The_Role_of_Information_and_Communication_Technology(Ict)_in_Higher_Education

The Role of Information and Communication Technology(ICT) in Higher Education. Moyuri Chetiya Assistant Professor Dept. of English C.K.B. College , Teok. Introduction : Information and communication technology (ICT) is a force that has changed many aspects of our life and living. In the fields of medicine, tourism, travel, banking, business, engineering and architecture , the impact of ICT in the past two or three decades in our country has been enormous. But when one looks at education, there seems to have been far less change than in the other fields. Various factors are responsible for this lack of activity and influence such as lack of funding to support the purchase of technology , lack of training among established teaching practitioners, lack of motivation and need among teachers to adopt ICT as teaching tools etc. But with the world moving rapidly into digital media and information, the role of ICT in education is becoming more and more important and this importance will continue to grow and develop in the twenty- first century. Objectives: This paper highlights on the importance and impact of ICT on contemporary higher education and explores future developments.This paper also explores the factors related to policy, planning, technical requirements as well as training required for the stakeholders for the successful implementation of ICT in an education system. Importance Of ICT Based Higher Education System For Students: 1. Information and Communication Technology provides various opportunities to higher education learners. It removes the barriers of space and time by providing most of their courses on the web. 2. It decreases the cost of instruction. 3. It offers opportunities for both traditional and non- traditional students to learn through digital interaction. 4. While most traditional students prefer to take online courses due to economic reasons, distance, physical disability etc., most non- traditional students favour online courses because of their lack of time due to work place and family commitments. 5. The higher education institutions focus on the use of ICT to provide not only improved access but also improved interaction between and among students. The North- East Scenario : In a statement, in Sepember2011, University Grants Commission(UGC) Chairman Sukhadeo Thorat said that enrolment levels in higher education in urban areas of the North-Eastern region were higher than the National average. The enrolment ratio in higher education in urban areas was 27 .58% and the National average was 27.08 %. However, he said that the all India enrolment rate in higher education in rural areas was 8.40% where as in the North Eastern region, it was only 5.20 %. One of the main causes for low enrolment level in rural areas is poor communication facility. The ITC can here play an important role in providing access to higher education to the rural students of this region. ICT As a Tool : Various kinds of ITCs such as Desktop computers, laptops wirelessly connected to internet, Personal Digital Assistance(PDA), low cost video cameras and other electronic gadgets have become affordable , accessible and integrated in large section of the society throughout the world. ICT can be used as a tool in the process of education in the following ways: 1. Informative Tool : It provides vast amount of data in various formats such as audio, video documents etc. 2. Situating Tool : It creates situations which the student experiences in real life. Thus, simulation and virtual reality is possible. 3. Constructive Tool: It helps in collecting and analysing large amount of data within a very short span of time. 4. Communicative Tool : It can be used to remove communication barriers such as that of space and time. Use of ICT in education develops higher order skills such as collaborating across time and place and solving complex real world problems. It also improves the perception and understanding of the world of the student. Thus, ICT can be used to prepare the work force for the “information society” and the new global economy. The Impact of ICT On What is Learned : Conventional teaching has always emphasized on content. For many years, courses have been written around text books. But contemporary settings are now favouring curricula that promote competency and performance. Curricula are staring to emphasize on capabilities and are more concerned with how the information will be used than with what the information is.Thus the stress is now on competency and performance based curricula and on information literacy. The Impact of ICT On How Students Learn : Just as technology is influencing and supporting, what is being learned, so too it is influencing the ways the students are learning. Shift from content- centred curricula to competency based curricula are associated with shift from teacher-centred approach to student-centred forms. Through technology facilitated approaches contemporary learning settings now encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning and support independent learning. The Impact of ICT On When And where Students Learn : In the past, educational institutions provided little choice for students in terms of the method and manner in which programmes have been delivered. Students have been typically been forced to accept what has been delivered and institutions have tended to be quite conservative in terms of the delivery of their programmes. ICT applications provide many choices and options and many institutions are