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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM: NEED AND

SIGNIFICANCE

Conference Paper · June 2007

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Participated and Presented Paper on Information Technology in Teacher Education
Programme: Need and Significance in AIAER Sponsored State level Conference - June
2007 on “Education in Global Perspectives” at L. N. Patel Education College, Kalyanpura
(Kadi), Gujarat.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM:

NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE
Jayantibhai V. Patel
(Lecturer, Panchshil Post Graduate College of Education, Visnagar-384315)
E-mail: jayantbks@sancharnet.in
Abstract
(Information technology has immensely influenced our world and its

ubiquitous presence has changed the process of teaching and learning in our

formal and open education system. At present various means of information

technology like computers and the Internet are being used in teaching

learning process. Internet can provide information on any topic readily. The

teacher and learners should have a thorough knowledge of all these means.

The teacher is the best „medium‟ to acquaint student with the benefits of this

technology. In India, more than 80% of the teachers are not familiar with

these equipments and techniques. The significant issue is how to train student

teachers and teachers in-service in the use of information technology inside

and outside the classroom. Hence this paper discuss about how the content of

information technology could be incorporated in the teaching learning

process.)
Introduction:

Education plays a very vital and strategic role in the society. It has been identified as a

conscious, deliberate and planned process designed to modify the behaviour in a desirable and

socially acceptable way to impart specific knowledge and skills. A nations development potential

depends upon its ability to continuously educate its population and its ability to create armies of

skilled manpower. Information Technology has influenced all aspects of human life hence

acquiring knowledge and skill about it has become an essential element in teaching and learning.

In the present age of information revolution, information technology offers unprecedented

opportunities to enhance learning effectiveness and expand access to high quality education.

Today, technology is continuing to change teaching and learning in teacher education. For more

than a century, the most predominant form of instruction in higher education has been

classroom-based and instructor led; today this traditional approach to learning is being

challenged by new technologies such as Multimedia, Telecommunications, and the Internet.

Information Technology is taking place and even a literate person is feeling, as he is

illiterate because he is unable to cope up with the information explosion. It is both an important

area of study in its on right and a tool that is being integrated into the everyday life of more and

more people (ISTE 1999). Natarajan (2003) has rightly pointed out that in the future, our lives

and livelihood will be substantially transformed by IT devices. In PC based learning, for

instance, IT will be a powerful “thought support” system. When compared to a textbook or a

lecture, in a view of multimedia interactivity, swift feedback and feeling of control. Although

new technology by itself may not be sufficient to improve education, but appropriate use of

Information Technology will help teachers to perform their job effectively.

Concept of Information Technology:

Information science is " the science that investigates the properties and behaviours of

information, the forces governing the flow of information, and the means of processing

information for optimum accessibility and usability. The field is derived from those related to

mathematics, logic, linguistic, psychology, computer technology, graphic arts, management and

other fields". (R. Taylor in 1997 on libraries in post-industrial society, Oryx Press, Phoenix, AZ)

Generally speaking the information, which has been stored electronically and retrieved immediately

through machine, is the information technology. UNESCO consider IT as “scientific, technological

and engineering disciplines and management techniques used in information handling and

processing, their application, computers and their interaction with men and machines and

associated social, economical and cultural matters”. Hence application of IT to education

involves many disciplines related to computers in handling, processing, management, automation

and communication of information in the broader cultural and economic context of a society.

IT is a systematic study of artifact that can be used to give form or description to facts in

order to provide meaning to give form or description to facts in order to provide meaning or

support for decision making and artifact that can be used for the organization, processing,

communication, and application of information. Thus comprehensively IT can be defined as the

use of hardware and software for efficient management of information, i.e. storage, retrieval,

processing, communication, diffusion and sharing of information for social, economical and

cultural upliftment.
Information Technology and Teacher Education:

If we look at the ground realities In India, the use of information technology in education

and specifically in Teacher Education is inadequate. Lack of financial resources, improper and

inadequate technical and administrative support may be listed as reasons but the single largest

factor affecting the use of information technology is the unavailability of trained persons and

reluctance and resistance among teachers in using it. Therefore, efforts are very much essential

to change teachers’ attitudes and promote the use of Information Technology in teaching and

learning. Our first and foremost requirement is that the teachers must become knowledgeable

about technology and become self confident enough to integrate it effectively in the classroom

and this impetus can easily be provided to them at the time of their pre-service or in-service

training. This points to the need for teacher educators themselves to acquire proficiency in the

use of various means of IT. Information Technology (IT) is dynamic in nature. It has lots of

potentiality to improve and manage different aspects of Teacher Education such as IT with

reference to "technology in education", encompasses one or more of the following:

 Media and AV communication, e.g. Alternative instructional delivery systems such as

Radio, ETV, etc.

