ICTs in Education

B.ED III
Prof. Dr. Bushra Iqbal Chohan
 Introduction: ICTs in Education
• ICTs stand for information and communication technologies and are
defined, as a
“diverse set of technological tools and resources
used to communicate, and to create, disseminate,
store, and manage information.”
• These technologies include computers, the Internet, broadcasting
technologies (radio and television), and telephones.
 Cont…

• Information and communications technology (ICT)

is an extensional term for information technology (IT)
that stresses the role of unified communications[1] and the
integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and
wireless signals) and computers, as well as
necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and
audiovisual systems, that enable users to access, store,
transmit, and manipulate information.[2]
Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) in Education

is the mode of education that use information

and communications technology to support,
enhance, and optimize the delivery of
information.
 Various devices/technology in ICT
includes:
• Access of course materials through remote devices,
• Online digital repositories for lectures, course materials, and
digital library,
• Online/ cloud based academic management systems,
• Employing the flipped classroom concept,
• Making use of handheld computers, tablet computers, audio
players, projector devices etc.
• Worldwide research has shown that ICT can lead to an improved student
learning and better teaching methods.
• A report made by the National Institute of Multimedia Education in Japan,
proved that an increase in the use of ICT in education with integrating
technology to the curriculum has a significant and positive impact on
students’ achievements.
• The results specifically showed that the students who are continuously
exposed to technology through education has better ‘knowledge’,
presentation skills, innovative capabilities, and are ready to take more efforts
into learning as compared to their counterparts.
 Why measure ICT in education?

• Policy ‐makers accepts that ICT in education can help the students to compete in
the global economy by being part of a skilled workforce and facilitate social
mobility by:
• Enhancing learning experiences and providing new sets of skills,
• Reaching more students with Massive Open Online Courses(MOOCs),
• Facilitating the training of faculties,
• Minimizing costs and saving time associated with information delivery and
automating regular day-to-day tasks,
 Cont…

• Improving the administration of institutions to enhance the quality and efficiency of

service delivery.
• According to UNESCO, “Measuring ICT in education is therefore important to
inform policy makers in setting national priorities and developing ICT in education
policy.”
• Online interactions would facilitate learning without time constrains and it will be
much more easier to conduct assessments and generate reports, since the necessary
information doesn’t have to be manually handled.
To summarize,
enabling ICT in education, and making use of technology
in education creates an easy-to-manage learning
environment where the delivery of information is so much
smoother and the learning easier.
 Internet, Intranet and Extranet
• Internet: Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible computer network of
interconnected computer networks (internetwork) that transmit data using
the standard Internet Protocol (IP). Internet is the world's largest
Internetwork .
 Intranet:
• An intranet is a private network that is contained within an enterprise.
• It may consist of many interlinked local area networks and use any Wide
Area Network (WAN) technologies for network connectivity.
• The main purpose of an intranet is to share company information and
computing resources among employees.
• Intranet is a private Internetwork, which is usually created and maintained by
a private organization.
• The content available inside Intranet are intended only for the members of
that organization (usually employees of a company).
 Extranet:
• An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's intranet that is
extended to users outside the company like suppliers, vendors,
partners, customers, or other business associates.
• Extranet is required for normal day-to-day business activities. For
example, Placing order to registered vendors, Billing & Invoices,
Payments, Joint Ventures, Product Brochures for Partners,
Discounted price lists for partners etc.
 World Wide Web (WWW) and Internet
• The terms World Wide Web (WWW) and Internet are not the same.
• The Internet is a collection of interconnected computer networks, linked by
copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, etc.
• World Wide Web (WWW) is a collection of interconnected documents and
other resources, linked by hyperlinks and URLs.
• The World Wide Web is one of the services accessible via the Internet, along
with various others including email, file sharing, remote administration, video
streaming, online gaming etc.
 e-learning

