corporate diary
ICT in School Education The Knowledge-based Society We are moving from an industrial society towards what is widely termed a ‘knowledge-based society’. This requires our asking questions such as ‘What will the labour force requirements of the future be?’ and ‘What do people need to know and learn to function in and contribute effectively to society?’ Widespread diffusion of ICT in society gives rise to the need for acquiring new digital competences and ICT skills. National Curriculum Framework (2005) states ‘Integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into schooling needs serious consideration. Teachers, educators, curriculum developers, evaluators and others will have to redefine their roles to tackle ICT rich environment and harness its full potential for the benefit of learners.’
Factors Influencing Effective Use of ICT Research has shown that in order to integrate ICT effectively in the classroom
teachers will need to appreciate that use of ICT may require a new approach to pedagogy, lesson planning and the curriculum. They will have to understand the relationship between a range of ICT resources and the concepts, processes, and skills in their subject. Teachers will have to use their subject expertise to select appropriate ICT resources which will help them meet specific learning objectives. The teachers will have to develop confidence in using a range of ICT resources and also know how to prepare and plan lessons where ICT is used in ways which will challenge pupils’ understanding and promote greater thinking and reflection. For many educators, in the future, ICT will enable learning that takes place anywhere, anytime and anyhow. Research has shown that ICT can stimulate and motivate students’ appetite for learning. A challenge for many schools is to move from using ICT as a supplemental, additional, ‘bolt-on’ device to an integrated part of lessons and of pedagogy. Evidence shows that when teachers use their
Trends and challenges affecting future learning in the knowledge-based society Technological trends • Broadband internet access that is becoming widespread • Major use of Web logging, Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Message Service (MMS) to connect people socially • Rise of pod casting (both audio and video) provides huge opportunities for mobile learning • The availability and use of open source software and open source content (e.g. Wikipedia) • Infrastructure convergence (integrating broadcast, phone, data and other networks) • Rise of alternative wireless technologies (e.g. Wifi and WiMax) • Content/media convergence (newspapers, music, TV, blogs etc.) • Multi-modal devices (e.g. smart phones and tablets: pictures, email, movies, play radio and phone in a single device)
A vision of future learning • Schools will remain at the heart of the learning process • Teachers and learners may not necessarily be in classrooms • Mobile learning will become more commonplace • Animations and simulations will encourage the development of cognitive and social skills • The lecture-based mode of teaching will become just one of several modes • Teachers in the future will make even more use of ICT for professional activities
knowledge both of the subject and also of how pupils understand the subject, their use of ICT has a more direct effect on pupils’ attainment. We must also realise that student access to all sorts of information is a changing the relationship between students and teacher. A major part of effective use of ICT lies in the planning, preparation and follow-up of lessons, and in particular the pedagogical thinking that links teaching style, the selection of resources, the activities and the learning objectives. There is a need to look at ways of using ICT as part of a new ‘transformative’ pedagogy of teaching and learning rather than to merely access existing information and knowledge. I would like to conclude by saying that technology in our schools is still very new, and more needs to be done to determine exactly what students of 21st century will need to learn.\\ About the Author
Sociological trends • An increase in immigration • Geographic mobility • Career breaks • Flexible working hours • More knowledge intensive jobs • Life-long learning • Demise of the ‘Job for Life’ – career paths will diversify and become more transitory, fluid and dynamic
Amit Gupta CEO S Chand Group
digital LEARNING
JANUARY 2011
37