Over the past few decades, advancements in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have ushered in rapid transformations in various sectors such as health, agriculture, communication, entertainment, transportation, manufacturing, infrastructure development, etc. However, the integration of ICT in school education has not enjoyed the same degree of success as the aforementioned sectors. And lack of interest is definitely not the reason. Educators, administrators and policy planners worldwide have made many futile attempts at improving education through the integration of ICT in classroom teaching/learning process. While there are few isolated instances of success, ICT in general has not been able to live up to its expectations to transform school education.
However, it would be a mistake to hastily dismiss ICT as a viable tool in improving our education system. ICT, if applied well, has the potential to transform our education system. It can greatly improve the quality of education that our students get. It can enhance student learning by making learning fun, exciting, contextual and effective. It can provide access to a wide range of learning materials that can be a combination of audio, video, animation, images and text formats. It can help bridge the disparity in access to quality education. Yet despite sincere efforts from public and private sectors, we have yet to see a meaningful improvement in education that can be attributed to technology interventions. One chief reason behind widespread failure of ICT in Education interventions is that most of them have laid their focus squarely on technology rather than on education.
Many times we find that the discussions center around various models of ICT interventions such as one-to-one computing and computer labs, or over the choice of hardware and software. Whereas the real discussion should be around what kinds of digital content need to be made available for teachers and students to ensure quality education through the medium of ICT, and how to prepare our teachers to integrate technology in daily teaching-learning practice. This requires localized content in various subject areas and topics, and an understanding amongst all stakeholders that ICT in Education is not about teaching students how to use computers, but using computers and technology to enhance teaching-learning process, starting from improving basic literacy and numeracy. Technology is only a facilitator in the learning process, and should not be mistaken for a substitute for teachers and schools. Hence, it is imperative for any model of ICT intervention to adequately address the areas of content development and teacher preparations. Many implementers and stakeholders are beginning to realize that simply equipping schools with few computers and connecting them to the Internet will not yield better student performance. Until and unless the focus is on Education, we cannot realistically expect ICT-based education to unleash its potential to transform education.
ICT is not the answer to all the problems that our current education system faces. ICT is just a tool, that if applied well, can help address issues related to poor quality and wide disparity in access in education. ICT in Education interventions can deliver its full potential only when there is active and sincere participation from school administrators, teachers, parents, communities and local bodies. We need to involve curriculum experts, teacher trainers, policy makers and planners to effectively transform education through the integration of ICT.