The Role of ICT in Learning: Implications for the ICP and its Members

The Role of ICT in Learning: Implications for the ICP and its Members

Approved at Ottawa Council Meeting: February 2003

1. Rationale

This is the third ICP Position Paper and was generated by discussion of 34 Principal Organisations, representing 100, 000 Principals from around the world, at the ICP Council Meeting held in Auckland, New Zealand, from 14-16 April 2002.

The ideas and thoughts of the Council Meeting Workshop have been developed by an appointed sub-group of the ICP for discussion by the ICP Executive, subsequent refinement and endorsement by the ICP Council.

The first ICP Paper, entitled "The Role of the Principal", grew from workshops at ICP Council Meetings in Cape Town in 1999 and in Israel in 2000. The second ICP Paper, "Building the World's Future: Professional Development for Educational Leaders Across Boundaries", emerged from the Stockholm Council Meeting in 2001.

The purpose of all these papers is to express a position on the selected topic, which has the careful consideration, perspectives and cultural differences of school leaders from around the world and through workshopped interaction distils a consensus that carries the moral authority of a global educational view, which can be used locally for purposes of lobbying government, informing, and improving educational outcomes.

1.1 Context

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is one for the issues that divides the world: the digital divide. In the richer countries, schools can afford, or are supplied with, infrastructure, hardware and software, that develop generations of e-literate students, highly advantaged in the new technology. In the poorer countries, school administrators may be without electricity, let alone sufficient bandwidth, or students with personally-owned laptops.

ICT has the potential, also, to close this divide.

The digital divide raises the imperative to set educational priorities for the use of ICT in schools and to understand its efficacy in teaching and learning. It is essential to establish best practice worldwide so that scarce resources are used effectively. While the ICT benefits include increased productivity, professional presentation of students' work, and an enriched learning environment, the implementation of ICT does not constitute a panacea for all educational woes, and, if poorly instituted, can add to a school's problems and introduce a spate of new woes.

Technology has immense power to transform learning in and beyond the classroom and educational decision-makers need to address, understand and define the relationship between technology and improved learning, so that the market within education is not exploited for commercial gain only.

Educator-training institutions need to incorporate appropriate computer skills and knowledge of effective exploitation of the technology within teacher-training courses, as well as continuing professional development.

The legitimacy of what comes across the internet needs to be observed with vigilance. Educational authorities need to be engaged, produce educational programmes, so that they strengthen choices, particularly on the ethical issues, which impact on morality and cultural traditions through the wider access to information.

The ownership of copyright material on the internet, as it relates to schools, is an issue that will require clarity.

Finally, the relationship between ICT proficiency and learning outcomes requires further research and proof.

1.2 General Discussion

1.2.1 Pedagogical Aspects

ICT has the potential to transform learning in and beyond the classroom. It can also in certain circumstances transcend previous limitations of space and time. Some of the perceived benefits to learners are:

• students can access enormous amounts of information quickly;
• students can work at their own pace;
• special needs, both remedial and extension, can be offered during the same lesson;
• course material can be offered simultaneously in different languages;
• students can access quality material irrespective of their geographical location;
• academic courses can be offered asynchronously;
• students can interact with peers and experts outside the classroom, town, and/or country;
• ICT can offer simulations where the student can experiment by changing the variables;
• ICT offers a host of different tools to demonstrate learning suitable for divergent and different intelligences; and,
• young students have readily accepted the technology.

There are also benefits for teaching, too. While largely dependent on the teaching methodology employed, these benefits include:

• ICT can, via multimedia, improve the richness of the learning experience;
• ICT can track a students progress and proficiency at certain skills;
• They allow the teacher to focus on process rather than product;
• Diagnostic tools allow the teacher to identify learning trends and problems; and
• Student work, created electronically, lends itself to Internet publishing and the creation of student portfolio work.

ICT, however, on their own, will not improve learning.

Possible pitfalls to the deployment of ICT include:

• the ability of educational systems, curriculum development to keep pace with ICT innovation is problematic;
• the individualized role of the teacher can be diminished where more and more material is offered via a centralized content vendor. There could be a loss of teaching individuality;
• other resources have to be sacrificed because of the enormous monetary expense that ICT necessitates;
• a myriad of technical issues which often seem overwhelming; and,
• teachers are often ignorant of what is available and also how to use the technology they already have. There seems to be too little attention in training teachers on how to best exploit ICT for teaching.

