4.1 Necessity of ICTs

These five far-reaching implications pose a daunting challenge for the education strategist. On one hand, there is a backlog that must be fulfilled, a set of global challenges that must be faced, and an escalating demand for education in both traditional and uncharted territories. On the other is the need to provide the whole spectrum of education services to everyone, anywhere, anytime with a focus on learning acquisition-all under conditions of an ever-expanding base of education clientele and limited physical and human resources.

It is going to be very difficult-if not impossible-for countries to meet the objective of effective learning, for all, anywhere, anytime. Our inability to meet this challenge, however, is self-inflicted because we tend to think of linear scaling, that is, using the same model of education (a school constrained by space and time) but more of it and on a larger scale. What we really need is to think differently and radically.  The world is experiencing a real revolution in the dissemination of knowledge and in the enhancement of instruction, through the advancement of ICTs. This is the third revolution in learning, the first being the invention of the written language and the second being the development of moveable type and books. ICTs make both the content of learning and the interactions of high-quality (and other) instruction affordable and available anytime, anywhere.

 Section 5 of this paper describes in detail, supported by case studies and specific experiences, the potential of ICTs in:

4.2 ICTs for Instructional Objectives

Learning objectives differ in scope, level and complexity. They relate to hierarchical levels of thinking and cognitive processing. When we design teaching/learning activities and experiences, as well as ICT interventions, we must explicitly plan for the type of cognitive processing that we hope to foster.

The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives was created by Benjamin Bloom in the 1950's to describe these levels. During the 1990's, Lorin Anderson (a former student of Benjamin Bloom) led a team of cognitive psychologists in revisiting the taxonomy with the view to examining the relevance of the taxonomy as we enter the twenty-first century. Table 4.2.1 is a summary of the Revised Taxonomy. (For a full description with examples, see Resource 1.1 - Revised Bloom's Taxonomy.)

Table 4.2.1. Revised Bloom's taxonomy of Learning Objectives

The selection of a technology and the way it is applied should be driven by the nature and level of learning objective that it is meant to stimulate and enhance. Table 4.2.2 translates the above taxonomy into ICT-fostered learning objectives. The lowest level of this taxonomy involves using technology to simply store or display material for students to use; it places them in a passive role. The highest taxonomic level represents active students synthesizing material and utilizing ICTs to construct projects such as hypermedia presentations.

Table 4.2.2 ICT-Fostered learning Objectives

For further information, see http://education.ed.pacificu.edu/aacu/workshop/reconcept2B.html

Similarly, there are teaching objectives for the use of ICTs, such as

• Presentation of a piece of information
• Demonstration of a concept, idea, phenomenon, law or theory
• Drill and practice to achieve student competence in the application of knowledge
• Simulation and animations to abstract reality and offer an efficient and inexpensive environment to reach generalizations or to draw implications from a law or theory
• Research for professional development and preparation of lessons
• Collaboration on projects with other teachers in the school or in other schools in the country or elsewhere, or with scientists in the field.
• Management of student learning

Tables 4.2.3 and 4.2.4 depict the potential of use of different technologies to foster different learning and teaching objectives.

Table 4.2.3 Learning Objectives vs. Technologies

Table 4.2.4 Teaching Objectives vs. Technologies

Considering the variety and levels of learning objectives and teaching goals, the question for each objective becomes: what is the most appropriate technology and what is the best way to apply it to get the best results in achieving the particular goal. If technology is to be used for presentation and demonstration only, investment in computers and connectivity may not be justifiable. On the other hand, the potential for interactive and collaborative learning can best be achieved by networked computers and connectivity to the World Wide Web.

Since there is no one-to-one correspondence between instructional objectives and technologies and their application, the next question becomes: what is the value added for using one technology compared to a simpler and cheaper one? For instance, why use a video instead of a photo, a digital text instead of a textbook, and a simulation instead of an animation.

4.3 ICTs and Learning Location

Technologies may be used to support learning and teaching on location or at a distance.  In most cases though, the technology-enhanced materials used on location can be used at a distance with the utilization of the appropriate dissemination technology. This makes it possible to invest in the same materials that may be used on location and at a distance thus widening the circle of users and lowering the unit costs. (See Table 3.3.1)

Table 4.3.1 Technologies on Location and at a Distance

It is also important to distinguish between instructional technologies and dissemination technologies. Instructional technologies (print, audio, video, digital) foster learning and teaching in any location. Dissemination technologies foster the distribution of instructional technologies via mediums such as print, correspondence, radio, broadcast television, CDs, and the Internet.

4.4 ICTs and the School

ICTs do not substitute for the school or diminish its role. On the contrary, ICT tools can improve performance of conventional schools by improving teaching, learning and management. More importantly, ICTs can broaden the concept of the school beyond the traditional confines of space and time, by evolving its components into the corresponding components of an enhanced model (see table 4.4.1).

Table 4.4.1-Evolution of an Enhanced School Model

Education will not be a location anymore, but an activity: a teaching/learning activity. This is the ultimate raison d'être of ICTs for education. The foundation of this "educational system" is a knowledge infrastructure that includes the traditional school, broadcast television, digital radio, virtual courses, Internet chat rooms, web portals, telecenters, and other information and communication technologies that have not seen the light yet. In this learning structure, the students will learn through a variety of ways: face-to-face, in groups, or in a synchronous or asynchronous online course. They will pursue expeditions with scientists on the web, follow space flights, perform simulated experiments, take virtual archeological and geographic tours, do research in digital libraries, and perform collaborative projects with students in other schools in their country and all over the world.