The bad news is that the situation is really bad too many teachers are not making use of available technology.
The good news is that some teachers are performing miracles with their ICT resources.
The amazing news is that this is not just a local problem; it seems as if, around the world, there are barriers that prevent teachers from using ICT resources for teaching and making them available for learning.
Please consider a list of 12 reasons that come from another part of the globe.
How many of these reasons apply in South Africa? Are there any reasons that you could add that are relevant to the local situation?
Once the true barriers are identified, the next step would be for us to develop strategies to remove them.
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On 12 July 2008 Olive Riley passed away at the age of 108.
What makes Olive even more remarkable than her longevity is the fact she was blogging until a few days before she died.
Olive had 73 posts on her blog. She even made her way onto YouTube .
Do you still feel too old to learn to use a computer?
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With the development and global spread of technology the question is raised: is this sustainable? This is a multi-faceted question and includes many aspects of the term "sustainable development". This phrase is used in books and newspapers; are debated on TV and in parliaments and conferences around the world; it is also becoming a popular theme for novels and movies (for example, An Inconvenient Truth ).
The most popular definition of the concept sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
This is a complex dilemma and affects different industries, countries, cultures and interest groups in different ways. How does this issue affect ICT in education?
When the possibility of using technology for teaching and learning is presented to government departments and prospective donors for funding, one of the first questions is: how sustainable would this be? In line with the definition given above, the question is really: if we spend money now, what guarantee is there that the investment will bear fruit in the future? There is a fear that a capital injection now may disappear into a bottomless pit, without benefits later.
This fear is not unfounded: ICT in schools has a sad history of lost opportunities. Technology facilities that are established at great cost often fall into disuse in a short space of time.
The issue of sustainable development as it pertains to ICT in education has very specific angles that one must consider:
Financial sustainability : How does one sustain the current investment financially where would funds come from to repair, replace, maintain and grow the current facility?
Technical sustainability : How could one ensure that the required technical skills are available to ensure that the facility will be kept running?
Operational sustainability : In which ways could one ensure that the facility will continue to be used for its intended purpose in the years ahead?
Ecological sustainability : What impact does the introduction of technology have on the ecology? How can one make sure that it would not impact negatively on the broader environment?
These are issues that merit our urgent attention. Over the next weeks I will post some ideas related to the matter of sustainability; I invite you to share your concerns, suggestions and insights. It is important that, while doing a laudable work of enhancing teaching and learning, we do so in a responsible way.
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In the previous two postings the virtues of mentors were extolled. Of course, one realizes that this luxury is available only to the privileged. But there is hope.
When computers are made available to poor schools, each computer can serve as a tutor. About five months ago the idea of using computers as tutors was discussed on this blog in a posting with the title: "Computers as tutors". At the time there were about 32 000 computers installed in schools in the Western Cape and it was argued that each one of these computers can serve as an additional tutor. In the mean time the number of computers has grown to over 36 000.
Can a computer really serve as a tutor? It depends on how it is being used. If it is used merely to train learners to become computer literate, it can hardly be called a tutor. But if it is used innovatively as a curriculum delivery agent, it can become a personal tutor to a number of learners in a school.
For gifted learners, computer tutors can open up opportunities without limit; other learners will be patiently drilled by these tutors until the required skills are mastered.
School principals must accept the responsibility to ensure that the flesh and blood teachers in their schools are productively involved in teaching; they must likewise see to it that the computer tutors are used optimally to the advantage of the learners.
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While surfing the internet, I came across this interesting article on tutoring: How to Find a Great Tutor for Your Child.
The article reinforces the need for tutors, and it may be worth your while reading it it is brief, and will only take a minute or two to read.
Of course, the matter of affordability is still an issue.
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