Transcript 1298633216Development of Education Media and Technology in

Development of Education Media
and Technology in Education
Ameir M. Makame
Technology use in education
• Educators nearly everywhere have long looked to the
emerging media and technology of their time to improve
the delivery of instruction in the classroom and to help
them reach students (and teachers) in remote locations.
• In the early days of media and technology use, the focus
was on the delivery of direct instruction (e.g. radio,
interactive radio, instructional television).
• Instructional technologies widely used for this purpose in
low-income countries include the use of programmed
instruction, the distribution of lessons on audiotape, the
use of duplicating and photocopy machines to prepare
learning aids, and television broadcasts of lessons at
times that coincide with the school teaching schedule.
Technology use in education…
• Newer technology-based instructional strategies,
incorporating the Internet and the World Wide Web
(www), are used more to expand communication and
increase access to resources.
• These new technologies represent a significant change
in the teacher’s role in the instructional process.
• Whereas earlier technologies provided teachers primarily
with a tool for continuing to teach in the manner they
were already teaching (though presumably more
efficiently), technologies such as e-mail and Internet tend
to push teachers toward fundamentally different ways of
teaching.
Technology use in education…
• Depending on how they are used, these
techniques shift more responsibility to the
students to seek out information and
interact with people at other locations.
• For most part, they tend to encourage
more student-centered learning.
The path from Technology to
Education
• All major developments in the transmission of images
and in the development of computers, videotapes, CDROMs, interactive TV and the Internet took place in
industrialised countries.
• Therefore, it should be no surprise that the first
educational uses of these technologies also took place in
the industrialised countries, and in particular in the
United States (Moura Castro, 2004).
• Since these developments occurred in the US and
Europe, these countries had mature systems of
education, compared to Third World countries. Children
in these countries had long had access to properly
qualified teachers and these countries were already
spending abundant amounts of money on high-cost
education.
The path from Technology to
Education…
• The first uses of both computers and TV tended
to mimic teachers.
• The initial batch of tutorial software and the more
widespread use of “drill and practice”
programmes used machines to repeat what
teachers did in conventional classrooms.they
taught simple skills and concepts, such as
spelling and multiplication tables.
• Educational TV used teachers infront of the
camera, teaching classes just as they would in
conventional classroom situations.
The path from Technology to
Education…
• Soon computers were being put to more imaginative
use.
• Ther turtle that moved around on the screen was seen
as a means to teach programming algorithms.
• LOGO became a landmark in the use of computers to
develop higher-order learning.
• Simulations and animation offer endless potential to
make students understand theoretical principles.
• From graphic models of the solar system to a vaast
range of chapters on physics, inference statistics, or the
Electronic Workbench, a computer can explain scientific
abstractions.
The path from Technology to
Education…
• Word processors offer a new path to writing.
• Spell checkers have changed the rules in the art
of spelling words.
• None of this was planned (Moura Castro, 2004).
• At first disdained by computer analysts, and
against all expectations, word processing has
become the number one use of computers in
education.
The path from Technology to
Education…
• As time went by and machines grew in performance, the
use o computers has become increasingly sophisticated.
• Following the approach recently termed “constructivism”,
computers are being proposed as tools to explore the
world.
• This maybe via computers equipped with sensors as
data-gathering devices, or via databases.
• Whatever the tool, students are urged to research,
explore and express themselves in ways that are not as
practical or powerful using more conventional means.
The path from Technology to
Education…
• The emergence of Internet brought together
another wave of innovation and enthusiasm in
computer use.
• From early experiments in connecting schools to
the Dhow Jones databases, to the cacophony of
present day websites, the possibilities are mindboggling.
• As the apostles for such uses increase, some
are now becoming the teachers of those who
come from less affluent countries and return to
them after graduation (Moura Castro, 2004).
Online resources used within
education system
1. The most common use is in direct instruction.
• Lessons developed in one location can be
broadcast via radio or television or made
available through e-mail or the World Wide
Web for use by students (individually or in
groups) in other locations.
• This is especially important in countries in
which large segments of the teaching force are
under-qualified for the grades they expected to
teach.
Online resources used within
education system…
2. Teachers can use online searches to find and
access resource materials that are then used
in the teachers’ own lesson preparation. For
example, teachers might locate maps and fast
sheets about countries being in social in social
studies class.
3. Teachers can use the web to access
curriculum and instructional guides for their
own use. For example teachers may access
instructions on how to lead a class in the
dissection of a frog in biology.
Online resources used within
education system…
4. Students can use the web to find and retrieve
information they can use in their won class
research projects. In some schools, allowing
students to use school computers for
independent study is used as a way to
motivate and reward good students.
5. Some teachers use web-based chat rooms
and online communications technology to
connect two or more classrooms in different
parts of the world. Students from different
locations can ask and answer questions from
those at the other locations.
Online resources used within
education system…
6. Teachers can have their lessons broadcast to
multiple classrooms simultaneously.
• This is already widely used in higher education
as a means of offering courses in lowenrolment subject areas
• In secondary education this allows students in
remote locations to have direct interaction with
teachers at a central location.
Online resources used within
education system…
7. Technology-based instruction is used in
many countries as a means of delivering
in-service teacher education.
• Teachers need not leave their teaching
posts to participate in professional
development activities.
Resistance to the Use of newer
Technologies
• Limitations of infrastructure and finances
effectively bar some countries from participating
in this electronic revolution.
• In other countries, education and government
leaders have legitimate concerns about the cost,
the efficacy, and the feasibility of using
communication technologies in their education
systems.
• More specifically, developing countries face 4
main problems:
Resistance to the Use of newer
Technologies…
1. Access is expensive
• the cost of internet access is still high for
many developing countries.
• Internet connections available at the
school or school cluster level will be a
central problem.
• Meaningful use of the Internet in the
instructional process will require new
curriculum and new training for teachers.
Resistance to the Use of newer
Technologies….
2. Ensuring equity of access is difficult
• There are disparities among those who could
obtain quality education would widen since the
electronic communication serves the rich and
influential.
• Ensuring that easy access to world information
and to electronic instruction are widely
available to students and all social and
economic backgrounds will be a challenge for
educational planners in the next decade
(Chapman et al, 2004).
Resistance to the Use of newer
Technologies…
3. Retraining teachers to use new technologies is
complicated and costly.
• Most teachers in the developing world lack the
technical skills, the content background, and
the language capacity to effectively utilize the
world wide web including in classroom
instruction.
• Teachers often lack the pedagogical skills to
know how to most effectively use the powerful
information tool in their classroom.
Resistance to the Use of newer
Technologies…
4. Inappropriate content poses a problem
• Some countries resist introducing widespread
Internet access from a fear that it will have a
negative impact on local culture or be used in
ways that undermine national authority.
• A central concern is children’s access to
pornography.
• Some government are also concerned about
political (unacceptable ideological positions)
and social content.
References
1. Chapman, D. and Lars O. Mahlck.
(eds).(2004). Adapting Technology for
School improvement. Paris: International
Institute for Educational Planning.
UNESCO.