Barriers and difficulties faced by some institutions in being able to embed ICT fully

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Permalink Reply by Whitney Allen on June 16, 2013 at 7:38pm

May I ask what you are calling ICT?

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Permalink Reply by AMBREEN AMER on June 17, 2013 at 4:01am

Hi Whitney, Its Information Communication technology.

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Permalink Reply by AMBREEN AMER on June 17, 2013 at 11:27am

Most of the people here are asking what is ICT. It is Information Communication Technology.

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Permalink Reply by Peggy George on June 17, 2013 at 1:30pm

Hi Ambreen,

I am a retired elementary principal and university pre-service instructor so I am not having to deal with these issues personally. However, I am an enthusiastic supporter of the use of ICT and can share a few resources with literature reviews that might help you.

Barriers to the Successful Integration of ICT in Teaching and Learning Environments: A Review of the Literature (2011)

http://getideas.org/resource/barriers-successful-integration-ict-te...

Investigating the place of the ‘T’ in ICT in Early Childhood Education Linda Flavel (2006)

http://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/webdav/site/education/shared/ab...f

ICT and Early Childhood Education: A Literature Review (2013)

http://gatuyu.blogspot.com/2013/02/ict-and-early-childhood-educatio...

ICT in the Early Years (lots of great suggestions in this document)

http://www.earlyyears.sa.edu.au/files/links/ICT_in_the_EYDiscussion...

Hope that helps.

Peggy

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Permalink Reply by AMBREEN AMER on June 17, 2013 at 1:34pm

Thanks Peggy You are a great help I am definitely going to review all the blogs and websites you recommended.

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Permalink Reply by bushra khan on June 18, 2013 at 1:12am

I believe technology is an another tool to enhance learning in students and  teacher works as a facilitator , to use these tools for effective learning is a big challenge .The main barrier along with a number of others , could be the need based training of the teachers .The more teachers would be trained,the more benifitial students will be of using these tools meaningfully

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Permalink Reply by bushra khan on June 19, 2013 at 7:16am

As a practitioner, I had experienced that  having technology plans could be a big challenge for any teacher without a proper training and knowing the learning needs of the students of a certain age.It definitely demands designed appropriate course content and instructional programs.Technology education is ever evolving therefore it requires more budget and maintenance of the tools. Most importantly the traditional educational systems have strong roots in the society ,to change the mindset of the parents ,we need to find the ways to prove the impact of ICT in students learning.

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Permalink Reply by AMBREEN AMER on June 19, 2013 at 9:08am

I agree with you Bushra. Most of the teachers are comfortable with the traditional teaching methods are they are reluctant to take initiatives and start new teaching strategy using ICT. Moreover there is a misperception regarding  using ICT in teaching and learning. I think technology is not only about having computers, IWBs,Smart boards or Promethean boards,one can start using technology by using a cellphone for recording sound or a tape recorder, or maybe a blender or a microwave for teaching recepies or a torch etc.So for those who talk about budgets or financial limitations I think they should take smaller steps to start and then after looking at the wonderful impact of ICT on students learning, Institutes will definitley start spending their budget buying other technology tools.

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Permalink Reply by Maria Rana on June 22, 2013 at 8:21am

Hi Ambreen,

Answering to your question I think there may be many barriers that avert or prevent any organization to put in ICT fully, but according to me following are the main causes. First one is the lack of resources that may be in terms of money of skilled people.It also include less trained teachers, if teachers are trained they can surely use the technology more effectively and efficiently.And training may not include teachers only but the other management staff as well. Training is very important so that teachers may not feel hesitant to use technology and of course the management to facilitate and motivate teachers. 

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Permalink Reply by bushra khan on June 26, 2013 at 1:07am

I believe that along with these barriers , know how of the latest technology tools is must  so that children can be provided with the fast and modern teaching and learning methods. For instance I found Promethean boards more user friendly as compare to IWB and then the same goes for tabs instead of using desktops .

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Permalink Reply by Jiya Shah on June 26, 2013 at 1:23am

 Hi Ambreen , I have gone through all the replies and I am in an agreement with all that teachers training is one of the most important factors and can be a main barrier while embedding ICT .Although computer literacy is a part of nowadays education set up but specific training to meet students learning needs is highly required. Organizations need to understand their responsibilities while integrating this set up as it is highly demanding which requires proper budgeting , research and teacher training

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Permalink Reply by AMBREEN AMER on June 26, 2013 at 8:27am

What I have concluded from all the discussions is that in general teachers had a strong desire to integrate ICT in education, but that they face many obstacles. The major barriers are lack of confidence, lack of competence and  lack of access to the resource. Since confidence competence and accessibilty have been found to be the critical components of technology integration in schools, ICT resources including software and hardware, professional development, sufficient time and technical support provided to teachers. I think all these above mentioned components are inter related to eachother and their presence increases the possibility of effective and excellent integration of ICT in a teaching and learning environment.

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