• Most commonly associated with higher education and corporate training, e-

learning encompasses learning at all levels, both formal and non-formal, that
uses an information network—the Internet, an intranet (LAN) or extranet
(WAN)—whether wholly or in part, for course delivery, interaction,
evaluation and/or facilitation.
• Others prefer the term online learning. Web-based learning is a subset of e-
learning and refers to learning using an Internet mainly using a browser (such
as Chrome or Firefox or Internet Explorer). It can also be viewed as learning
through the use of electronic devices.
 blended learning
• This refers to learning models that combine traditional classroom practice with e-learning
solutions.
• For example, students in a traditional class can be assigned both print-based and online
materials, have online mentoring sessions with their teacher through chat, and are subscribed
to a class email list.
• Or a Web-based training course can be enhanced by periodic face-to-face instruction.
• “Blending was prompted by the recognition that not all learning is best achieved in an
electronically-mediated environment, particularly one that dispenses with a live instructor
altogether.
• Instead, consideration must be given to the subject matter, the learning objectives and
outcomes, the characteristics of the learners, and the learning context in order to arrive at the
optimum mix of instructional and delivery methods.
Some common educational applications of ICT include:

Interactive White Boards or Smart Boards:

• Interactive white boards allow projected computer images to be displayed,
manipulated, dragged, clicked, or copied.
• Simultaneously, handwritten notes can be taken on the board and saved for
later use. Interactive white boards are associated with whole-class instruction
rather than student-centred activities.
• Student engagement is generally higher when ICT is available for student use
throughout the classroom.
 E-readers:
• E-readers are electronic devices that can hold hundreds of books in digital
form, and they are increasingly utilized in the delivery of reading material.
• Students—both skilled readers and reluctant readers—have had positive
responses to the use of e-readers for independent reading.
• Features of e-readers that can contribute to positive use include their
portability and long battery life, response to text, and the ability to define
unknown words.
• Additionally, many classic book titles are available for free in e-book form.
 Flipped Classrooms:
• A flipped classroom is an instructional strategy and a type of
blended learning that reverses the traditional learning
environment by delivering instructional content, often online,
outside of the classroom.
• It moves activities, including those that may have traditionally
been considered homework, into the classroom.
• In a flipped classroom, students watch online lectures, collaborate
in online discussions, or carry out research at home while
engaging in concepts in the classroom with the guidance of a
mentor.
• The flipped classroom model, involving lecture and practice at
home via computer-guided instruction and interactive learning
activities in class, can allow for an expanded curriculum.
21st Century Skills
 Communication
• Communication (from Latin communicare, meaning "to
share") is the act of conveying meanings from one entity
or group to another through the use of mutually
understood signs, symbols, and semiotic rules.
 Nonverbal communication
• The processes of conveying a type of information in the form of non-
linguistic representations.
• Examples of nonverbal communication include haptic communication,
chronemic communication, gestures, body language, facial expressions, eye
contact etc.
• Nonverbal communication also relates to the intent of a message.
• Examples of intent are voluntary, intentional movements like shaking a
hand or winking, as well as involuntary, such as sweating.
• Speech also contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage, e.g. rhythm,
intonation, tempo, and stress.
 Verbal communication
• The spoken or written conveyance of a message.
• Human language can be defined as a system of symbols
(sometimes known as lexemes) and the grammars (rules) by which
the symbols are manipulated.
• The word "language" also refers to common properties of
languages. Language learning normally occurs most intensively
during human childhood.
• Most of the thousands of human languages use patterns of
sound or gesture for symbols which enable communication with
others around them.
 Collaboration
• Collaboration is the process of two or more people or organizations
working together to complete a task or achieve a goal.
• Collaboration is similar to cooperation.
• Most collaboration requires leadership, although the form of
leadership can be social within a decentralized and egalitarian group.
• Teams that work collaboratively often access greater resources,
recognition and rewards when facing competition for finite
resources
 Critical thinking
• The analysis of facts to form a judgement.
• The subject is complex, and several different definitions exist, which
generally include the rational, skeptical, unbiased analysis, or evaluation of
factual evidence.
• Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-
corrective thinking.
• It presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful
command of their use.
• It entails effective communication and problem-solving abilities as well as a
commitment to overcome native egocentrism and sociocentrism.
 Creativity
• A phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is
formed.
• The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific
theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such
as an invention, a literary work, or a painting).
 National Information and Communications
Technology Strategy for Education in Pakistan
• Developed by the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with
Education Sector Reform Assistance (ESRA) programme supported
by the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID),
the Ministry of Information Technology (IT) and
the provincial education departments,
• This new strategy intends to offer a strategic direction for the mainstreaming
of information and communication technologies (ICTs) (computers,
telephones, video, radio, and television) in the education system of Pakistan.
 With plans for ICT to complement the existing systems and
delivery modes, the strategy includes six key elements namely:
1) use of ICTs to extend the reach of educational opportunity;
2) application of ICTs to strengthen the quality of teaching and educational
management;
3) employment of ICTs to enhance student learning;
4) development of complementary approaches for the use of ICTs in
education;
5) building on current experiences of existing and successful programmes;
and
6) development of capacity at the federal and provincial department level.
• Each of the six key elements laid out in the strategy is
followed by action recommendations presenting locally
suited solutions intended to reduce the potential for a
class-based digital divide.
• The strategy, which will eventually become part of the
National Education Policy, also lays down the
mechanisms for its implementation in terms of both
coordination with other initiatives of the Ministry of
Education, as well as capacity-building and support.
Element 1. Use ICT to extend the reach of educational opportunity:
Utilize ICT creatively to assist teachers and students with a wide range of
abilities and from varied socio-economic backgrounds.
Action Recommendations:
1. Determine the context and needs of the students, educators, and/or
citizens whom you seek to serve.
2. Research uses of ICT including, and other than, computers.
3. Invest in needs-based and best practice ICT models.
4. Develop funding mechanisms to cut the cost of ICT for education.
5. Initiate an awareness campaign.
Element 2. Apply ICT to strengthen the quality of teaching and
educational management: Use ICT to maximise opportunities for
educators’continuous learning and to help educators understand and
effectively use ICT.
Action Recommendations
1. View teachers’ professional development as a top priority.
2. Match ICT selection to teachers’ specific needs.
3. Set guidelines for ICT training for teachers.
4. Select a strategic blend of professional development models based on
research of innovative educational practices.
5. Provide training and resources for teachers to produce their own
materials.
6. Provide follow-up and support.
7. Ensure that educators know how to teach with ICT.
8. Create a system of incentives and support for teachers to use
ICT.
9. Establish a national educational portal.
Element 3. Employ ICT to enhance student learning:

