ELPC Research Journal 1:
ICT in a Professional Context: the Potential Divide
Submission 1: The Pitfalls of ICT in the education system
The employment of ICT in the education system is an issue that divides the world, popularly termed, ‘the digital divide.’ (Ottawa, 2003) It has been coined this way simply because ICT creates a social and ethical divide, that is between rich and poor nations who are distinct in their internet resources, hardware and software capabilities, and even electricity. As a result, a vast void in e-literacy and e-learning between communities, cities, states, and even countries has the potential to evolve.
Secondly, for fluent and comprehensive ICT users, there are new legal issues that they, (and on a grander scale, institutions such as a school), will face. Hence, the education of copyright and innovation law and policy must be progressive and, “an issue that will require clarity.” (Ottawa 2003) if teachers and students are to remain safe and secure. Not only this, educational institutions and curriculums will also have to keep pace with this speedy ICT innovation, but realistically we must question, how feasible is this mission? The expense of time and money which will need to be invested in educating and retraining teachers in this new medium will be substantial, however more so than that, we cannot be assured that there will be an overall acceptance of this integration of ICT amongst the entire educational body.
A potential pitfall of employing ICT in teaching methods that struck me was the possibility that we face a loss of teacher individuality and the importance of the teacher role. This comes as a result of so much information being dispensed from a ‘centralized content vendor.’ (Ottawa 2003)
Finally, one aspect of the influence of ICT on young and developing minds was the impact of big businesses trying to shape e-education. This can be done by "overrunning major sectors of information websites" (Ottawa, 2003) to push their own agendas, and as a result, this could result in bias information being dispersed and thus ill-informed education ensuing. At the impressionable ages of high-school students we cannot assume they will have the analytical techniques to discriminate against falsified information.
Submission 2: The use and responsibility of introducing ICT
As a teacher, the decision to utilize ICT in a classroom environment carries intellectual, ethical and legal responsibilities. The teachers duty when introducing ICT into their classroom is to understand, address and define the relationship between technology and improved learning. We must be aware of evolving ICT literacy, that is the new way in which people read and process information, and how this will affect their learning. Similarly ICT will effect the ways in which we will access and present information and facilitate a lesson as teachers. The medium is beneficial to us, as we may conduct lessons utilising multimedia, track a students progress online, focus on the process of how a student might be carrying out an assessment task rather than their final product, and identify learning trends based on the nature of ICT.
However, whilst we are "facilitators" (Poore, 2011), we are also discriminators of information. Just as we have issues in literacy with students, we will have challenges with information literacy. Our job is to ensure that understanding, judgement, discrimination and communication are employed by our students. This is what we should be enforcing. It is our duty as teachers to know that, “The legitimacy of what comes across the internet needs to be observed with vigilance” (Ottawa 2003) - A possible global mission statement for teachers, and thus, “Educators must...strengthen choices, particularly on ethical issues, which impact on morality and cultural issues” (Schofield, 1995) as a result of this wider access of information.
Realistically, some teachers will be unwilling and inflexible in taking on the new technology. In my opinion, this compromises the entire concept of online learning, because as 'facilitators', we are there to support and guide a students journey through sources of information, and we should not be naive in denying this new medium of education. “To ignore .... the staggering rate of innovation in ICT would be to fall behind” (Yelland, 1999)
Submission 3: Advantages of ICT
The advantages of ICT as a method of expanding and exploring classroom learning are boundless. It would be foolish to neglect the opportunity of ICT to transform learning in and beyond the classroom. ICT transcends the limitations of teaching in a specified space and time. We may access vast amounts of information quickly, but can do so at various learning paces. The notion of putting a time-frame on a particular class becomes effectively redundant. Course material can be covered in various languages and teachers and students have the ability to locate the same material regardless of their location. Distance education and discussion are suddenly possible.
The "Faculty development Plan" discussed by Robert Fox, (Fox, 2003) stipulates that, "unless it is carefully integrated into the curriculum, accompanied by appropriate services, mechanisms, and professional development support," we are unlikely to see these benefits of ICT in student learning. He states that, "flexible learning" is essential in allowing this new medium to be inherited in a classroom environment. (Collis and Moonin, 2001), as cited in the "Faculty development Plan", support this notion of flexible learning. They elaborate to state that at the heart of this "pedagogical change" is the implementation of technology, and harnessing its power, "enhance teaching and learning." (Fox, 2003)
As previously suggested, in order for these benefits of ICT to be fulfilled, implementing Educator training institutions so that teachers have the appropriate computer skills in order to effectively exploit the technology are essential. As well as this, Legal education must run parallel to ICT education if we are to employ the world wide web as a dominant source of information.
