Agadzhanova R. The effective use of information and communication technology in education // International scientific journal "Internauka". — 2019. — №4.
Pedagogical sciences
UDC 372.8
Agadzhanova Radmila
Senior Lecturer of the Department of Pedagogy,
Foreign Philology and Translation
Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics
THE EFFECTIVE USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION
Summary. The article is devoted to the effective use of information and communication technology in education. It considers certain practical, easy-to-implement ways to leverage modern technology for education. It is emphasized that teachers need specific professional development opportunities in order to increase their ability to use information and communication technology for formative learning assessments, individualized instruction, accessing online resources, and for fostering student interaction and collaboration.
Key words: digital culture, digital literacy, education, information and communication technology, professional development opportunities.
Computer technologies and other aspects of digital culture have changed the ways people live, work, play, and learn, impacting the construction and distribution of knowledge and power around the world. Graduates who are less familiar with digital culture are increasingly at a disadvantage in the national and global economy. Digital literacy – the skills of searching for, discerning, and producing information, as well as the critical use of new media for full participation in society – has thus become an important consideration for curriculum frameworks.
In many countries, digital literacy is being built through the incorporation of information and communication technology (ICT) into schools. Schools use a diverse set of ICT tools to communicate, create, disseminate, store, and manage information. In some contexts, ICT has also become integral to the teaching-learning interaction, through such approaches as replacing chalkboards with interactive digital whiteboards, using students’ own smartphones or other devices for learning during class time, and the “flipped classroom” model where students watch lectures at home on the computer and use classroom time for more interactive exercises [2]. When teachers are digitally literate and trained to use ICT, these approaches can lead to higher order thinking skills, provide creative and individualized options for students to express their understandings, and leave students better prepared to deal with ongoing technological change in society and the workplace.
It is obvious that teachers need specific professional development opportunities in order to increase their ability to use ICT for formative learning assessments, individualized instruction, accessing online resources, and for fostering student interaction and collaboration. Such training in ICT should positively impact teachers’ general attitudes towards ICT in the classroom, but it should also provide specific guidance on ICT teaching and learning within each discipline [2].
It is worth noting that technology has become such a fixture in both industry and everyday living that many educators believe students should be introduced to tech early so they understand how to use it. Others stress tech’s ability to provide interactive learning experiences as a great advantage. Both schools and individuals can find lots of tech tools and services to boost their educational efforts. Let us consider some practical, easy-to-implement ways to leverage modern technology for education outlined by experts from Forbes Technology Council [3].
In general, technology can support and enhance teaching and student learning in three central ways:
It is clear that innovations in technology do not necessarily lead to innovation in teaching when not driven by sound pedagogy. Therefore, ICT can impact student learning when teachers are digitally literate and understand how to integrate it into curriculum. There are many resources that can help teachers use technology in the classroom or online to increase student engagement and administer their courses. For instance, The University of California, Berkeley encourages teachers and students to use bCourses. bCourses is a web-based communication and collaboration environment. bCourses supports teaching and learning, committee-based projects, and research initiatives for the UC Berkeley community. Using a supported web browser, users may choose from the many tools in bCourses and combine them to create a site that meets their needs. Let us consider some of the capabilities of bCourses:
It should be mentioned that ICT can provide diverse options for taking in and processing information, making sense of ideas, and expressing learning. Over 87% of students learn best through visual and tactile modalities, and ICT can help these students ‘experience’ the information instead of just reading and hearing it. Mobile devices can also offer apps that provide extra support to students with special needs, with features such as simplified screens and instructions, consistent placement of menus and control features, graphics combined with text, audio feedback, ability to set pace and level of difficulty, appropriate and unambiguous feedback, and easy error correction [2].
Considering the peculiarities of the use of ICT in education, it is possible to conclude that certain conditions must be met to ensure the investments made in ICT benefit students. School policies need to provide schools with the minimum acceptable infrastructure for ICT, including stable and affordable internet connectivity and security measures such as filters and site blockers. Teacher policies need to target basic ICT literacy skills, ICT use in pedagogical settings, and discipline-specific uses. Successful implementation of ICT requires integration of ICT in the curriculum. Finally, digital content needs to be developed in local languages and reflect local culture. Ongoing technical, human, and organizational supports on all of these issues are needed to ensure access and effective use of ICT.
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