ICTs in the Curriculum

Patti Swarts

Education Specialist

GeSCI

CRDD and education system

• Pivotal role: curriculum determines what is being taught, learnt, assessed; how teachers are prepared; what resources are required

• One step ahead of system

• Dynamic, proactive, innovative, take initiative

• Keep abreast of developments

Dilemma

ICTs can be powerful, essential tools for learning: understanding, interpreting and communicating about the real world

OR

They can be black holes into which we pour our money, intelligence and time, getting very little in return

Your understanding of…

• ICTs in education?

• E-content?

• E-learning?

• Integrating ICTs into the curriculum?

Some definitions…• Technology in Education: encompassing the use of print, radio, TV and

video, and newer computer technologies such as the use of the Internet for e-learning

• Technological Literacy: knowledge about what technology is, how it works, what purposes it can serve, and how it can be used efficiently and effectively to achieve specific goals.

• Information Literacy: ability to evaluate information across a range of media; recognize when information is needed; locate, synthesize, and use information effectively; and accomplish these functions using technology, communication networks, and electronic resources.

• ICTs in Education: an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems, etc. as well as the various services and applications associated with them, such as videoconferencing and distance learning in education

• eLearning: methodology of transferring knowledge supported by multimedia content delivered synchronously and/or asynchronously over electronic network

Guidelines …

• Technology is only a tool

• Technology must serve, rather than drive

• Proper planning for integration crucial

• ICTs must be incorporated in a systemic and systematic way- clear goals

• ICTs must be utilised within a coordinated framework

Why use ICTs in education? • The use of ICTs in education can:

– mitigate teacher shortages– improve the consistency and quality of instruction– motivate students and raise achievement– make learning more inclusive and interesting– better match individual learning styles– engage students in a greater variety of ways– encourage collaboration, creativity, higher order thinking– assist with conceptual development/understanding– provide flexibility of delivery– reach students outside traditional education systems– address inequalities: gender, language, disability– enable students to take more responsibility for their own learning– allow teachers to focus on teaching– improve cost-effectiveness under certain circumstances– provide window to demonstrate new learning paradigms

Why use ICTs

• provide for both individualised and diversified learning • allow students to take more responsibility for their

learning and to assess where they are in their learning• guide students through their learning and allow them to

work together without the teacher necessarily having to deliver the material

• extend the capabilities of conventional or formal education (more options, more freedom of choice, extended reach of learning)

• improve access and quality through more stimulating and interactive learning

Why use ICTs

• provide tools for teacher development• accelerate learning ( as learning becomes self-directed

and self-paced; students are more motivated and interested and take more responsibility for learning)

• be delivered independent from location and time (anytime, anywhere)

• allow for both sides of the brain to be used thereby stimulating creativity and the development of higher-order skills ( such as exploration, analysis, synthesis, problem-solving, reflection) [Good teaching should do this as well, but where most teachers are not sufficiently prepared this does not happen]

• allow for substantial savings in training

What are the challenges?• Focus on technology, not on educational goals and objectives• Philosophy of education, curriculum framework and policies: may require extensive re-thinking of educational philosophy, goals,

processes, approaches, teacher development (i.e. may require reform of the system)

• Additional resources to set up, leading to additional costs for governments

• Institutional capacity and culture• Teacher preparation• Appropriate content, infrastructure and support• Access and use• Cost and sustainability

Pre-conditions for effective integration

• Adequate and on-going professional development of teachers (well-trained in practical integration of technology into classroom activities – more than basic computer functions)

• Extensive curriculum planning (systemic, systematic- defining appropriate pedagogies, redesigning curriculum and assessment help to optimise the use of ICTs)

• Supportive infrastructure (including technical support and maintenance)

• Quality content and material• Enabling policies and strategies• Practice informed by evaluation and research• Vision and leadership (at all levels)• Learner-centred/constructivist approaches• Relevant assessment tools

Have you thought about …

• Why ICTs in the curriculum?

Why integrate ICTs in curriculum?

21st Century skills

• What type of curriculum would foster 21st century skills?

• What potentials/opportunities do ICTs offer to CRDD?

• What can ICTs do for you in your activities?

• How can/will ICTs transform or enhance your work in CRDD?

• What is expected from CRDD with regard to ICTs in education?

• What needs to be done?

• What will be required to do that (including skills and capacities)?

In integrating ICTs …

• What linkages would enable your work?

• What do you expect from those linkages?

• On which activities do you need to work with other units? How do you need to relate to or work with them?

Questions to ask …• ICTs for what educational purposes/goals?

• What will ICTs contribute towards enhancing learning in the subject? (e.g. will ICTs offer the learner the chance to develop their understanding of the subject in ways that would not be possible without ICTs?)

• Which technologies are appropriate for this phase/this subject/this context?

• How will the technologies be used to enhance learning and teaching?

• Will content and support material be created or acquired or modified?

• What level of competences do learners have and need to acquire?

• Where else would they have access to technologies?

• What competences do teachers have and need to acquire?

• What access would there be to technologies in the classroom?

• How often would teachers and learners be exposed to the technologies?

Suggestions for processSteps:Identify educational purpose (e.g. improve quality of learning, expand access) ↓

Start with scope and sequence of curriculum/ curriculum framework of subject

↓Identify specific topics/sub-topics and their objectives

↓Analyse whether topics/sub-topics and objectives lend themselves to the integration of ICTs and what and how ICTs will contribute towards enhancing learning in the subject ↓Analyse which ICTs would be most appropriate for the topic, phase, age group, context ↓Analyse which methodologies would be most appropriate in utilising ICTs for the purposeand topic identified ↓Analyse which assessment strategy would be most appropriate to determine whethercompetency has been achieved