 Vocational training tools, such as CBT (Computer Based Training), CAD (computer-

aided design), etc.;

 Computers and computer-based systems for instructional delivery and management, e.g.

CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) etc.

 Internet/web based education e.g. not only educational information with text, graphics,

and video but also courses should be offered by various web sites.
 While IT refers primarily to the components of media, computer tools and instructional uses

of computer based systems, Instructional Technology lies at the core and in the starting point for

any effective teacher education programmes.

Faculty Development for Teacher Educators:

Teacher education programmes can be major catalysts for educational reform by

preparing preservice and inservice teachers with the integration of IT throughout the teacher

education programme. The reality is that the bulk of faculty currently engaged in teacher

preparation are themselves not prepared to use technologies, nor have sufficient willpower to

update their knowledge in technology developments. Once again there are notable exceptions to

this generalisation. For most faculties in teacher education, however, IT is a mystery or a blur.

Young teacher trainees being prepared by these members of faculty, in an increasing number of

cases, are somewhat knowledgeable about IT due to imports from the environment; an

intellectual gap (Digital Divide) of some importance is thus being created. Many members of

faculty are yet to appreciate the use of technology for the delivery of instruction because they are

not exposed to it. Some of the points to think over in assisting for the development of faculty

knowledge, skill, and ability can be listed as,

 ability to master basic IT skills in the area of productivity, multimedia,

telecommunication and classroom integration;

 ability to use multimedia as a medium for delivery of class lectures;

 ability to guide student teachers to work collaboratively to make group presentations

using IT;

 ability to enthuse student teachers to use IT for problem-solving tasks.

  ability to introduce new interactive learning package in content related courses relevant to

teaching and learning;

 creation of an information newsletter and an Internet home page to reciprocate

information with others, etc.

Implications for Teacher Educator as Researchers:

Information Technology the combination of computing and data processing with

communications and access to data or information – is one of the key technologies of our age,

and has had a profound effect on every aspect of modern society, including research. Research in

any discipline is an intellectual activity involving analysis, testing experimentation, consultation

of reference and other research material, communications with peers and colleagues, preparation

of papers and reports, and so on. For using a meaningful IT support teacher educator of today has

to know the following discipline involved, but could include any or all of the following:

 Personal Computing: most researchers have some requirements of Personal Computing,

which including the ability to handle computational analysis; word processing and

general text processing of texts and graphics; analysis of data and planning information.

 Local data and Software sharing: most researchers do not work in isolation and so have

a need from within their computing environment to have access to, share and manipulate

local data and databases, and to share standard software among colleagues.

 Graphics and image display and analysis: in many disciplines, researchers have a need

for the sophisticated manipulation of image, graphics, data and Preparation of power

point presentation that require special IT resources to provide these facilities. In teacher

Education also these needs become much more common as researchers in all disciplines
 begin to appreciate the benefits of being able to manipulate graphs and imagery in

documents as easily as they manipulate text today.

 Computer network: researcher need sophisticated communications tools such as

electronic mail and file transfer facilities to ensure rapid and timely information sharing

and collaboration.

Indeed teacher educator as researcher require an information environment which provides in

an integrated, and ideally uniform manner, the services necessary to meet all the above needs,

and which delivers these services through the single window of the computer screen on the

researchers' s desk. In addition, need IT support of their activities for the administration and

researchers of their research activities. In general IT have had a profound impact on research

activities. Moreover, the pace of change in IT is accelerating with new and improved

technologies available almost every day, and thus information technology helps in continuing to

increase its importance for all research activities.