Computer acquisition and implementation in educational institutions must be paired with visionary pedagogical insight. Action plans should be devised as to just how ICTs can enhance teaching and learning. There has been much debate as to what we can realistically expect computer technology to contribute to the learning process.

1.2.2 Professional Development for our Staff

Some staff members are inflexible or unwilling learners, so systems to support and develop teachers are paramount. New teachers coming out of training institutions should be equipped to exploit the new technologies. The success of the implementation of ICT in a school is at risk unless teachers are trained so they can take responsibility to guide and support the learners and integrate the learning experience with ICT tools.

1.2.3 Globalisation

Increased information access via the Internet will present global challenges of language, commerce, context and integrity. Already, information transfer and the Internet have significant social, financial and political implications.

Threats to language, traditions and cultural and value systems as the students assimilate global ways and become global citizens through contact with other cultures using the communication features associated with ICT.

These same communication channels allow the pervasive reach of big business to infiltrate an even larger percentage of the market. The role played by big business, such as Microsoft, Cisco, HP, Sun Microsystems, Intel, etc., who wield budgets in excess of numerous countries, could have a huge impact in trying to shape education. They have a responsibility to declare their social and moral obligations to the societies they sell their products to; but educational leaders will need to be proactive in moderating their influence.

Computer technology will have an impact on how we teach in the future. The rate at which computer technology is being adopted is staggering. For example China will have an additional 250,000,000 internet users in 3 years. To ignore its impact, while the rest of the world comes onboard, would mean to fall behind.

1.2.4 The Digital Divide

There are enormous variations in access to quality ICT. The digital divide is widening and linked directly to poverty and geography.

Access to ICT for all is an issue that educational leaders need to consider. The digital divide, between the rich and poor nations, could be narrowed or widened as ICT technology has the capability to do either. The result will rely to some extent on how educational leaders respond.

If properly utilised, ICT has the potential to close the gaps between literacy and numeracy levels globally in a short space of time.

The largest limitation to ICT access for our learners is cost, hardware, software, licensing and broadband transmission. This is linked directly to social and developmental contexts of the culture in question.

1.2.5 Notions of ICT Literacy Will Gain Currency

ICT literacy will impact on educational traditions. The new habits of young people, shaped by ICT, will need to be incorporated into how we teach and they learn. For example, the new way people read, process stimuli, etc., will shape how we present information, write text books and facilitate a lesson.

Just as we have issues of literacy and numeracy facing our young people, the concept of information literacy will gain increasing currency. We need to ensure that concepts of understanding, judgements, discrimination, and communication are applied to what is available through ICT.

Advantages

- Easy information access

- Many applications for everyone

Disadvantages

- Unsecured, and some information false

- Easy for fraudsters.

Television- Television is a method of sending and receiving visual and aural data. People also use CCTV (closed circuit television) to capture the aforementioned. TV has been used and advanced since the late 1930s.

Advantages

- Many attachments for it.

- Advanced and is a worldwide used product

Disadvantages

- Can be very pricey

- Peoples lives revolve around it.

iPod

iPods are MP3 players made by the computing company, Apple. They are much higher in price than other MP3s, possibly because of the brand and compatibility of the products. Now there are so many of this specific brand, from the 'nano shoots video' campaign advertising the new iPod Nano, to 'the funnest iPod ever', the new iPod touch with it's massive selection of games and applications.

Advantages

- Music on the go

- Many interactive features

Disadvantages

- iPods are associated with many road accidents

- Very expensive

Computers

Computers are machines that execute instructions upon command. They are are used by the masses and see the internet very often. This is a service that encompasses the globe, with billions of users. It is a very efficient way of sharing data. Computers require hardware (the circuit boards and equipment inside it) and software (the programs and operating systems, these are intangible) to run. There are many brands of hardware; Apple, Dell, Acer, Time.

There are also many brands and types of softwares; Apple's Snow Leopard OS, Microsoft's Windows 7 OS, Microsoft Office, Linux. Computers can be priced from around £200 pounds to £15,000. The Mac Pro with the best specifications is priced at £15,000.

Advantages

- Smaller data storage (Compared to papers etc.)

- New operating systems easier to navigate

Disadvantages

- If data is not backed up it may note be secure

- There are many compatibility issues with computers