Introduction on modern approach to ICT in Nagaland
Information communications and Technology in education is the mode of
education that use information and communications technology to support,
enhance and optimise and delivery of information. Worldwide research has shown
that ICT can lead to an improved students learning and better teaching methods.
In Nagaland the department of Information Technology was created in
November 2003 with the view to promote the use of Information Technology and
act as a promoter and facilitator in the field of Information Technology in the
state and build an IT interface with the rest of the country and the world.
ICT has become one of the basic building blocks of modern society. The recent
effort of the government of India seems to deepen the use of ICT in almost
every sphere of life. The digital campaign in India since 2015 strive to
transform India into a digital empowered society and knowledge economy by
focusing on 3 vision areas-digital infrastructure as core utility to every
citizen, e-governance and services on demand and digital literacy and
empowerment of citizen.
The present curricular for ICT in education in Nagaland is a in step towards
realizing the goals of both the national policy, the National curriculum
Framework 2005 and the recommendation of digital India campaign. For students,
it is an initiation into creativity, problem solving and an introduction to the
world of information and technologies which could also sphere pursuits.
ICT TOOLS USED BY SCHOOLS IN NAGALAND.
ICT, which includes radio and television as well as other high
technology newer digital services such as computers and internet have been
treated as generally powerful enabling tools for educational change and reform.
Some of the the ICT tools used by schools in Nagaland are:
COMPUTERS: This is one among the many tools that is utilised by schools in
Nagaland to carry out the teaching-learnning process. Word Excel, Access,
PowerPoint, animation, graphics, etc. are used to enhance the learning
content and explain the learning content and explain complex processes.
SMART CLASS: Some schools have begun to avail the facility of teaching students
through digital whiteboards by accessing information pre- installed in the
system. They also make use of devices like CDS, DVDs, pendrive and other
connecting devices to aid their teaching through this.
ON-LINE TEACHING: This includes on-line networking,
e-moderator, e-learning,etc. Some schools and colleges are conducting online
examinations, evaluations, attendance with the help of the internet facility
and electronic devices.
BLOGGING: Teachers and students are also creating and making use of blogs to
share and gain knowledge.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Another popular tool that the schools are making use of is the social
media like WhatsApp, Facebook,Telegram, YouTube, Email, Gmail etc. to circulate
important notices, share study materials and work collaboratively.
ROLE OF TEACHER IN MORDERN APPORACH TO ICT IN NAGALAND:
The classroom is now changing its look from the traditional one i.e.,
from one way to two way communications. Now teachers as well as students
participate in classroom discussion. Now Education is based on child centric
education. So the teacher should prepare to cope up with different technology
for using them in the classroom for making teaching learning interested. For
effective implementation of certain student-centric methodologies such as
project-based learning which puts the students in the role of active researches
and technology becomes the appropriate tool. ICT has enabled better and swifter
communication; presentation of ideas more effective and relevant way. It is an
effective tool for information acquiring-thus students are encouraged to look
for information from multiple sources and they are now more informed then
before. So for this reason ICT is very much necessary for Teacher Education.
ICTs can be used to support change and to
support/extend existing teaching practices
Pedagogical practices of teachers using ICT can range from only small enhancements of teaching practices using what are essentially traditional methods, to more fundamental changes in their approach to teaching. ICTs can be used to reinforce existing pedagogical practices as well as to change the way teachers and students interact.
Pedagogical practices of teachers using ICT can range from only small enhancements of teaching practices using what are essentially traditional methods, to more fundamental changes in their approach to teaching. ICTs can be used to reinforce existing pedagogical practices as well as to change the way teachers and students interact.
Some of the roles the teacher can play in applying
modern approach to ICT are as follows:
1. As a facilitator
the teacher must help his students to develop the positive attitudes towards
the changes that are taking place in their environs and also make them ready to
adjust and adapt these changes.
2. As a knowledge provider
his learners must be exposed to unending process of knowledge and make them
capable to choose between the right and wrong at the same time.
3. As a guide he must enable his
learners to get acquainted with new ICT based digital knowledge and
advancements.
4. As a trainer his learners must
be trained and mastered upon the new technological tools or instruments and
make them ready to utilize all these at the maximum.
5. As a capacity builder his
learners must be capacitated with all those practicum and life skills that are
necessary for living a happy life.
6. As a keen observer his
learners must be observed for their activities during the exposition of new and
vast world knowledge.
7. As a learner he must
update his knowledge to keep pace with global knowledge.
8. As a team member he must
work by taking the help of his fellow teachers.
