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ICT in EducationBy Abdul Khan

Global Alliance for ICT and DevelopmentKuala Lumpur, Malaysia

19-20 June 2006

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Central Role of Knowledge for Development

Knowledge

Economic Growth

Cultural Enrichment

Social Development

Political Empowerment

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If knowledge is the engine of development, then learning must be its fuel.

Takeushi

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“The ability to create and maintain knowledge infrastructure, develop knowledge workers and enhance their productivity will be the key factors in deciding the prosperity of the knowledge society.”

Abdul Kalam, President of India

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Pillars of Knowledge Societies

Human Needs and Rights

Knowledge Societies

Pluralism

Human Needs and RightsHuman Needs and Rights

Knowledge SocietiesKnowledge Societies

PluralismPluralism

KnowledgeCreation Dissemination UtilizationPreservation

Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge

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The Revolution - Communications

19th Century

1900

20’s 40’s 60’s 80’s 90’s

20th Century

PostalSystem

Educational Radio

Television ComputerNetworks

2000

21st

Century

Satellites

TeleconferencingTechnologies

CellularNetworks

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The Technology Era….Digital Content

Fax/Data Modems

The Internet

Satellite

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Technology Impact

• Emerging ICTs have impacted numerous aspects of our life …. Agriculture, medicine, e-governance, e-business, publishing, media, etc..

• The world of education is slow to adopt emerging technologies!!

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Conventional Education Models

Involve the direct transfer of information between the teacher and the student.

Constrained by both timeand place.

Limited by in-house available resources.

Strongly dependent on the skills and knowledgeof the instructor.

Large Numbers Lack of Resources

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On Today’s Learning Challenge

Preparing students for a future in which today’s jobs may be obsolete and future jobs can only be imagined is a daunting challenge.

Adding to the challenge is the realization that today’s students — “digital natives” — learn differently than many of today’s educators.

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The Internet & Education: a Close Fit

“Is the Educational promise of the Internet real? I believe it is.

The Internet has distinctive powers to complement, reinforce, and enhance some of our most effective traditional approaches to university teaching and learning.”

Prof. Neil L. RudenstinePresident of Harvard UniversityThe Chronicle of Higher EducationFebruary, 1997

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New Forms of Learning

New literacy types:• Technology literacy• Information literacy:

– recognize when information is needed– have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively

the needed information.

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New Forms of Learning

Nature of knowledge• Increasingly interdisciplinary• Increasingly contextual• Application oriented ~ «learning by doing»• Must reflect local/regional realities

New pedagogical paradigm• Learning as a constructive process• More than acquisition of basic literacy skills• Non-formal and non-linear learning • New flexible learning environments

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ICT and Capacity Building

• Improves educational quality• Increases access to basic learning for everyone• Improves educational management• Enables lifelong learning opportunities• Capacity to reach disadvantaged populations

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ICT and Capacity Building

• Enhances diverse and collective learning processes• Enables development of non-formal and informal learning

environments• Shifts learning process:

– from teaching to self-directed learning– from one-time event to lifelong learning process

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Constraints in Developing Countries

Access to All

Cultural & Linguistic Diversity

Policies, Strategies, Copyrights,Intellectual Property Rights, ….

Capacity Building

Building Quality Content

Recycling of Computers, Open Source Software, Public Domain Content

Cyberspace…LegalFramework

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New Media Old MediaRadio

Television

Audiotape

Videotape

Books

Slides

Computer

Multimedia

CBT

Internet

WWW

CD/DVD

Virtual Reality

Digital learning resourcesEasy to manipulate, duplicate and transport

Reusable with little difficultyGlobally accessible through network

Provides multi-sensory, multiple media in an integrated way

Personalized instructionCost intensive, though it is decreasing

Ephemeral in nature for radio and TVEasy access to large number of peopleReuse difficultMost useful for mass deliveryDifficult to manipulate and do corrections

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Ingredients of Education Models

ContentDevelopment

• Institutions• Students

Knowledge Source

•WW Institutions• Publishers• Authors

• Lecture-Based•Web-Based• CD-Based• Video-Taped• Direct Broadcast

• Direct• Internet• Videos• Satellite• Mail

Knowledge Destination

DeliveryTechnology

AnalysisInterpretation

Translation

Quality Control

Assessment

IIIIIIIV

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Building the New Education Models

ContentDevelopment

Knowledge Source

Knowledge Destination

DeliveryTechnology

IIIIIIIV

Requires an orchestrated effort similar to that required for movie making and large musical productions.

Government

Private Investors

Regional/InternationalOrganizations

Universities

SoftwareHouses

GraphicsArtists

EducationSpecialists

Media/PressSpecialists

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UNESCO’s Holistic Approach

UNESCO seeks to develop educational solutions that effectively blend the benefits of modern technologies withthe proven qualities of classical education modes in an attempt to accelerate the buildup of knowledge societies while reducing the “knowledge divide”.

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UNESCO Deploys OSS for E-Learning in Bahrain

The Open-Source Content Management System “Moodle” has been deployed by UNESCO in the AOU branch in Bahrain.