Submission 4: Teachers opinions and Statistics
Research demonstrates that teachers are using the internet to learn, share and develop educational strategies and as an opportunity for collaboration. A 2010 Grunwald Associates Survey found that media based instruction with streaming and downloading content is surging (Grunwald, 2010). Teachers believe that digital media helps them to do their job more productively and that digital tools, such as laptops, have great educational potential. This is not exclusively for the students, teachers alike are networking online to collaborate and to share resources. The survey also found that teachers skills at integrating digital media in a professional context are increasing at an equal rate. To further investigate these results, Grunwald Associates are now looking at what financial contribution teachers are making themselves, particularly in schools with limited budgets, in order to support the new use of digital media and to promote their commitment to this method of teaching.
A PBS Survey conducted in January 2010, cited on blog site ‘Education Week’ (Ash, 2010), found that between 2008-2010 teachers using digital resources in k-12 classrooms rose from 69%-75%. Outside of the classroom, 80% of teachers use digital resources at least once a week (Ash, 2010). Concluding the PBS study, over 50% of teachers agreed that digital media is more effective in engaging and motivating students. (Ash, 2010)
These statistics demonstrate to me an overall integration of ICT in classroom and an acceptance of its positive effects on a learning environment. However I would seek to investigate more studies and statistics as these both came from a narrow and similar demographic and therefore are not entirely legitimate and cannot validate my statements substantially.
Submission 5: Concluding Judgement
Implementing ICT as a classroom tool has substantial qualities which could help and potentially hinder the learning experience. As a teacher and instructor of classroom activities we must question, “What can we realistically expect computer technology to contribute to the learning process” (Ottawa 2003) Teachers must discover the extent to which we can rely on the internet as a sole provider of
communication and information. In order to use the technology intelligently, we must not forget the ‘grass roots’ (Poore 2011) from which it has evolved in order to understand why it works in this social, economic and historical context. It is the teachers duty to elevate their students competancy of digital media from, functional literacy to networking literacy and ultimately to critical digital literacy. (Poore 2011) If this growth does not occur, in my opinion as a pre-service teacher, the technology is not being used intellectually. Ideally it would be desirable for every learner to be in the final strand of usage because that would mean we are using the environment at its most intellectual capacity.
If I may however, I would like to compare this to when I was at school. I could walk into the school library, filled with literary texts, and would expect the same variety of levels of engagement in this environment as well. Some people can locate books, some people read them and some people analyze, reflect on and create them. Essentially it is a very similar concept with the same conundrums. Perhaps those rejecting the medium of ICT are a simple case of being afraid of the unknown.
As stated previously, “To ignore .... the staggering rate of innovation in ICT would be to fall behind” (Yelland 1999), therefore it is the duty of the teacher, in order to offer the optimum education to their students to, at the very least, be educated in this new field of learning, even if they do not educationally or ethically agree with it. It is unfortunately a fair assumption that ICT will continue to be problematic as we can see "the new technology and old curriculum" (Poore, 2011) are not presently in sync.
References
1. Yelland, N. J. 1999. Reconceptualising schooling with technology for the 21st.
century: images and reflections. Information Technology in
Childhood Education Annual.(pp 39–59). Virginia: AACE.
2. Ash, K. 2010. PBS Survey: more teachers using digital media. http://blogs.edweek.org/
edweek/DigitalEducation/2010/01/more_teachers_embracing_techno.html, (Retrieved March
17th 2011)
3. Schofield, J. 1995. Computers, classroom and change. (pp. 190-228) Computers and
classroom culture. Cambridge University Press: Melbourne.
4. Grunwald associates. 2010. Educators, Technology and 21st Century Skills: Dispelling Five
Myths: A Study on the Connection Between K–12 Technology Use and 21st Century Skills.
http://grunwald.com/pdfs/Educators-Technology-21stCentury-Skills.pdf, (Retrieved March 18th
2011)
5. Swan, K. and M. Mitrani. 1993. The changing nature of teaching and learning in
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Education, 26(1), (pp. 40-54.)
6. Ottawa Council meeting. 2003. The role of ICT in learning. http://www.icponline.org/
index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86%3Athe-role-of-ict-in-
learning&catid=27%3Aeducation&Itemid=47&showall=1, (Retrieved March 5th 2011)
7.. Poore, M. (Personal communication, February 24th 2011)
8. Clark, R.E. 1983. Reconsidering Research on Learning from Media. Review of Educational
Research, (pp. 445-459.) University of Southern California
9. Fox R, Yuen A, Evers C, Lau H, & Deng L, (2003), Faculty Perceptions of ICT benefits. http://www.worldscibooks.com/etextbook/6258/6258_chap01.pdf, (Retrieved March 5th 2011)