Significance and content of IT in Teacher Education:

Of prime concern to the Teacher Education is the issue of specifically what technology

and technology applications teachers ought to learn. The issue of what to teach about technology

is complicated, for several reasons. Question arises should teachers in Training colleges learn

about IT as content, or technology as instructional tools? It is argued by that the most important

thing the teacher education institution can do for pre-service and in-service teachers is to help

them understand the implications of technology developments in general on perspectives and

lifestyles of aspiring teachers. It is argued that trained teachers need to understand Instructional
Technology first. It is not just hardware, or software but is rather a process, a way of approaching

teaching and learning.

Content is one of the most important aspects of IT oriented teaching and learning, since

the content selection, analysis, designs and presentation creates a comprehensive and engaging

learning experience. Content should be carefully analyzed and designed so that it can meet the

following requirements,

• Conformance to global IT standards

• Suitability of integration with other method subject

• Enhanced scalability and usability of content

• Ability to serve diverse student teachers needs

• Increased reach, flexibility, and quality of learning achieved through greater student access

• Improves student teachers critical thinking and problem solving skills

• Encourages and improves communication and collaboration among teachers and the taught

• Motivates student teachers to learn and excel by utilizing a real world approach

Teachers can easily use information technology to improve their teaching. So there is

need of proper integration of information communication technology in teacher education (Goel

et.al, 2002). The following are some suggestions to promote the use of ICT in education through

teacher education:

 Courses, which offer educational technology as essential component, should be

encouraged and more and more students of B.Ed. should be motivated to take educational

technology as optional course.

 In all the existing teacher training programmes at PTC, B.Ed., and M.Ed., levels,

computer education should be included in the curriculum to make the teacher trainees
 familiar with innovative computer based techniques of information collection and

teaching.

 In-service orientation programmes and refresher courses should be organized to develop

and cultivate knowledge, skills and attitude among teachers toward the use of IT in

education.

 During summer vacations special in-service programmes should be organized for

teachers to create favourable attitude towards IT and to provide necessary training to use

IT in teaching.

 Collaboration programmes can be started between teacher training institutions and

technical institutions like the institution offering the courses like B.C.A., M.C.A.,

P.G.D.C.A., College of Engineering offering ICT related courses etc., so that teacher-

training institutions can receive the benefit of the expertise of engineers, computer

experts and the teachers of these technical institutions.

 NCERT, GCERT, IASEs, DIETs, CTEs should take the responsibility for organising

orientation programmes and refresher courses for teacher and teacher educators to

acquaint them with the use of IT in education

 The NCTE should make it mandatory that a paper on computer application in education

must be included in the curriculum of B.Ed., and M.Ed., courses in all teacher training

institution of the country.

 All teacher educators should undergo a rigorous training regarding computer applications

in education, so that they may include IT in the classroom teaching learning process.
 Conclusion:

After determining the significance and content of IT for teacher education the most

crucial question is how it could be incorporated in the syllabi. This is not an easy task and for

modification of the syllabus, the educationists, technical experts, engineers, policy planners have

to think it over and adopt a well-formed strategy for it. Questions like whether it should be

introduced as a separate paper, as a specialized course or should be made a part of some paper,

needs to be settled. If we want to make our prospective teachers skilled in IT, we must have IT

skilled teacher educators. It is the foremost need of the hour to strengthen our teacher educators

in IT, so that they may in turn produce IT skilled teachers.

References:

1. Goel, D.R., Goel Chhaya, & Earnest, Malhar, F. (2002). Information &

Communication Technology in Education: Changes & Challenges, University News,

40, (20)

2. ISTE, (1999), The Future of Information Technology in Education: An ISTE

publication, Indian Society for Technical Education, New Delhi.

3. MHRD (2003) Annual Report, 2002-03, Department of Secondary and Higher

Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India, New Delhi.

4. Natarajan, R. (2003) New and Emerging Challenges in Higher Education,

Convocation Address at the Sixteenth Convocation of SASTRA (Deemed

University), Thanjavur on 16 March, 2003, University News, 41(31)

5. Trehan, Alpana, (2002) Effects of Information Technology on Professionalization of

Teachers, University News, 40(13)

If education were identical with information, the libraries would be the greatest
sages in the world and the encyclopedias, the rishis. - Swami Vivekananda

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