Modern approach to ICT in Nagaland 

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.

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 implementati

on 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.