Information And Communication Technology In Education †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Information And Communication Technology In Education. Answer: Introduction This is known as the virtual age and Information and communication technology or ICT is the process by which individuals, organizations or government run in the virtual world. It is the system by which information is processed, analyzed and sorted so that the end user gets the information they are looking for (Martnez-Caro, Cegarra-Navarro and Cepeda-Carrin 2015). Communication is a process using medium to give or take information in order to express ideas, emotions, basic information etc. ICT is an amalgamation of audiovisual networks, applications or devices that helps individuals, governments or organizations to interact with one another (Morgado et al. 2014). The tools that are used in ICT are a dynamic and ever changing or upgrading itself. Starting from traditional transistors and radio to the progressive technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics. ICT is regularly used for the advancement of socio-economic development, interpersonal communication and also intrapersonal communication at times. ICT has now enabled an individual to be connected to the rest of the world with just a click (Clark and Mayer 2016). The advancement of technology and modern medium has drastically changed the life of everyone. Social media is the new calling of the millennial people lead their life on social media. As it is so impactful and so diverse in nature ICT should be used consciously by everyone. It is impossible to predict or to even realize the reach and the ultimate boundaries of information technology (en.unesco.org 2017). Literature Review According to Das and Das (2015), ICT has set a new paradigm and benchmark in the education system in the recent times. It has made the learning process less monotonous and more dynamic there is a plethora of medium that are available. There is a large shortage of trained and skilled teachers, thanks to ICT there are now provisions of online classes which facilitates whiteboard collaboration along with sharing the content with pupils across the world. It is of the new parameters of quality education that is taken into consideration by parents when they admit their child to an A league school or college. The present generation is growing up surrounded with information technology hence it is much easier for this generation to imbibe the e-learning technicalities. In compared to the traditional learning process ICT has enable teachers to engage children better and have given them a wider view of the subjects. It facilitates communicative learning process. Das and Das (2015) has discussed about blended learning and how growth of ICT in the education sector is going to elevate the procedure of distance learning program. In colleges and places of higher education ICT has a special role to play as it is enabling to remove the stigma associated to distance education, rather the technologies available is making it possible to teach various subjects and offer a lot more flexibility in the course curriculum. In the report they have also pointed out the difficulties that are being faced by the digitalization of classrooms. The biggest confrontation that has been observed is from the teachers as they tend to believe in the misconception that technology is going to replace teachers in the future. The authors call this a misconception because there is already a scarcity of skilled teachers around the world and the technology is only to help the teachers in the communication process. It is not a replacement but is only a helping hand. Rather it is the other way around where the technology is dependent on the teacher for the better understanding of the pupils. Another issue with the technology that is discussed is the lack of training among the teachers. Most teachers cannot use the technology at disposal to its full capability. Tough teachers from UK, US, Japan and Australia are comparatively more enthusiastic than other countries where the resources are available. E-learning plan Teaching is a profession that has been practiced from a long time. The student-teacher equation changes as the student grows up. In many cultural teachers are regarded above parents it is a profession to be respected and cultivated. Spreading knowledge requires skills, not everyone who is an expert in a subject has the ability to impart the knowledge. First of all it is important to understand that by learning people perceive the conventional classroom teaching. In order to cultivate the e-learning system what is important is a proper training for the teachers to enable them to use the facilities to its full capacity (Balta and Duran 2015). Dedicated time should be allotted to every teacher in the institution to learn the technicalities of using digital media to teach children. Based on the subject expertise of the teacher the training session should be held. Because teaching math is a lot different form teaching history even in the digital space (Cherner, Dix and Lee 2014). The idea of teachers being replaced by technology should be wiped out and the teachers should learn to use the technology at disposal to enhance their teaching abilities and make the student understand better. Some of the tools which can be used in the teaching medium are: Interactive whiteboard It is an expensive installation but one of the most widely used ICT components. It is a device more like a white board which can be attached to a laptop or a tablet. The elements can be moved and change places according to the need of the teacher, so that it is easy to explain it to the children. One of the most innovate feature of this board is that it can also work as the traditional black board where the teacher writes to explain (Mangano et al. 2014). Here the instructor can not only write but this text can be saved as a document. So after erasing the text from the board the