Potential Impact Of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) On Education

Changing face of education with ICT

Question:

Research and Explain Possible future uses of ICTs in education and assess their likely Impact on the various Institutions and different clients groups that may be affected.

ICT refers to technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications. The use of technology is increasing with the change in the century. The use of technology is not only increasing in business but also in schools and colleges. Computers are widely used in the schools and colleges for getting learning’s in the IT subjects (Watson, & Tinsley, 2013). There are different courses related to the IT in which there is need of the ICT. The traditional practice of teaching is changing due to the emergence of the technology. Traditionally, the teachers used to teach the students on blackboards and they used to give the examples orally which is not clear the understanding for each and every students due to which the teachers used to repeat the chapters again and again.

ICT has brought the change in the face of education over the last few decades. The Singapore’s education institutions are considered as the most advanced and updated in the world is related to the use of information technology in education (Schwalbe, 2015). In Singapore, the technology has transformed the way educators teach. The teachers are making the use of the latest apps and websites, the ICT (information and communication technology) is providing helps in deepen students learning and this updated technology is essential to engage the students in the lessons (Today Online, 2017). The use of technology helps the teachers to provide the student clear understanding of the lessons. Schools and colleges use a diverse set of the ICT tools to create, communicate, store, and manage information. The ICT brought the changes in teaching, now the schools and colleges have digital whiteboards; even there is a usage of the smartphone or other devices by the students for learning during the class.

Many schools and colleges make use of cloud computing to access all their homework and the other resources. This provides convenience to the students to make access the digital library anytime even when the campus library is not accessible (Jain, & Pandey, 2013). To provide the learning to the students there is need of the teachers to be aware of the use of digital technologies. The teachers who are literate about the use of ICT can bring the higher order thinking skills, creativity and individualized options for the students so that they can easily and effectively understand the learning.

Current uses of ICT in education

Considering the present use of the ICTs in education, the future uses of ICTs in education is going to be advanced and bright. The Global search for education invited Dr. Pak Tee Ng in Singapore to get the updates on how to support public school system with the use of information communication technologies. In the near future, the schools and colleges will be connected with the Next Generation Broadband Network (NGBM) that provides the ultra-high speed wireless connectivity. There is a need of the ICT mentor in school and college who keeps checking the latest update and can try to implement the same technologies in the schools so that they can provide the better learning to the students, these learnings help the students to grow in the near future. The professional learning communication is used in many schools and colleges that help the teachers to explore the technical possibilities and this also helps teachers in exploring new pedagogies with technology (Spector, Merrill, Elen, & Bishop, 2014).

It is estimated that by the year 2020, approximately 1.5 new digitized jobs will be there across the world. Approximately 90% of the schools and colleges are lacking with the IT skills shortage, the student in the present day feel the gap in their capability to meet the expertise needs of the IT workforce (Frezzo, 2017). According to the research, by the year 2020, the cloud-based education will be implemented by the schools and colleges to provide effective data sharing and better aggregation of student metrics. By the year 2024, the culture of the learning will be embedded into social learning experiences along with the mobile learning technology (Nickerson, & Zodhiates, 2013). The emersions of the daily transition from e-learning along with the face- to face learning will more elegant. By the year 2028, the use of biometrics will start in the education and teachers will be replaced. These technology uses to make the students familiar with the IT skills and they will get curious to know more about the technology. This opens the new ways of the future for the company (Britland, 2013).

3D printing is one of the technologies which are going to be used in the classrooms. The engineering students can make use of the 3D printing that helps to test engineering design with the use of models. The students can check the models before making the actual prototype for this the students make use of the computer-aided design; modeling software. This will save the time of costs and time of the students. Another technology that is going to be used in the future includes flexible displays (Buehler, Comrie, Hofmann, McDonald, & Hurst, 2016). During the lectures, the traditional display was a paper which is currently shifted to laptops, netbook, and tablets. In the near future, the OLED-based displays will be the most flexible displays that are going to be used by the schools and the colleges. The displays are going to be lightweight, and extremely thin, students can roll them into tubes or fold them like newspapers.

