ARTICLE 5
Advantages
of Using ICT in Learning-Teaching Process
Information
and Communication Technologies (ICT) have recently gained a groundswell of
interest, becoming a significant research area for many scholars around the
globe. One of the reasons for this surge is that nature of ICT has greatly
changed the face of education. For most European countries, the use of ICT, in
education and training, has become a priority during the last decade; however,
very few have achieved progress. Indeed, only a small percentage of schools, in
a few countries, effectively used ICT to support and change the teaching and
learning process in diverse subject areas. Others are still in the early
phases of adopting ICT. Balanskat,
Blamire & Kefala (2006), conducted a study carried out in national,
international, and European schools, with the aim of gathering evidence
regarding the advantages and benefits of ICT in school achievements. The study
sought to measure the impact of ICT on student performance by trying to
establish a link between the use of ICT and students’ results in exams. The
findings are interesting. ICT has shown a positive impact on student
performance in primary school, particularly in English language, although the
effects are less significant in the sciences. Schools with higher levels
of e-maturity (E-maturity is demonstrated when students apply ICT in strategic
and discriminating ways, taking into consideration a balance of advantages and
alternatives.) show a rapid increase in performances in scores compared to
those with lower levels.
In
addition, schools with adequate ICT resources achieve better results than those
that are not so well-equipped. There appears to be a direct correlation to
well-appointed ICT schools and a significant improvement on learners’
performances. Finally, many teachers are convinced that educational
achievements of pupils are due to high ICT utilization. In fact, a high
percentage of teachers in Europe (86%), state that pupils are more motivated
when computers and the internet are being used in class.
Many
pupils consider ICT tools very helpful for completing assignments. Also,
teachers are attuned to the fact that ICT enables students with special needs
or difficulties to achieve and grow as well. ICT may also help to reduce
social disparities between pupils, since they work in teams in order to achieve
a given task or common goal. Additionally, students often assume more
responsibilities when they use ICT, such as organizing their work through
digital portfolios or projects. The study also showed that ICT has had a
significant impact on teachers and the teaching processes.
Government
interventions and training seminars have encouraged the use of ICT tools to
stimulate teachers. Indeed, an absolute majority of teachers in Europe
(90 %), claim to use ICT to complete tasks such as preparing lessons and
sequencing classroom activities. Therefore, by utilizing ICT, teachers
are able to plan their lessons more efficiently. ICT also helps teachers to
work in teams and share ideas related to their school’s curriculum. There is
also evidence that broadband (a form of high speed internet) and interactive
whiteboards play a central role in fostering teachers’ communications and help
to increase collaboration between educators.
The
ICT Test Bed Evaluation (Underwood 2006), provides evidence that many teachers
use ICT to support innovative education. The report states, “New technologies
that provide a good fit with existing practices, such as interactive
whiteboards, are first to be embedded, but others, like video conferencing,
digital video and virtual learning environments are now being incorporated,
providing evidence of ongoing learning by the workforce. Training needs to
continue to support innovative pedagogy.”
Both
of these examples show that ICT is continuously being integrated into the
traditional classroom setting. Therefore, ICT can improve teaching by enhancing
prior knowledge and introducing new ways of teaching and learning. Transforming
teaching is more difficult to achieve, “changes that take full advantage of ICT
will only happen slowly over time, and only if teachers continue to experiment
with new approaches.” (Underwood 2006) This evaluation came from a
teacher training seminar in Information and Technology (IT) during the
Information Technology Management Forum (ITMF) project. It demonstrates that
teachers have not fully adopted the use of ICT in education. However, many
educators continue to change their way of thinking about the application of ICT
in education and the learning process.
Accordingly,
although many teachers have increased their use of ICT in lessons where
students look for information on the internet and then use it afterwards for
subject specific areas, hardly any teachers use ICT for class presentations.
Furthermore, teachers do not use ICT to engage students more actively to
produce knowledge. Similarly, the e-learning Nordic 2006 study shows an
increase in the use of ICT to teach but not to innovate teaching methods,
stating, “ICT generally has a positive impact on teaching and learning
situations, but compared with the ideal expectations; the impact of ICT on
teaching and learning must still be considered to be limited.” (Ramboll, 2006).
Many
teachers use ICT to support traditional learning methods, for example,
information retrieval in which students are ‘passive learners of knowledge’
instead of ‘active producers, able to take part in the learning process.’ In a
document entitled Teaching and Learning with ICT, G. Galea (2002), it is
explained how ICT can promote teaching and learning. According to Galea, there
are two main reasons to increase the use of ICT in education in the United
Kingdom. First, ICT can change the lessons’ pace. She states that
children in modern society need to develop sufficient skills to take full
advantage of the new opportunities that ICT offers. Secondly, there is a
growing rise of academic interest in the UK, especially in how technological
tools can enhance the quality of teaching and learning in schools, and by doing
so, help learners to achieve better outcomes.
Edited
by Peter
“Clay” Smith.