Today teachers are required to be facilitators helping their learners to
make judgments about the quality and validity of new sources and knowledge, be
open-minded and critical independent professionals, be active co-operators,
collaborators, and mediators between learners and what they need to know, and
providers to scaffold understanding.
ADVANTAGES OF USING MORDEN APPROACH TO ICT:
The use of ICT is changing teaching-learning process in several ways.
Presently our class rooms are not simply designed to feed the brains of the
students, these are designed and equipped with higher level technology. It is
generally believed that ICTs can empower the teachers as well as the learners
to contribute their best in sustainable development of the nations. Its
effective use can bring efficiency in teaching-learning process and also make
excellent contributions towards the achievement of educational targets.
1. Has an improving effect in terms of quality of student work and
practical examples through visualization.
2. Improves poor handwriting and languages skills through word
processing.
3. Facilitates self-pacing with increased capacities to deal with
individual learning styles as students can work at the pace and intensity
suitable to their needs
4. Enables collaborative learning with little indication of the isolated
learner.
5. Encourages use of peer coaching and peer reviews.
6. Develops communication skills and awareness of different audiences
7. Has impact on resource–based learning and access to real world
information through the Web.
8. Enhances information consistency and accuracy adding to authenticity
of learning tasks, with pragmatic and advanced information
9. Augments learner motivation through practical activity, visual
demonstrations and improved modes of presentation
10. Promotes independent learning and individual preferences for
process, outline, method and design.
11. Furnishes learners more control
12. Lets learners to produce high quality multimedia products.
13. Transforms teacher practices, planning tools and assessment rubrics.
14. Boosts opportunities for classes to advance and for learner
experiences to shape results.
15. Can inspire students to be committed to learning and to contribute
in learning activities.
16. Can develop students‟ higher-order thinking: their ability to apply
knowledge and skills to analyse challenging problems, grasp broader concepts, and
devise new ideas and solutions.
LIMITATIONS OF USING MORDEN APPROACH TO ICT:
Besides too many advantages of ICTs use in enhancing the quality of
teaching- learning process, it also has so many limitations which, in turn play
a role of barriers in way of ICTs implementation.
Some of the challenging barriers are as follows:
From Learner’s Stand Point:
1. Over- reliance on ICT limits students critical thinking and
analytical skills
2. Learners often have only a superficial understanding of the information
they download
3. Computer-based learning has negative physical side-effects such as
poor vision and stiffness problems.
4. Learners may be easily distracted from their learning and may explore
unwanted sites
5. Learners tend to explore internet for its easy access and neglect the
other useful learning resources
6. Learners tend to use copy-pasting techniques rather than using their
creative powers.
7. Learners feel pleasure in typing and printing and may have less
opportunity to use oral and written skills.
8. Weak students may get difficulty with use of ICTs because they may
have problems with working independently and may need more support from their
teachers.
From Teacher’s Stand Point
Although teachers‟ attitude towards use of ICTs is vital, many
observations revealed the fact that teachers do not have clarity about how far
the use of various ICT techniques can be beneficial to facilitate and
enhancement of learning. Some of the basic problems related to teacher‟
attitude are as follow:
1. Negative attitude of teachers towards the use of ICTs
2. Reluctance and hesitation to use the ICTs in class-rooms
3. Lack of proper technological skills in use of ICTs
4. Lack of self-efficacy and enthusiasm among teachers
5. Lack of professional training in field of ICTs implementation in
education.
6. Having poor critical and scientific temper.
Technology related Limitations:
The other limitation of ICT use in education is technology related. The
high cost of the technology and its maintenance, high cost of spare parts, high
cost of anti-virus packages, interruptions of internet connections, slow speed
of internet connections, and poor power supply are some of basic technology
related limitations in the way of implementation of ICTs.
Conclusion on modern approach.
One of the typical features of our information society is the fact that
more and more social processes take place in digital networks and many elements
of our life can be stored and analysed in digital format. Non-formal and
informal education is gaining strength and more and more people can access
knowledge, voices which have not been audible until now have grown louder, open
discussions have been initiated in topics of connectivism, networked learning,
social media involvement into teaching process etc.
The world is changing so rapidly that it is difficult to foot step with
this change. The knowledge explosion is a concept of today's world. ICT has
made it more complex that it is very difficult to pace with this fast changing
world.
The modern world is now moving towards digitalized e-learning, virtual
classroom and teachers, digitalized textbooks and depending lesser on printed
materials which were considered most important in the past. Technology has
brought a complete transformation in and outside the classroom. And with the
recent announcement made by the Prime Minister of India that the country will
now provide internet/wifi facilities in panchayats and schools, adopting the
technology for daily activities is inevitable.
