ICT in Education and Its Usability

Various types of technologies have been used nowadays, be it in medicine, office works, communication, transportation, food-processing, education, etc. We rely too much on them on a daily basis, but it gives a lot of benefits like the convenience we experience while using them.

For teachers, is the use of technology in education enhance over time or have we just been following the trend of educational technology?

In an earlier time, the use of technology in education was been a debatable topic that everybody puts their opinion into it. In modernizing the education and integrating technology into classroom instruction, educational institutions embraced the use of it in the aim of improving in delivering instruction to their students.

The following are some of the advantages of using technology inside the classroom in different dimensions.

1.    The Effectiveness of ICT in Education

1.1 Access to remote learning resources. Teachers no longer depend so much on               printed textbooks and other learning materials in physical media present in the         library in preparing and doing the lesson. The internet now serves as a                     worldwide library in which details and information are vastly produced.

1.2     Anytime, anywhere. One excellent feature of ICTs is their ability to transcend time and space. ICTs make possible asynchronous learning or learning characterized by a time lag between the delivery of instruction and its reception by learners. Online course materials, for example, may be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. ICT-based educational delivery (e.g., educational programming broadcast over radio or television) also dispenses with the need for all learners and the instructor to be in one physical location.

 2.    General benefits

•     Greater efficiency throughout the school.
•      Communication channels are increased through email, discussion groups, and chat rooms
•      Regular use of ICT across different curriculum subjects can have a beneficial motivational        influence on students’ learning.

3.    Benefits for teachers

•      ICT facilitates sharing of resources, expertise, and advice.
•     Greater flexibility in when and where tasks are carried out.
•     Gains in ICT literacy skills, confidence, and enthusiasm.
•      Easier planning and preparation of lessons and designing materials
•      Access to the up-to-date pupil and school data, anytime and anywhere.
•   Students are generally more ‘on task’ and express more positive feelings when they use computers than when they are given other tasks to do

  4.    Benefits for student

•     Higher quality lessons through greater collaboration between teachers in planning and preparing resources
•    More focused teaching, tailored to students’ strengths and weaknesses, through better analysis of attainment data
•    Improved pastoral care and behavior management through better tracking of students 
•     Gains understanding and analytical skills, including improvements in reading comprehension
•    Development of writing skills (including spelling, grammar, punctuation, editing, and re- drafting), also fluency, originality, and elaboration
•      Encouragement of independent and active learning, and self-responsibility for learning.

· 5. Benefits for parents

•   Easier communication with teachers
•  Higher quality student reports – more legible, more detailed, better                     presented
• Greater access to more accurate attendance and attainment information
• Increased involvement in education for parents and, in some cases, improved       self-esteem
• Increased knowledge of children’s learning and capabilities, owing to increase in learning          activity being situated in the home
• You will see that ICT can have a positive impact across a very wide range of aspects of school life.

In the sophisticated world of technologies, it is a mere requirement that teachers must possess the necessary skills in delivering classroom instruction with the use of recent gadgets and technologies available now. Though it seems to be impossible in most public schools in our country, it is now on the teacher’s part on how resourceful he or she can be in doing innovation to the available resources that can be used in facilitating and promoting quality and efficient learning towards his or her students. While to some teachers, this kind of method seems to overlay on what is the usual way of teaching since the integration of technology does not only applicable to an ICT teacher but to all teachers. Hence, a 21st Century learner needs a 21st teacher as well to cater the needs of the millennials. 

Reference 

Saxena, W. B. (2013, October 08). How Important is use of Technology in          Education. Retrieved August 29, 2017, from                                                http://edtechreview.in/news/681-technology-in-education