Future uses of ICT in education

Biometric technology is booming in the security industry, but sooner or later it is going to be the part of education system. Eye tracking is involved in the biometric technology which is helpful to understand teachers feedback, how much students absorb from the learning sessions. The Mirametrix is using its S2 Eye Tracker to evaluate how students learn through online learning sessions when they watch them. These technologies show the future of the education system with the use of the information communication technologies (Pareek, 2016). The advancement of the technology will change the way of providing the learning to the students (Heick, 2012). These changes bring the positive changes in the future of the student; the better understanding of learning will bring the bright future of the students.

The shifting of digital whiteboards will take place with the Multi-Touch LCD touch boards. These boards are going to be giant boards with the LCD screen lying on the top of the table. The students can swipe on the board to drag and manipulate the images around the screen and can type notes with the on-screen keypad. On each desk, the student will find these LCD screens so that they can access the learning across the world. Learning with the use of the technology attracts most of the student and they get focused towards their learning (Patel, Nayak, Kevadia, & Patel, 2017). For instance, the Durham University shows how to make the use of technology in learning for the school children. The students get handy towards the uses of the technology and they get aware how to browse.

The ICTs brings the changes in education but this is also a fact that it replaces the face-to-face contact in the classroom. The future uses of the ICTs in education will definitely bring the positive aspect but it will likely to impact the various institutions and the different client groups might get affected (Tyner, 2014). The impact on the institutions and on groups can be negative and positive. The institution like college and schools have to look at the advanced technology and have to invest the amount to bring the advanced technology so that they will be able to provide the best facility of the learning to the students. Though investment on the technologies will bring the development in the institutions; this is also a fact to bring the advanced technology there is need of the huge amount which is not possible for some institutions to invest in technology. These institutions might lack behind and will result in the decline in the profits and development.

Benefits and drawbacks of ICT in education

The students and the teachers might get hooked on the technology instead of the learning content. The ICTs use in education includes the different technologies that attract the students towards it and this is the reason most of the students start with the learning lessons but ends with the technology used for the self-interest. This leads to the distraction for the students and teachers. The ICTs technologies bounded the imagination power of the students; nowadays the students are getting all the creative ideas on the internet (Andres, Asongu, & Amavilah, 2015). This bounded the ideas and creativity of the students and they are getting dependent on the technology. The brainstorming or personal development also get restricted because of these technologies.

Different groups include the teacher anxiety because the teachers in the universities are going to be replaced by the advance technology emergence. They might also lose the authority in the class because the learning process is becoming more learner-centered. There is one more reason behind the replacement of the teachers that is lack of awareness about the digital technology. There are some institutions who are trying to provide the professional learning to teachers in regards to the technology so that they can continue their job but in case the teachers are not able to get familiar with the changes they have to leave the job. This shows the negative impact on the institutions and the different groups.

Each and every institution will require a mentor who is familiar with the technology and knows about the technology advancement. The need of the technical support specialists is essential in the institutions to continue the viability of the ICT use in the schools and university. The demand of the specialist will increase in the near future this will create a job opportunity for the specialist in the country. The technology advancement in the universities and schools will enhance the development of the teachers, those tutors who were not aware of the technology uses earlier will get to know about the use of technology. This personal learning and development will help the tutors in the near future and their demand will increase.

The use of the information communication technology in education has the ability to perform the impossible experiments by using the stimulations. These experiments change into the innovation with the use of the technology. The ICTs in education provided the connectivity which helps the students to access the international experts teaching materials across the world. This will help the student to accomplish their study in depth and along with the expertise which leads to the bright future of the students (Stromquist, & Monkman, 2014). The accessibility of the technology made it possible to check the learning material and the expert opinion on the learning. This creates the positive impact on the future of the students.

The information communication technology uses are definitely going to increase in the near future. Though, with the changes in the future, there will be a presence of the positive and negative impact on the institution along with the group. Considering both the parameters, the development will take place in the countries, the future of the students is going to be bright, and the technology advancement will take place. Though, the negative impact can try to reduce the usage of ICTs in the education.

References

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Buehler, E., Comrie, N., Hofmann, M., McDonald, S., & Hurst, A. (2016). Investigating the implications of 3D printing in special education. ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS), 8(3), 11.

Frezzo, D. (2017). The role of technology in the education of the future. Viewed on 9^th November 2017, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/05/science-of-learning/

Heick, T. (2012). 30 Incredible Ways Technology Will Change Education By 2028. Viewed on 9^th November 2017, https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/30-incredible-ways-technology-will-change-education-by-2028/

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