Budget 2014 and Textile Sector

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL BASES OF IMPLOYING ICT IN EDUCATION

Submitted To:

Submitted By:Pallavi Jha

CONCEPT, NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF ICT IN EDUCATION:

Globalization and technological changes have created a new global economy powered by technology, fueled by information and driven by knowledge. The emergence of this new global economy has serious implications for the nature and purpose of educational institutions. As the access to information continues to grow rapidly, schools cannot be contented with the limited knowledge to be transmitted in a fixed period of time. They have to become compatible to the ever expanding knowledge and also be equipped with the technology to deal with this knowledge. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) which include radio and television, as well as newer digital technologies such as computers and the Internet have been proven as potentially powerful tools for educational change and reform. When used appropriately, different ICTs can help expand access to education, strengthen the relevance of education to the increasingly digital workplace, and raise educational quality by helping make teaching and learning into an active process connected to real life.ICT stand for information and communication technologies and is defined, as a "diverse set of technological tools and resources used to communicate, and to create, disseminate, store, and manage information. These technologies include computers, the Internet, broadcasting technologies (radio and television), and telephony. ICT in education is any educational technology that is applied in the educational process. It encompasses Hardware approach like use of machines and materials, Software approach like use of methodologies and strategies of teaching learning and Systems approach that uses the management technology that deals with the systematic organization of the hardware and the software. Different software packages for the use in different department of education; e.g. library software, administration software, software related to managing the entire teaching learning process.

IMPORTANCE OF ICT IN EDUCATION Quick access to information Easy availability of updated data Connecting Geographically dispersed regions Catering to the Individual differences Wider range of communication media Wider learning opportunities for pupils

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYInformation Technology is a scientific, technological and engineerning discipline and management technique used in handing the information, its application and association with social, economical and cultural matters. It is a systemic study of artifacts that can be used to give form to facts in order to provide meaning for decision making, and artifacts that can be used for organization, processing, communication and application of information.Information Technology has the following characteristics :* Acquistion, Storage, manipulation, management, transmission or reception of data or information.* Real time access to information.* Easy availability of updated data* Connecting Geographically dispersed regions* Wider range of communication media.

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGYCommunication Technology implies the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to exchange information verbally or non- verbally. It is processing of information in terms of accessing information, decoding information and sending it via a medium and changer to the receivers. Medium or channel can be written or oral or gesture form of information through speech, action or any electronic machine. It facilitates communication between individuals or groups. Who are not physically present at the same location. Systems such as telephone, telex, Fax, radio, T.V. and Video are included, as well as more recent computer based technologies, including electronic data interchange and e-mail. In short, communication technology is the activity of designing and constructing and maintaining communication systems.

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGYEducational technology(also calledlearning technology) is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources."[1] The term educational technology is often associated with, and encompasses,instructional theoryandlearning theory. Educational technology includes systems used in the process of developing human capability. Educational Technology includes, but is not limited to, software, hardware, as well as Internet applications and activities. The interaction of physical sciences with education provides us with traditional aids, tools and hardwares such as paper, ink, books, radios, lin-guaphones, films, etc. and more sophisticated modern hardware like electronic computers, space satellites, language laboratories etc.

CHALLENGES IN INTEGRATING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN SCHOOL EDUCATION:

Although valuable lessons may be learned from best practices around the world, there is no one formula for determining the optimal level of ICTs integration in the education system. The concerns such as who will manage this process of ICTs integration in education develop policy guidelines and strategies. There are significant challenges in integrating ICTs use in education rising from environmental, cultural and educational faced by policy makers, educators, educational administrators and students in higher education.

ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES:People are expected to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to; this in developing world this still not possible. A countrys educational technology infrastructure sits on top of national telecommunications and information technology infrastructures. There is a limited regional infrastructure for the full ICTs integration in education. It is very important for policymakers and planners before any ICT implementation in education to carefully consider the following: Appropriate rooms or buildings available to house the technology. In countries where they are many old buildings, ensure proper electrically wiring, heating/cooling and ventilation and also security and safety will be needed. Availability of electricity and telephony in most developing countries where there still large areas without a reliable supply of electricity and the nearest telephones are miles away. Policymakers should also look at the ubiquity of different types of ICT in the country in general and in the educational system in particular.

CULTURAL CHALLENGES:Diversities of culture in different part of the world are also challenges in introducing ICT in education. English is the dominant language of the internet. Research has shown that an estimation of 80% of online content is in English. A large proportion of educational software produced in the world market is in English also. In most countries where English is not the first language this represents a serious barrier in integrating ICTs use in education system. Using the example of India and Pakistan, the majority all the websites in the world are in English. This situation limits the information access for some people who has lack or no ability in English language. Similar to the situation in South Africa , where students multilingualism background causes a major challenge in the role of ICTs in South African higher education system.

EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES:One of the greatest challenges in ICT integration in education is balancing educational goals with economic realities. ICTs in education require large capital investments. Due to financial difficulties, government in some part of the world specially developing countries priority is the rehabilitation of school buildings and teacher welfare. ICT for education on the other hand has not yet been considered a priority. In term of human resources, the constraints are due to the lack of trained teaching manpower and lack of motivation among educators to adopt and integrate ICT as a tool into their teaching or educational curriculum. Extra effort and time involve in the use of ICTs in education. In some part of the world due to educational background generally there is lack preparedness for students entering higher education in the knowledge and skills required for the basic use of technologies. Still in educational, learning challenges arise in the delivery methods of using ICTs (online-based, blended etc.), content not adapted to the technology and context, limited interaction between students and educators.

DALES CONE OF EXPERIENCE:

The Cone was originally developed by Edgar Dale in 1946 and was intended as a way to describe various learning experiences. The diagram presented to the right (Raymond S. Pastore, Ph.D) is a modification of Dales original Cone; the percentages given relate to how much people remember and is a recent modification. Essentially, the Cone shows the progression of experiences from the most concrete (at the bottom of the cone) to the most abstract (at the top of the cone). It is important to note that Dale never intended the Cone to depict a value judgment of experiences; in other words, his argument was not that more concrete experiences were better than more abstract ones. Dale believed that any and all of the approaches could and should be used, depending on the needs of the learner.

The figure above shows what students will be able to do at each level of the Cone (the learning outcomes they will be able to achieve) relative to the type of activity they are doing (reading, hearing, viewing images, etc.). The numerical figures on the left side of the image, what people will generally remember, indicate that practical, hands-on experience in a real-life context will allow students to remember best what they do. Again, it is important to remember that this doesnt mean reading and listening are not valuable learning experiences, simply that doing the real thing can lead to the retention of the largest amount of information. This is in part because those experiences near the bottom of the Cone, closer to and including real-world experiences, make use of more of our senses; it is believed that the more senses that are used, the greater our ability to learn from and remember an event or experience.

MULTISENSORY INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH:

Multisensory techniques are frequently used for children with learning differences. Studies from the National Institute of Child Health and Human development (United States of America) have shown that for children with difficulties in learning to read, a multisensory teaching method is the most effective teaching method.

Multisensory teaching techniques and strategies stimulate learning by engaging students on multiple levels. They encourage students to use some or all their senses to: Gather information about a task Link information to ideas they already know and understand Perceive the logic involved in solving problems Learn problem solving tasks Tap into nonverbal reasoning skills Understand relationships between concepts Store information and store it for later recallUsing a multisensory teaching technique means helping a child to learn through more than one sense. Most teaching techniques are done using either sight or hearing (visual or auditory). The childs sight is used in reading information, looking at text, pictures or reading information based from the board. The hearing sense is used to listen to what the teacher says. The childs vision may be affected by difficulties with tracking or visual processing. Sometimes the childs auditory processing may be weak. The solution for these difficulties is to involve the use of more of the childs senses, especially the use of touch (tactile) and movement (kinetic). This will help the childs brain to develop tactile and kinetic memories to hang on to, as well as the auditory and visual ones.Students with learning difficulties typically have difficulties in one or more areas of reading, spelling, writing, math, listening comprehension and expressive language. Multisensory techniques enable students to use their personal areas of strength to help them learn. They can range from simple to complex, depending on the needs of the student and the task at hand.

CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH:

Constructivist teachingis based onconstructivist learning theory. Constructivist teaching is based on the belief that learning occurs as learners are actively involved in a process of meaning and knowledge construction as opposed to passively receiving information. Learners are the makers of meaning and knowledge. Constructivist teaching fosters critical thinking, and creates motivated and independent learners. This theoretical framework holds that learning always builds upon knowledge that a student already knows; this prior knowledge is called aschema. Because all learning is filtered through pre-existing schemata, constructivists suggest that learning is more effective when a student is actively engaged in the learning process rather than attempting to receive knowledge passively. A wide variety of methods claim to be based on constructivist learning theory. Most of these methods rely on some form of guided discovery where the teacher avoids most direct instruction and attempts to lead the student through questions and activities to discover, discuss, appreciate, and verbalize the new knowledge.One of the primary goals of using constructivist teaching is that students learn how to learn by giving them the training to take initiative for their own learning experiences.According to Audrey Gray, the characteristics of a constructivist classroom are as follows: the learners are actively involved the environment is democratic the activities are interactive and student-centered the teacher facilitates a process of learning in which students are encouraged to be responsible and autonomous

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