ICT Usage at My School

In examining the main institution at which I teach, it appears that there is little integration of ICT in the general day-to-day instruction of most classes.  

The school possesses a computer lab that is primarily used for the delivery of Information Technology courses to the various forms.  My observations suggest that the use of computers at this institution primarily satisfies Rationale #2 of the extract from Applying New Technologies and Cost-Effective Delivery Systems in Basic Education (World Economic Forum, Dakar 2000).  The basis of this rational is to equip students with basic computer skills so that they would not fall behind the technology curve and would instead be able to take advantage of the opportunities which may come their way from a technological perspective.

Outside of the IT Lab, students have no other access points to computers set up by the institution.  However, there are many students who own laptops that were provided through a Government initiative.  These laptops appear to have had very little practical use in the classroom, based on my observation over the past six months that I have worked there.  They are used largely as gaming devices.  

As indicated in my opening, ICT seems to have little if any integration in the classroom.  The reasons for this may be several-fold:

1. While there are many students who own laptops, there are still many more who do not.  This in effect hinders any classroom approach that would require individual usage. (Remember the only computers set up by the school is for the IT Lab).

2. Teachers may not have the requisite know-how and resources to adequately incorporate the use of the laptops (ICT) in the delivery of their subject matter.  (Hence the importance of courses like this one.)

3. The physical design of the classrooms do not lend well to multimedia presentations.

4. Utilizing the IT Lab for non-IT classes requires a significant amount of juggling as there are potential clashes with the IT sessions being held in the lab at the same time.

Also, while it may be seem expensive at first, I believe newly designed or redesigned classrooms should come equipped with certain technological resources. Things like a projector should now come standard (perhaps fixed to the ceiling). That way, certain elements of lessons can be easily reproduced from class to class efficiently, for instance:- a complex diagram can be broken down into subsets as part of a slideshow and as the lesson progresses they are tied together into the full diagram; should the teacher need to backtrack to a simpler part of the diagram, simply view that image again. This saves time in drawing diagrams over and over in each classroom, or the moving around with numerous flipcharts etc. from class to class.

From the standpoint of assessments:- With a grounded use of the technology, tests/quizzes (multiple choice format) can be administered, graded and examined in a mater of minutes by having students do them electronically. This frees up a tutor from grading a large quantity of papers and affords them more time to evaluate course direction/redirection. Such assessments would also help in providing statistical data on the course areas which are strongest/weakest and where greater teaching focus is needed. Of course this isn't the only way to achieve such data, but its a lot more efficient!

There is potential for ICT integration at my institution if proper guidance can be provided to students and teachers for the positive use of the technology available, and also if more resources become available for both teacher and student.  Of course, everything does not rest on the technology itself, but the creativity of the instructor and his ability to mold the technology to his subject matter, or is it the other way around?  :)