How to convert ICT tools for educational purposes
in rural areas of Nagaland?
India can boast a gigantic telecom customer base, the world’s lowest
call rates, the world’s cheapest mobile handset and most affordable 3G phone,
but internet penetration in rural India is still around 20%, against 65% in
urban India including Nagaland. So far, policy making efforts have largely
focused on overcoming infrastructural barriers to rural access. However, access
to ICT devices and internet is only part of the problem of digital inclusion in
rural India and rural schools.
The demand for education is very high, often beyond
the conventional system’s ability to provide it. There is a growing realisation
that ICT-based resources can extend opportunities to previously under-served
and scattered populations. To do so, ICTs must be embedded in educational
systems to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of education in formal and
non-formal settings, as well as to acquaint, familiarise and skill students
with digital tools and environments.
The Government of India (2012) formulated a
national policy on ICT-enabled school education “which aims at preparing youth
to participate creatively in the establishment, sustenance and growth of a
knowledge society, leading to all-round socioeconomic development of the nation
and global competitiveness.” Practitioners and academicians concur that
integration of ICTs in education has an overall positive impact on the learning
environment. ICTs have the potential to innovate, accelerate, enrich and deepen
skills; motivate and engage students; relate school experience to work
practices; create economic viability for tomorrow’s workers; and strengthen
teaching.
In the rural Nagaland education landscape, teachers
are the most important stakeholders. They are not mere disseminators of
information; they are life-coaches, with the school becoming a sanctuary of
learning rather than just a building. However, teachers in rural schools are
inadequately trained, and often overburdened with multiple roles such as
administering mid-day meals, assisting in immunisation programmes, and aiding
healthcare and social awareness.
Effective implementation would mean overcoming the
following challenges:
Quality content, high-speed connectivity and proper
devices:
Availability of quality content in regional
languages acts as a barrier for delivering ICT-based education in rural areas.
A number of surveys have highlighted infrastructural deficiencies such as
small size of classrooms, non-availability of continuous electric supply, non-availability
or poor quality of hardware, software or e-content, and insufficient time to
integrate ICT with the knowledge dissemination framework.
· Attitudinal
readiness of schoolteachers:
The feeling that ICT-enabled education might replace
teachers could create resistance to the digital revolution in educational
technology.
· Absence of private
sector in rural education:
Most schools in rural areas are run by the
government. The involvement of the private sector in rural education is very
limited. The government appoints ad hoc teachers instead of permanent ones, who
are poorly paid compared to the remuneration of a full-time trained graduate
teacher (TGT). Non-permanent teachers have no future prospects and thus no
motivation to excel in teaching. This leads to dissatisfaction, eventually
resulting in a dearth of teachers because they move away to more permanent
jobs.
· Exemption of
candidates from Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET):
S Several states have exempted candidates as only 20% of
aspirants clear the TET. This has led to deteriorating teacher quality.
· Teachers’
proficiency in integration of ICT in existing curricula:
Teachers should be willing to modify traditional
educational theories and practices to meet the future demands of ICT-dominated
global markets. Incorporating training for ICT use in pedagogy would be more
beneficial than training teachers to use ICT tools per se.
· Problems
related to language and content:
Despite the rising popularity of English as the
language of communication, the average Indian student and teacher is accustomed
to content and knowledge dissemination in the vernacular medium. As most
web-based resources are in English, it is important to focus on content
development in regional languages.
What can be done to
convert available technology as ICT tools for education?
Some of the ICT tools that can be used for educational purposes in rural
areas in Nagaland are:
The Internet is not widely available in most LDCs; radio and TV are:
Broadcast technologies such as radio and television have a much greater
penetration than the Internet throughout much of the developing world, and the
substantial gap is not expected to be closed soon.
Radio and TV can have high start-up costs, and reinforce existing
pedagogical styles:
Educational initiatives that utilize radio and television typically have
quite high initial start-up/capital costs, but once they are up and running,
on-going maintenance and upgrade costs are much lower (making initiatives
utilizing radio and TV for distance learning in the education sector
particularly appealing for donor support in many cases). One-to-many broadcast
technologies like radio and television (as well as satellite distribution of
electronic content) are seen as less ‘revolutionary’ ICTs in education, as
their usage is seen as reinforcing of traditional instructor-centric learning
models, unlike computers, which many see as important tools in fostering more
learner-centric instructional models.
