ICTs stand for Information and Communication Technologies . The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application which include computers, the Internet, broadcasting technologies (radio and television), and telephony. The use of information and communication technologies in education makes teaching – learning process effective and interesting. However, there are some issues and challenges integrating ICT in teaching and learning in our Malaysian Schools.
Teachers with ICT skills is the very first challenge that we meet in integrating ICT in teaching and learning in our Malaysian Schools. Lack of teachers equipped with ICT skills is a significant problem for the use of ICT in education. The institutes where ICT is going to be integrated in education, first of all their teachers must be well trained about ICT tools in education. Before going to teach to students, teachers must know about how and when to use ICT tools to achieve particular purposes. Ideally, these should be addressed in pre-service teacher training and built on and enhanced in-service. ICTs are evolving technologies, and so even the most ICT fluent teachers need to continuously upgrade their skills and keep abreast of the latest developments and best practices .
However , managing the change is one of the biggest problems, as teachers nowadays don’t accept change easily. In general a large number of teachers in educational institutes are non ICT proficient, and resistance to change. The strategy of adding technology to the already existing activities in institutes and in the classroom, without changing habitual teaching practices, does not produce good results in student learning .The reason for this is due to the fact that the vast majority of teachers are not proficient users of technology, especially computer technology. It is believe that the major obstacles are due to the lack of resources and training. In a nut shell ,teacher professional development should have skills in teaching the students using the ICT with particular application.
Another challenge that relate to the integration of ICT in teaching and learning in our Malaysian Schools is the availability of information and communication technologies infrastructure. Appropriate rooms or buildings available to house the technology and the equipments such as computers as well as affordable Internet service for online learning are basic needs to initiate any ICT-based program.
Before any ICT-based program is launched, associate planners and the government agencies should look deeply into the cost-effectiveness in financing any ICT-enabled programme over the long term as technology investments typically run high and in many cases divert funds from other equally pressing needs .Moreover, planners should also factor in not just costs but also the availability of spare parts and technical support. These factors are the key to maintain while also to guarantee the sustainability and efficiency of ICTs ’ integration in schools. However ,despite important factor of funding, many other factors must be taken into account before and during the implementation of academic computing initiatives. Failure to address important issues may result in wasted resources and ineffective implementation.
The present age is the age of technology, whereby technology plays a key role not only in our daily lives but also globally, this includes the education system. There are endless possibilities with the integration of ICT in the education system. The use of ICT in education not only improves classroom teaching learning process, but also provides the facility of e-learning. Although the implemention of ICT in our education system is a long and expensive process, none of us can denied the fact that integrating ICT in teaching and learning in our Malaysian schools is vital and beneficial for future generation. Moreover ,it is a good way to increase the development in Malaysia. Hence ,It is important that teachers or trainers should be made to adopt technology in their teaching styles to provide pedagogical and educational gains to the learners which will progessively ensuring the achievement of vision 2020.
No comments:
Post a Comment