Integrate ICT into schools and learning centres to support

students’ self-paced learning and provide them with
chances to explore, investigate, reflect, learn social skills
(such as collaboration, logical reasoning, and creative
expression), and enhance self-esteem.
Action Recommendations

1. Reform curriculum guidelines.

2. Seek and develop content resources.
3. Improve national examination systems.
4. Make learner-centred instruction the focus.
Element 4. Develop complementary approaches to using ICT in
education:

Support students and teachers in developing key ICT competencies (including

sophisticated problem-solving and critical thinking skills) by treating ICT as a
school subject, as well as a critical instructional aid.

Action Recommendation
1. Establish competency-based curricula and certification.
Element 5. Build on the current experiences of existing and
successful ICT programmes:

Gather, organize, provide access to, share, and use for planning purposes
national and international data on effective approaches to using ICT in
education.
Action Recommendations
1. Establish an official clearinghouse system to gather and distribute
information on effective ICT programmes.
2. Ensure that information from the clearinghouse system reaches
stakeholders.
 Cont…
3. Encourage an international exchange of information about
effective ICT programmes and best practices.
4. Monitor and evaluate Pakistan’s ICT projects in order to
identify and replicate effective models.
5. Facilitate the initiation and growth of ICT
projects/approaches that evaluation results prove to be
effective.
Element 6. Develop capacity at the federal and provincial department of
education levels: Form a new office of the government to represent the cause
of ICT in Education and advise the MoE.