Using ‘old’ technologies (like radio and
television) in new ways:
While most of the attention, and pretty much all of
the hype, around the use of technologies in education focuses on the latest
shiny gadgets, in many places ‘old’ technologies like radio and television are
still in widespread use – although often with slight twists. Under Interactive
Radio Instruction, radio broadcasts are used to
prompt specific actions by teachers and students in the classroom. The use
of Interactive Educational Television helps
remote schools with situations where you have many students but no
teachers. Same Language subtitling of
Bollywood movies help promote the acquisition of reading skills to millions of
‘low literate’ people in Nagaland.
Sharing one device with lots of people:
While much press attention is paid to projects that
promise things like ‘one educational tablet for every student’, it
is not only in the case of communal technologies like radio and television where
the benefits of using one device can reach many learners at once. As part of
some projects, classrooms of up to 50 students can each ‘operate’ a single
computer independently, as long as they each have their own mouse. Such efforts are enabled where technologies are
available to help transform simple projectors into low-cost
versions of digital whiteboards. The Hole in the
Wall project in India demonstrates how placing shared
computing facilities outdoors in slum communities can
bring about lots of interesting benefits to children outside of formal
schooling.
Caching on-line content for offline use:
In places where Internet connectivity is sporadic,
unreliable or intermittent, innovative approaches to caching and
distributing digital content can enable off-line access to vast numbers of
online resources in ways that can simulate
on-line environments. The emergence of low cost e- readers is enabling
groups to distribute vast amount of books in digital formats to students who
read them on small, purpose-built reading devices.
Promoting literacy and learning, and supporting
teachers, with mobile phones:
In remote places in Nagaland where teachers may
face daunting challenges related to isolation of peers and a lack of resources
(including textbooks and other teaching materials), mobile phones are helping
support teachers in small but meaningful ways by providing access
to education content and regular prompts
and tips on how to utilize this content . Using
such methods, students can send short quizzes via SMS to their
mobile phones to help them (and their families)
gauge how well they can understand the topics being discussed in class.
Using low cost video to support peer learning and
support:
The increased availability of very low cost video
cameras (including those in mobile phones) can provide opportunities for
reflection and peer support for teachers who may have received little (if any)
training on pedagogical approaches to delivering their curricula. So the teachers in
Nagaland take short videos of their peers and
then jointly review and discuss pedagogical approaches and particularly
difficult topics to teach in informal, low stakes ways as part of their
professional development.
Developing content and tools locally:
In places where learners do not speak one of the
major language for which lots of educational content already exist in digital
formats, the capacity to produce such content locally -- in local
languages, in line with local curricula -- is often constrained by the
fact that there simply is not sufficient indigenous know-how to create and
distribute educational content easily in digital formats. We can put efforts
to show that such approaches can work in rural environments, especially where they utilize the technologies with which
people are already familiar (e.g. low end mobile phones) in ways that simple to
use and very user-friendly.
Conclusion:
These sorts of practices and projects are just the tip of the iceberg,
of course. In and of themselves, certainly none of them provides a
silver bullet solution to address all the challenges confronting
educators and learners in remote rural areas of Nagaland. That said, and as
the short list above hopefully suggests, there are a lot of
encouraging developments around the world – sometimes (depending on one’s
perspective) pioneered by the most unlikely people doing the most unlikely
things in the most unlikely places (although quite a few of them, it should be
said, are seeking to do things with a very likely device: the mobile phone).
While monitoring and sharing what people are doing can be quite useful,
such basic information is even more valuable when its accompanied by efforts to
evaluate what results such efforts are (or purport to be) having. While the
people and groups pioneering educational technology initiatives targeting
populations and communities all over the world have until recently had to rely
as much on instinct and ‘learning by doing’ than on an established knowledge
base informed by rigorously collected evidence.
We know that
technology changes – rapidly – and newer, more cost-effective and more powerful
technologies will continue to emerge of potential use in education. At the same
time, evidence shows that, once installed in schools, ICTs continue to be used
for the life of the functioning life of the technology, whether or not newer,
more cost-effective and powerful technologies emerge (especially as upgrade
paths are seldom part of initial planning).
Submitted by : Group 6
Name Roll no.
Easterly T.
Aye
51
Esther Swuro
52
H.Akim Jimo
53
H.Martha Touthang
54
Holika A Achumi
55
Imtiyala Jamir
56
Imyarila Changkire
57
Julin Zhimomi
58
Kanitoli Assumi
59
Kavili Chophi
60
