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Stages of Integrating ICT in Education

In an international symposium on "Emerging Trends in ICT Education" held recently in Manila, Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education (CPSC) director general Shyamal Majumdar stated that there at least four stages of integrating ICT in education: emerging, applying, infusing and transforming.1

Emerging Stage

Majumdar explained that it is in the emerging stage where teachers become aware of the potentials of ICT in education.

Breaking away from traditional teaching practices can be a challenge for teachers, especially when they themselves find it difficult to access and use new tools, like ICT tools, in teaching and even in their everyday lives.

To be able to realize the power of ICT in transforming classrooms into an innovative, learner-centered, and constructive learning environment, a teacher in the information age must evolve and undergo the process of un-learning and re-learning.

Application Stage

In the application stage, teachers learn how to use ICT tools for teaching and learning, explains Majumdar.

In a keynote paper entitled “Using ICT as a Subject, Tool for Curriculum and Co-curricular Resource” presented in the 7th Annual UNESCO-ACEID International Conference, speaker Dr. Kar Tin Lee discussed the need for teachers to “perceive ICT as primarily a tool for teaching and learning across the curriculum.”

Aside from learning basic computing and ICT skills, teachers must also learn how to:2

  • emphasize content and pedagogy not the level of sophistication with hardware and technical skills;
  • engage students in meaningful and relevant learning;
  • allow students to construct knowledge;
  • bring exciting curricula into the classroom;
  • integrate technology into the curriculum and devise alternative ways of assessing student work;
  • adapt to a variety of student learning styles to cater to individual learning differences; and
  • continuously expand and welcome further opportunities for teacher learning.

Infusing Stage

In infusing ICT into the curriculum, the curriculum must be re-designed so that it will be ready for the changes that ICT can bring about to the learning environment.

A paradigm shift for education officials, policymakers, school officials, and teachers is a key to redesigning a learning environment. Dr. Kar Tin Lee presented the paradigm shift table below:

From

To

Objectivist learning theory

Constructivist learning theory

Teacher-d

Student-d

Teacher as expert, information giver

Teacher as facilitator, coach, guide

Teacher as knowledge transmitter

Learner as knowledge constructor

Teacher in control

Learner in control

Focus on whole classroom teaching

Focus on individual and group learning

Transforming Stage

The transforming stage, Mujamdar explains, involves the “development of new ways of teaching and learning using ICT to explore real-world problems through innovative learning.”3

In his paper, Lee also explained that classrooms which will adopt a fully integrated technology will consequently experience the following changes:4

  • From whole class to small-group instruction;
  • From lecture and recitation to coaching (teacher’s role from ‘sage on the stage’ to ‘guide on the side’);
  • From working with better students to working with weaker students, facilitated by student-directed learning;
  • Toward more engaged students;
  • From assessment based on test performance to assessment based on products, progress and effort;
  • From a competitive to a cooperative social structure;
  • From all students learning the same things to different students learning different things; and
  • From the primacy of verbal thinking to the integration of visual and verbal thinking, with organizational, artistic, leadership and other skills contributing valuably to group projects.

ICT Tools and ICT Education

Majumdar emphasized that providing ICT tools to teachers does not necessarily mean that ICT education is applied. "We should emphasize the pedagogical process in ICT education. Sometimes, ICT education is confused with ICT tools,” added Majumdar in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

In reality, the Philippines’ education system still has a long and arduous road to take in order to provide the Filipino youth a competitive, ICT-rich learning environment. Yet, constantly motivated by the desire to provide a rich, exciting, and motivating learning environment for his students, a Filipino teacher can definitely re-shape the country’s education one classroom at a time.

Sources:

1May 30, 2008. Erwin Oliva. ” Don’t confuse ICT education with ICT tools—educators” Inquirer.net. Retrieved June 27, 2008 from http://archive.inquirer.net/view.php?db=1&story_id=139788
2-4December 2001. Kar Tin Lee. “Using ICT as a Subject, Tool for Curriculum, and Co-curricular Resource.” Using ICT for Quality Teaching, Learning and Effective Management. UNESCO-ACEID. Retrieved June 27, 2008 from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001285/128513eo.pdf

(Published 30 June 2008, Smart Communications, Inc.)