information is not lost. This is very helpful, in case of young kids most of the time it is a problem that they cannot keep up with the pace of the teacher and miss out bits and pieces of the notes that the teacher is putting up on the board (Surjono 2014). After installing the board every teacher should receive a through training for at least 10 days to learn the optimum utility of the device. If it is used creatively it can prove useful, informative, fun and also interactive. This should training period should take place while there is a long vacation for the students, so that it doesnt hamper the curriculum of the students. It is also important to incorporate the e-learning method from a fresh academic session instead of implementing it mid-way. Students may get confused and may not behave positively (bbcactive.com 2017). Though this is an expensive installation, it can also be deemed as cost effective because a fully equipped IT classroom is way more expensive than a whiteboard. Audiovisual Audiovisual medium has grown in leaps and bounces with the advancement of technology. Technologies which are available to create audio or visual elements are also becoming less expensive and are widely used by common people. The availability of these audios or videos is also just a click away. If a lecture is accompanied by an audio or visual clip of the relevant subject then it is much easier for the student to grasp the concept and remember it. This is where the usage of the white board is also important. It is much more effective as it binds the knowledge that the lecturer is trying to impart (De-Marcos et al. 2014). Social Media Social media is a revolutionary invention of this century, people from all over the word with an internet connection is connected to one another with a string. This is a set up ideal for distance education and learning purposes. This is mostly advisable for higher education, for students who are willing to learn and put that extra effort. Google plus or Google hangout is a popular platform and is being widely used for educational purposes. Seminars are held and participants from around the world are welcome to join. A seminar can also include a guest lecturer from another part of the world to the platform without being physically present through Skype or any other such medium (Hirsh-Pasek et al. 2015). Google Classroom There are many free applications which can be used by students and educators for learning purposes but Google has come up with one exclusive application which is custom built for the purpose of teaching. It is effective and saves a lot of precious time of teachers and students it allows submission of paper less assignments and notes. Circulation of notes is also easy as it automatically programmed to create folders and slip in the notes through Google drive. It allows the student to work in an organized way and keep track of the curriculum and assignments that are due (nytimes.com 2017). Conclusion The difference between an animal and a human being is the presence of a conscious mind with which we have the ability to learn and adapt to the change and upgrade ourselves to live in a society. Knowledge is precious it empowers an individual to live a life of wellbeing. Hence teachers play an important role in the lives of every individual from a very young age. With the advancement of technology now there are several ways with which we can learn more easily. ICT like any other sphere of life has also changed the education system worldwide. Many argue that the traditional way is the most effective teaching method but it is this is a subjective behavior. It depends up on the circumstances, the subject and the person who is teaching along with many other circumstances. References Balta, N. and Duran, M., 2015. Attitudes of students and teachers towards the use of interactive whiteboards in elementary and secondary school classrooms.TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology,14(2). bbcactive.com. 2017.Interactive Whiteboard. [online] Available at: https://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/Whatisaninteractivewhiteboard.aspx [Accessed 27 Jul. 2017]. Cherner, T., Dix, J. and Lee, C., 2014. Cleaning up that mess: A framework for classifying educational apps.Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education,14(2), pp.158-193. Clark, R.C. and Mayer, R.E., 2016.E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. John Wiley Sons. De-Marcos, L., Domnguez, A., Saenz-de-Navarrete, J. and Pags, C., 2014. An empirical study comparing gamification and social networking on e-learning.Computers Education,75, pp.82-91. en.unesco.org. 2017.Education. [online] Available at: https://en.unesco.org/themes/ict-education [Accessed 26 Jul. 2017]. Hirsh-Pasek, K., Zosh, J.M., Golinkoff, R.M., Gray, J.H., Robb, M.B. and Kaufman, J., 2015. Putting education in educational apps: lessons from the science of learning.Psychological Science in the Public Interest,16(1), pp.3-34. Mangano, N., LaToza, T.D., Petre, M. and van der Hoek, A., 2014, April. Supporting informal design with interactive whiteboards. InProceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(pp. 331-340). ACM. Martnez-Caro, E., Cegarra-Navarro, J.G. and Cepeda-Carrin, G., 2015. An application of the performance-evaluation model for e-learning quality in higher education.TotalQuality Management Business Excellence,26(5-6), pp.632-647. Morgado, E.M.M., Ortuo, R.A.C., Yang, L.L. and Ferreras-Fernndez, T., 2014. Adaptation of Descriptive Metadata for Managing Educational Resources in the GREDOS Repository.International Journal ofKnowledge Management (IJKM),10(4), pp.50-72. nytimes.com. 2017.How Google Took Over the Classroom. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/13/technology/google-education-chromebooks-schools.html [Accessed 27 Jul. 2017]. Surjono, H.D., 2014. The evaluation of a moodle based adaptive e-learning system.International Journal of Information and Education Technology,4(1), p.89.