Top 10 ICT4E Tips
1. Put education in the driving seat
ICT is not a panacea for the multitude of challenges facing many education systems today. Focusing on ICT at the expense of educational objectives will ultimately prove costly to both students and teachers. ICT is a tool and as such it requires informed instruction to yield positive outcomes. Utilise ICT to meet well-formed, comprehensive and realistic educational objectives. Put education first. See the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for a good overview of the role ICT can play in educational improvement.
2. Tailor your approach
One size does not fit all. Naturally, it is important to review current practices, frameworks, models and policies when considering the right approach for your ICT programme. However, remember that every environment faces its own unique challenges, be they cost, human resources, access, educational content, infrastructure and on. Importing ready-made solutions can be fool-hardy if the respective approach cannot be adapted to the context in question. See infoDev's Knowledge Map: Information and Communication Technologies in Education and GeSCI's ICT Policies and Plans by Country to learn more.
3. Consider all of the hidden costs
ICT strategic implementation planning on a national scale or even just small-scale deployment, is not a one-off cost. Many projects and programmes fail to accurately calculate the total cost of ownership of ICT initiatives, which includes, not just the hardware, but software licenses, mainteance, connectivity, user training and support and more. Always consider all costs when planning for a deployment, regardless of scale. Download GeSCI's ICT Total Cost of Ownership Tool to assist you with your costing analysis.
4. Plan well
It seems obvious but it is common for institutions, organisations, ministries and governments to rush to deployment without careful planning. The easy part is securing the technology (provided you have the funding). The hard part is determining the right technology for your context; how teachers will be trained; how the ICT will be integrated into the curriculum; how the school, programme or education system will pay for connectivity and on. It may take time to address all of these challenges but in the end it will save a great deal of time and effort, not to mention money! See UNESCO's Integrating ICTs into Education Lessons Learned for some guidance on issues to be aware of.
5. Let policy pave the way
It is well-known that education development succeeds or fails on the basis of the nature and quality of educational policies and strategies and sound and sustained implementation practices. As rightly pointed out by UNESCO Bangkok in their ICT Policy Makers Toolkit, introducing ICTs into the teaching and learning process is an innovation often requiring radical change in the way in which schools operate.
The provision of technology alone will not optimally harness the potential of ICTs to
improve access, student achievement and the transformation of teaching and learning. To take full advantage of the different technologies and to direct their maximum use for the benefit of all students, there needs to be a clear framework which sets the scene and provides the enabling environment for technologies to be integrated, deployed and used to their fullest potential. The ICT in Education Policy can provide such a framework. Please read GeSCI's considerations for a sound policy process and GeSCI's ICT Policies and Plans by Country.
6. Keep the teacher on board
Information and communication technologies have brought new possibilities to the education sector, but at the same time, they have placed more demands on teachers. They now have to learn how to cope with computers in their classrooms, how to compete with students in accessing the enormous body of information - particularly via the internet and how to use the hardware and software to enhance the teaching/learning process.
Professional Development programmes should include all ‘staff' who are to contribute to the implementation of the intended changes - school principals, teachers, and technical and administrative support personnel. Apart from the students themselves, teachers and school leadership are the main agents of change at the school level. Please read GeSCI's Models and Best Practices for Teacher Professional Development (TPD).
7. Consult all stakeholders
Multi-stakeholder (and others, e.g. public-private) partnerships have become an increasingly viable and popular strategy for improving the accessibility and reach of services and the quality of services and service provision. Such partnerships are formed for a variety of reasons, particularly due to the realization that no one sector or group can effectively address, cater for, or resource the range of needs to be met in the e-school context.
It is important to recognize that each prospective partner has a unique set of reasons for participating, and while some may not directly contribute in terms of tangibleresources or expertise, their inclusion in the partnership is vital as they will contribute in terms of their expectations, experiences, perspectives and knowledge of the local environment. The most successful partnerships understand and accommodate the motivations of every partner, and shape partnership goals and activities to benefit all of the partners. Please read more about MSPEs.
8. Consider all subjects
Don't just consider ICT itself as a core or elective subject but also integrate ICT into Science, Math and the humanities. See UNESCO's Toolkit for creating effective e-learning activities. Also see UNESCO's e-learning guidebook of principles, procedures and practices.
9. Think of assessment
It is important that curriculum addresses the needs of the 21st century and assessment exhibits coherence with the curriculum. Learning has traditionally required students to be good consumers of information. Meeting the demands of the knowledge society will require shifting student learning to a higher gear from activities that use knowledge to activities that help students become information seekers, analysers, evaluators, innovative
thinkers, problem solvers, decision makers, communicators, and creators of knowledge.
A wider range of assessment methods are necessary for such types of learning, while still maintaining the reliability of assessing in high stakes assessment environments Assessment in education is about gathering, interpreting and using information about the processes and outcomes of learning. It takes different forms and can be used in a variety of ways, such as to test and certify achievement (e.g. Junior and Leaving Certificate), to
determine the appropriate route for students to take through a differentiated curriculum or to identify specific areas of difficulty (or strength) for a given student. Learn more about Assessment in GeSCI's ICT as a Core and Elective Subject.
