ICT Integration in Education

ICT Integration in Education 

Historically ICT has been emerging from the concepts of IT, meaning basically computers and communication technology, and digital data networks as the latest phase of development, but also TV, satellites, phone, etc. Due to a trend of merging different technologies (all technologies seem to merge together in one way or another), there was a reason to start speaking of ICT as opposed to IT . ICT captures all the latest technologies used for communication, data processing and data storage. However, what I hear in discussions is talk of computers: desktops, laptops, servers that are needed in schools. The internet is referred to, but the discussion is more about rolling out computers in each of the schools, for each of the teachers or for each of the children. So, what happened to ICTs?

IT and communication technologies have been used to solve two different problems in education. Computer based learning and teaching was developed to make learning more efficient and more interesting for learners. This addressed the problem of quality of education. A longer tradition of distance education exists. It began with very tangible communication technologies like letters, then it moved to audiovisual materials, TV and radio, and finally e-mail and web based learning. It solved the problem of accessibility to education. It brought education services to people who could not come to schools or educational institutions. However, it seems to me that in most of the discussions related to ICT integration in education the default meaning is computer based learning. This is quite problematic because one of the main problems globally is still accessibility to education. In ICT integration discussions we seldom refer to this problem. In the last OECD meeting the OECD researchers who were trying to explain the impact of ICT in Education in the light of recent research, did not refer to the issue of at all. They tried only to find out if the learning outcomes are different in ICT based education compared to the non ICT environment (in OECD countries). Isn’t it a pity, that even the research does not see the other impacts of ICT in education? Isn’t it a pity that in development discussions on ICT4E we rarely consider how we can create really inclusive education systems by using ICT? All we seem to think about and to discuss is how we can integrate ICT in classroom teaching and learning. Why are OLPCs, and those famous XOs (that so many claim help children to learn alone without a teacher) not sent to children that are unable to attend school? Instead, the idea seems to be to give an XO to every school child that already has a teacher.

Historically technology has been used to learn and to teach technology. We call it technology education. As we read in the previous paragraph, technology can be used also to learn other things. It seems to me that a lot of energy in discussions is used to debate and to promote one or another as a goal. Why can’t these two live together? At least theoretically speaking, the skills provided through a proper technology education seem to be those same skills that are provided through proper learning with ICT. They both include concepts of problem solving and innovation as well as collaboration. What also populates the ICT integration discussions is the concept of content in the form of digitalized books. It seems to me that the default concept of learning in ICT integration is when a learner learns by reading books from the screen of a computer, and then sits a test that demonstrates how MUCH she/he actually has learned. Isn’t it a shame that we are investing so much money and other resources in repeating the problems of face-to-face education, denoted by book-based memorizing for centuries? How much could we actually achieve, if we invested first in teachers, who actually are in a position to use ICT and other resources that may be available in creative and innovative ways? If children only read books from the computer screen there is no doubt that the OECD recommendation will be that there is no measurable difference between ICT based and face-to-face education.