creating competitive edges for themselves through the choices they are offering to their students. Students can now learn from any place, at home or in their work place and in their own convenient time. Some of the important higher education institutions providing ICT based teaching- learning programme in India include : a) Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOU): uses radio, television and internet technologies. b) National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning : a concept similar to open courseware initiative of MIT. It uses internet and television technologies( National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning, India 2007). c) Eklavya Initiative : Uses internet and television to promote distance learning( Eklavya Technology Channel, India,2007). d) IIT,Kanpur has developed Brihaspati, an open e-learning platform( Bhattacharyya And Sharma,2007) e) Premier institutions like IIM Calcutta have entered into a strategic alliance with NIIT for proving programmes through virtual classrooms. f) Jadavpur university is introducing a mobile learning centre(Bhattacharyya And Sharma,2007). g) IIT, Bombay has started the programme of CDEEP( Centre For Distance Engineering Education Programme) as emulated classroom interaction through the use of real time interactive satellite technology(Centre For Distance Engineering Education Programme, India,2007). h) Sikkim Manipal University( A private Institution of the North- Eastern region) has also introduced various online courses. Factors Affecting Adoption of ICT in Higher Education : The main factors that affect the adoption of ICT in higher education are the missions or goals of a particular system, programmes and curricula, teaching –learning strategies and techniques, learning materials and resources, communication and interaction, support and delivery systems, students, teachers, managements and also evaluation. Moreover, successful implementation of ICT requires strong National support from Government and local support from relevant institutions and educational authorities. It has also been observed that cost is an important issue that decides and guides the adoption and growth of ‘Information and Communication Technology’ especially in developing countries like India. Since technology adoption involves high costs and technical know-how, institutes which implements such technology do not upgrade it in time. Thus the presence of ICT expert is essential at all levels of the system. The strong presence of such technical visionary is evident wherever ICT integration has been initiated successfully. To gradually induce the integration, one needs an ICT related mechanism along with ICT training. This is needed as many teachers facing technical difficulties may tend to revert to the older teaching methods. Teachers need support in using and integrating teaching methods. Potential Drawbacks of Using ICT in Higher Education : 1. Use of ICT may create a digital divide within class as students who are more familiar with ICT will reap more benefits and learn faster than those who are not as technology savvy. 2. It may shift the attention from the primary goal of the learning process to developing ICT skills, which is the secondary goal. 3. It can affect the bonding process between the teacher and student as ICT becomes a communicative tool rather than face to face conversation and thus the transactional distance is increased. 4. Also , since all teachers are not experts with ICT, they may be lax in updating the course content online, which can slow down the learning among students. 5. There is also a potential risk of students merely copying information rather than learning and developing their own skills. 6. Moreover, the cost of softwares of many ICT gadgets is very high. Conclusion : Changes in the curriculum always influence the fundamental economic and social transformation in the society. Such transformations require new kinds of skills, capability and attitudes which can be developed by integrating ICT in higher education. In this regard, National policies as well as policies adopted by Higher Education Institutions can have a deep impact. There needs to be ICT plan, support and training to all the stake holders involved in the integration. Care should be taken to influence the attitudes and beliefs of all the stake holders. If these steps are taken then it would enable development of collaborative skills and knowledge creation skills. This in turn would better prepare the learners for life long learning as well as equip them to join any profession they choose. It can thus improve the overall quality of learning in our country. Reference : 1. Agarwal, P.( 2006) ‘ Higher education In India: The Need for a change’,Indian Council For Research On International Economic Relations. 2. Bhattacharya,I and Sharma, K(2007) ‘Indian in the Knowledge Economy- An Electronic Paradigm’, International Journal of Educational Management, Volume -21 no. 6. 3. Chandra, S and Patkar, V.( 2007), ‘ICTs : A Catalyst For Enriching the learning Process and library services in India’,The international Information and library review 39( 1). 4. Kozma,R(2005), ‘ National policies that connect ICT based education reform to economic and social development’, Human Technology Volume – 1, October 2005. 5. Department of Higher Education, India, 2007, http://education.nic.in/sector.asp/ 6. EKLAVYA Technology channel, India, 2007, http://web.iitd.ac.in/eklavya/index.htm/ 7. Centre for Distance Engineering Education Progranme, India2007,http://www. Cdeep.iitb.ac.in/