures and actions) that suggest certain meanings.
Semantic barriers arise from limitations in the symbols with which we communicate. Words
have different meanings for different persons. It is rightly said that the meanings of words are
not in the words, they are in use. As far as possible use words which the receiver can
understand. Words having more than one use should be avoided in order to remove
misunderstanding.

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c) How will you integrate technology in teaching? Discuss with examples.
Ans.: The first step in successful tech integration is recognizing the change that may need to
happen inside of yourself and in your approach to teaching. When any teacher brings
technology into the classroom, he or she will no longer be the center of attention. The level of
refocused attention will, of course, depend on the amount and the type of technology (e.g.,
mobile device, e-reader, laptop, interactive whiteboard) being brought into the classroom.
However, this does not mean that the teacher is no longer essential to the learning process.
While students may be surrounded by technology at home, it is dangerous to assume that they
know how to use it for learning – this is commonly referred to as the "myth of the digital
native," and you can read more about it in this Edutopia blog post: "Digital Native vs. Digital
Citizen? Examining a Dangerous Stereotype." Most students still need a guide to help them
use digital tools effectively for learning and collaboration.
Technology integration is a progressive process because teachers need to recognize
educational technology and understand that can be used with a specific subject. When they
try it, they have to form a favorable attitude to accept it, so that they can prepare different
activities with technology and with time, applying different experiences, they improve their
use of technology, evaluating the results of their decision and finally integrate it effectively in
their classrooms, improving success.
Adoption or resistance of technology is a complex process. Teachers need time to change
their practices. Sharing experiences is one of the best ways to promote new teaching
methodologies and therefore the effective integration of technology in classrooms, with
involved students.
Technology helps change the student/teacher roles and relationships: students take
responsibility for their learning outcomes, while teachers become guides and facilitators.
Technology lends itself as the multidimensional tool that assists that process. For
economically disadvantaged students, the school may be the only place where they will have
the opportunity to use a computer and integrate technology into their learning.
The technological tools that can be integrated into the processes of teaching and learning are
of a wide variety. These are projectors, slides, OHP and transparencies, charts, models,
computer, multimedia CDs, Internet and services available over it like the world wide web,
mail, chat, podcasts, audiolvideo materials for transmission through the broadcast and non
broadcast modes, teleconferencing facility, etc. Not all these tools aid interactive learning but
their judicious combination will facilitate learning.
We agree that even now a learner from a developing nation may not possess the necessary
hardware for the softwares stored in advanced storage devices. For instance, not every learner
possesses a PC or a Player to use a CD. This is the main reason why educational institutions
such as IGNOU has kept media as supplementary to the print medium. But soon we may
hope to attain a stage when technology integration will not exclude any learner from
education. Moreover there may be target groups, like employees of an organisation who need
some online courses and every member has access to technology.

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Successful integration of technology is a difficult task that requires adequate physical and
human resources. For many teachers it may be a challenge to first learn to operate the devices
and then prepare for the next step i.e. integrate technology in a seamless manner.
The teacher also has to ensure that when the learners get an access to a vast amount of
information and facts, they do not stray from their focus. The pedagogical approach to
integrate technology as required by Rogers (2000) is that the teacher should select the content
and accordingly choose the tools. This would require them to explore the technological
resources available. Helshe should frame the objectives of leaming and clearly interpret the
guidelines regarding the tasks and sub tasks to be performed by the learners. Monitoring
learning and evaluation of learning outcomes remain as important as ever. The learners can
also subject themselves to self-evaluation through tests and/or quines with the help of
computers, while accessing instructions through it.
The teachers have to be reflective and evolve suitable instructional strategies to integrate
technology. Also, they have to adapt to a new role- facilitator of learning from being the sole
source of information. Then only integration would be possible.