Action Recommendations
1. Set up an office of ICT integration—a Technical Implementation Unit
(TIU)—within the MoE.
2. Authorise the TIU to carry out key functions to advance the mission of
the MoE.
 ICT competencies from pedagogical
dimensions
• Competencies in the design of ICT enabled education settings
…..refer to planning and organizational skills around elements that lead to
the construction of ICT-enabled education settings for meaningful learning
and comprehensive education for students
• Competencies relating to implementing ICT-enabled learning
experiences in education settings …relate to skills that facilitate the
design and planning of an education setting and that are then reflected in a
teacher’s education practice.
 Cont…
• Competencies to assess the effectiveness of ICT-enabled education
settings…. linked to skills that enable teachers to evaluate effectiveness to
promote meaningful learning in students as a result of ICTs being
incorporated into their practice.
 Levels of ICT Adoption
The elements shaping levels of adoption are based on three categories of
representation adapted from the model of adoption of cultural practices by
Orozco, Ochoa and Sánchez (2002).
• Integration
• Reorientation
• evolution
 Integration level
• This level of adoption involves an idea of ICTs as tools that
make it easier to present content, communicate and convey
information.
• Decisions about ICT usage in teaching practice
depend on the novelty that the tools provide in terms of
saving time, money and versatility
 Reorientation Level
• At this level, in a given educational activity the teacher uses
technological tools to organize teaching practice with the
active participation of students around specific teaching learning
activities.
• ICTs are no longer represented as tools that
can easily, quickly and cheaply give students access to large
volumes of information, but rather are adopted as tools that
facilitate knowledge construction
 Evolution level
• At this level, the teacher is clear that ICTs create environments
that involve known semiotic systems and push the human
capacity to represent, process, transmit and share information
into a new league (Coll & Martí, 2001, cited by Coll, Onrubia &
Mauri, 2007). From this perspective, teachers use that
potential to mediate between relationships between students
and learning content, as well as the interactions and
exchanges between teachers and students and among
students, colleagues, institutions and research groups.
 Electronic Portfolio
• An electronic portfolio is a collection of electronic evidence assembled and
managed by a user, usually on the Web.
• Such electronic evidence may include input text, electronic files, images,
multimedia, blog entries, and hyperlinks.
• E-portfolios are both demonstrations of the user's abilities and platforms for
self-expression. If they are online, users can maintain them dynamically over
time.
• In education, the electronic portfolio is a collection of a students' work that
can advance learning by providing a way for them to organize, archive, and
display work.
• The electronic format allows an instructor to evaluate student portfolios via
the Internet, CD-ROM, DVD, or zip disk.
• Electronic portfolios have become a popular alternative to paper-based
portfolios because they provide the opportunity to review, communicate and
give feedback in an asynchronous manner.
• In addition, students are able to reflect on their work, which makes the
experience of creating the e-portfolio meaningful.
• A student e-portfolio may be shared with a prospective employer or used to
record the achievement of program or course specific learning outcomes.
In education e-portfolios have six major functions:
• Document skills and learning;
• Record and track development within a program;
• Plan educational programs;
• Evaluate and monitor performance;
• Evaluate a course;
• Find a job
 Custom Instructional Multimedia Design
Custom multimedia-based instructional resources might be designed, developed
and employed:
• As part of an entire course redesign
• As an added resource for an existing course (face-to-face, web-enhanced,
hybrid or online)
Multimedia-based eLearning modules can add a variety of instructional
activities to a course:
• Self-paced Tutorials
• Interactive Practice Exercises with Tailored Feedback
• Simulations or Animations
• Instructional Games
• Demonstrations (technique, scenario, interpersonal skill, foreign language)
• Interactive Study Guides
• Altered Reality (time lapse, special effects)
• Encouragement
• Fictional Narrative
 Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI)
• IRI is a distance education system that combines radio broadcasts with active
learning to improve educational quality and teaching practices.
• IRI has been in use for more than 25 years and has demonstrated that it can
be effective on a large scale at low cost.
• IRI programs require teachers and students to react verbally and physically to
questions and exercises posed by radio characters and to participate in group
work, experiments, and other activities suggested by the radio program.
• The key difference between IRI and a conventional use of broadcast radio to
deliver education audio content is suggested by the term interactive.

• In this context, radio instruction is considered interactive because it prompts

specific actions by teachers and students in a classroom.

• Walk into an IRI classroom (at least a well-functioning one) and you will not find
students or teachers passively sitting and listening to the radio.

• Instead, you should expect to see teachers and students engaged in songs,
question-and-answer activities and various types of physical movement, as
'instructed' (or directed) by an audio program delivered via a radio (or
increasingly, via CD or MP3).