THE UTILIZATION OF ICT IN EDUCATION

Muhamad Suharyadi
Post Graduate Programme of English Language Education
Universiy of  Prof.Dr.Hamka

Jakarta

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, ICT becomes more widely available,teachers pay attention to the development of ICT ,and they have tasks  how  to integrate this technology into teaching learning process. Hartoyo (2008) points out that The impact of communication and information technology (IT) development on education has been widely countenanced. ICT can be used in many different ways, and how it is integrated into educational settings depends largely on teacher’s instructional goals and strategies. Changes in the goals of education in our countrty  has created changes in teachers’ use of technology. It has  big impact on the development of teaching approaches . Introducing ICT in education is challenge for teachers and pupils. Teachers have to develop their own ICT skills and change their existing practices. The role of teching is changing. Successful integration into the curriculum depends on teachers being convinced of the relevance of ICT as a means of providing access to a richer range of resources for themselves and pupils.

OBJECTIVES

In this article I will  discuss the general overview of use and the benefits of ICT in education s . To provide the discussion the writer focus on the relevance of ICT in education especially in teaching and learning. Hopefully, it is will be useful for the wiriter and readers who love and concern on the field of ICT and education.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

ICT is a common term referring to technologies which are being used for collecting, storing, editing and passing on information in various forms. ICT is changing education system, not only technologicaly but also socialy. A personal computer (PC) is the best known example of the use of ICT in education, but the term multimedia is also frequently used. Multimedia can be interpreted as a combination of data carriers, for example video, CD-ROM, DVD, Internet and software in which the possibility for an interactive approach is offered.

Information and Communication Technologies includes technologies in which the computer plays a central role, i.e. Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), the Internet, and a variety of generic computer applications. Broadcasting (including digital radio and television and satellite television) is subsumed under the heading multimedia.

ICT was originally intended to serve as a means of improving efficiency in the educational process. Furthermore, it has been shown that the use of ICT in education can help improve memory retention, increase motivation and generally deeper understanding (Dede, 1998). ICT can also be used to promote collaborative learning, including role playing, group problem solving activities and articulated projects (Forcheri and Molfino, 2000).

ANALYSIS

Introducing ICT in school system has important financial aspect: supplying every student with ICT facilities (multimedia and internet-connected PCs) requires considerable funding, and therefore school administration and community must take their part of responsibility to support this process along with teachers.

There are some functions of the use of ICT in education are described in literature. First,ICT as object. It refers to learning about ICT. Mostly organised in a specific course. What is being learned depends on the type of education and the level of the students. Education prepares students for the use of ICT in education, future occupation and social life. Second,ICT as an ‘assisting tool’. ICT is used as a tool, for example while making assignments, collecting data and documentation, communicating and conducting research. Typically, ICT is used independently from the subject matter. Third, ICT as a medium for teaching and learning. This refers to ICT as a tool for teaching and learning itself, the medium through which teachers can teach and learners can learn. It appears in many different forms, such as drill and practice exercises, in simulations and educational networks. Finally,ICT as a tool for organization and management in schools.

A part from the computer (ICT) as merely a medium, it offers some benefits for students in their learning process. One of the benefits of a computer (ICT) is that it is more interactive aid compare with other media such as tape recorder, film projectors and, such common equipment-chalk and blackboard.

The unique property of the computer as a medium for education is its ability to interact  with the student. Books and recordings can tell a student what the rules are and what the right solutions are, but they can not analyze the specific mistakes the students has made and react in manner which leads him not only correct solution. (Nelson ,et al,1976).

According to Wheeler ( 2001)  ICT has some benefits when it is used in education field. The benefits of using ICT in education include : Shared learning resources, share learning spaces, the promotion of collaborative learning and the move of autonomous learning.

One of the most striking examples of ICT in action in  schools is the apposite use of video systems to transmit television programme and information throughout an entire school and even between schools in the same district.

Networked computing facilities create a distributed environment where learners can share work spaces, communicate with each other and their teachers in text form, and access a wide variety of resources from internal and external databases via web based systems through the Internet.

Reil (2000) argues that much of what we now see as individual learning will change to become collaborative in nature. Reasoning and intellectual development is embedded in the familiar social situations of everyday life (Donaldson, 1978) so the social context of learning has a great deal of importance. Collaborative learning is therefore taking an increasing profile in the curricula of many schools, with ICT playing a central role.

At the same time, computers – and the power they bring to the student to access, manipulate, modify, store and retrieve information – will promote greater autonomy in learning. Inevitably, the use of ICT in the classroom will change the role of the learner, enabling children to exert more choice over how they approach study, requiring less direction from teachers.

There are some improvements in educational process as a result of using ICT in schools, such as, students are highly motivated to use ICT, easier learning and adopting new skills, and researches show that students’ outcomes on conventional achievement test rise when ICT based educational innovations are implemented.

ICT has been bringing about several benefits to the learner and the teacher. These include sharing of resources and learning environments as well as the promotion of collaborative learning and a general move towards greater learner autonomy.

One of the key points in effective usage of ICT in education is teacher’s positive acceptance of new technologies. In practice, many teachers have to change their pedagogical approaches to adopt and apply ICT. Also other structures relating to education system – school’s management, institutional structures and relationship to the community – must take effort and take their part of responsibility in order to enhance usage of ICT in schools.

Teachers have been polarized in their acceptance of the new technologies. While some have enthusiastically integrated computers and the Internet into the classroom, other have been cautious in their welcome, and some have simply rejected the technologies. There is a level of justifiable cynicism based on previous experience of computer based applications such as CAL. Ironically, some enthusiasts have inadvertently damaged the reputation of ICT by poor classroom practice – using the technology for the sake of its novelty value, or failing to think through the issues before implementing the technology (Littlejohn, et al, 1999).

Conclusion and Recomendation

The utilitization of  of ICT  is increasing more and more, it influences the development of eduacation in our country. ICT brings new opportunities for teachers and students to take adventage of these new technologies ,however it needs a new approach in teaching learning activities. Thus, teachers must be more creative to use ICT,in order to use ICT effectively, teachers have to integrate technology and learning methods. Teachers have to create environment in which students actively engage in cognitive partnership with ICT. To be able to promote usage of ICT, teachers have to change themselves, thaey have to learn continuously to adopt and apply new technologies. Recent researches show that applying ICT brings many improvements in educational outcomes. ICT offers many  benefits not only for teacher but also for the students.The benefits of ICT  in education consist of  more interactve aid, shared learning resources, share learning space , the promotion of collaborative learning, the move towards atonomous learning, increase students’ motivation, advanced topic mastered, students acticting as expert do, better outcome of standardized test.

REFERENCES

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