Over the past few years the use of ICT has become more commonly used in educational settings, one of these settings being Higher Education. The aim of this essay is to identify and discuss the opportunities and challenges practitioners face when implementing ICT into Higher Education courses. I also intend to explore the use of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in lectures followed by the analysis of Student Response Systems (SRSs) used within these lectures. The IWB is defined as any board linked to a computer which has the capacity to display a projected image which can then be controlled by the user by touching the board with their finger or a pen (Beauchamp, 2004). My second chosen theme, Student Response Systems, are defined by Williams et al. (2011) as electronic media remote controls that allow students to answer multiple choice questions and take part in quizzes or Likert-style questions produced on a PowerPoint presentation by the lecturer. Throughout the discussion of my themes in this essay, I will include a combination of my own experiences relevant to ICT and recent research which has been carried out which looks at the use of ICT in Higher Education.
Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have been present in educational settings for over a decade now. The UK government was one of the first to use of this new educational technology, as part of the National Literacy Strategy and the National Numeracy Strategy. This decision came in response to an apparent need to focus on the development of ICT skills within mainstream schooling if Britain was to remain competitive in an increasingly globalized world (Hockly, 2013). IWBs can be used to improve learning and encourage student engagement, with four different categories of use. Beau...
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.... For example, instructors may use SRS just to take attendance (Premkumar & Coupal, 2008). The instructor should ensure that the main focus is on learning and not the handsets.
There are many opportunities that are available for educators and students when using IWBs and SRSs in Higher Education, and there are also many challenges. With the right amount of training, which also needs to be continual throughout the implementation, lecturers will have the skills and abilities to use these types of ICT effectively to enhance and create engagement within their classes. Many lecturers that I have seen teach have too often focused too much on the technology and getting it to work and not enough time on adapting it to suit the needs of the learner. Bit by bit we are finding ways to overcome these barriers and someday I hope that that we can use ICT to its fullest potential.
Many colleges have failed in achieving the perfect education by the excessive use of technology. Hacker and Dreifus support the use of technology in many cases, such as having interactive question where the software can give the chance to review your work or giving hints to find the right answer (182). Nevertheless, they are completely aware that the use of technology needs to be supported by a good instruction inside the classrooms (183). The University of the Ozarks’ technological resources out of class are a great advantage to improve the learning process in students’ free time. Online discussions, submitting assignments, and taking online tests are the most common online activities for students in this university, this activities challenge the knowledge acquired in class. Moreover, using technology outside the classroom provides the opportunity to use all the class time to go on new topics, to discus, and to answer questions. Nevertheless, the University of the Ozarks is not using all its technological resources appropriately. Most of the classrooms are provided with interactive boards, speakers, and projectors that are hardly ever used. If the university used every technological resource at its maximum, the positive results of learning would
Technology has come a long way in the last forty years. We have so many options today to use in classrooms that we should be producing technology savoy students. One of the biggest technology tools to enter the classrooms is the use of Smartboards. At first any teacher can become overwhelmed. I mean a board that is called smart? What can this device do that will make learning to read more fun and engaging and yet be a valid form of learning? Well, with time and refresher after refresher classes, it is now clear.
Student response systems, or clickers, are a wireless handheld device used by students to provide responses to a variety of different assessments as a part of classroom instruction (Caldwell, 2007). Researchers have not yet agreed on a standard term for student response systems. For the sake of this paper, student response systems will be the all encompassing term for this technology. There are different types and brands of student response systems, but the concept is the same for all, which is to provide feedback to the instructor in an interactive way during instruction. The use of clickers is not necessarily face to face. When used correctly, student response systems are a tool of engagement (Berry, 2009). Students are engaged in active learning when they apply knowledge and solve problems (Sullivan, 2009). Lastly, student response systems eliminate fear of asking questions in a classroom, because the student knows that if they do not understand the content, they may indicate so without fear of being singled out. Student response systems are an engaging tool, that when used effectively in the classroom can activate student learning.
Mrs. Estep used the smart board for her lesson, but did not use any interactive features. She used Book Flix by Scholastic, which is a website that reads animated books to the class. When Mrs. Estep told the children to go to the smart board one yelled, “Yay smart board time!” Unfortunately the second book on the website that Mrs. Estep was going to show the children wouldn’t load so she went to her backup plan and had the children play a game. Technology is very prevalent in classrooms, but sometimes it is not reliable, so you must come up with and alternative
Since the integration of technology into education, technology has helped give students advanced opportunities, and a chance at a better education than those before them. Technology in the classroom can be a very useful tool to students, and the job of educators is to ask themselves if new technologies are helping students accomplish something that would otherwise not be possible. The answer to this question should always be yes.
Generally speaking, the use of IWBs has definitely changed the look and feel of daily classroom lessons. Teachers are acutely aware of its capabilities and drawbacks but are able to apply new insight into their method of lesson delivery and activities for the students that can be incorporated by its use. Students can use the IWB for independent practice and in many instances receive immediate feedback. Add to these aspects the fact that the IWB has etched out its position, not only in education but in many other fields and applications, and you have a multimedia tool which has taken the educational environment and altered it forever.
Although some teachers still use regular boards,most teachers use smart boards to teach. These boards are like ordinary boards except these are controlled by a remote control pen. By just clicking on the board questions can be written in a variety of ways and in any color you want. The final piece of tech that is mainly used in the classroom is a variety of websites that provide tests,quizzes,and assignments that students can access with a certain username and password. Research has found that all types of technology are changing the way teachers teach forever (usnews.com).
The devices provide an opportunity to engage an inclusive approach creating learning communities, accountability and assessment systems. Teachers do not command the learning experience, but serve as a stabilized fixture to support the activity of students while in the midst of study. The students, therefore, take on an exploratory role and tangibly manipulate information to discover valuable solutions to academic inquiries as well as societal problems. This particular research article will impact my teaching because student engagement is an issue that must be a priority when considering the use of technology in my own classroom. It is not enough to have access to these devices, but to integrate them in a way that will be become beneficial for the entire learning experience and the ones are a part of it.
The interactive whiteboard has been in use in the corporate arena for many years and has been successful in making impact on customers through a seamless presentation of data. The interactive whiteboard has made a jump to the classroom and has been able to have just as significant of an impact but for many different reasons. The interactive whiteboard has become a tool to engage students, provide for student involvement in the learning process and has generally made learning more fun for both teacher and student. There are many articles about the use of interactive whiteboards and there have been researchers throughout the world measuring the benefits that these boards are providing to the impact of learning and delivery of knowledge.
Technology is Changing Education The best method for improving educational standards is to utilize every tool available, including state-of-the-art technology. Computers and the Internet have expanded the way in which education can be delivered to the students of today. Today's networking technologies provide a valuable opportunity to the practice of learning techniques. Educators are discovering that computers and multi-based educational tools are facilitating learning and enhancing social interaction. Computer based telecommunications can offer enormous instructional opportunities, but educators will need to adapt current lesson plan to incorporate this new medium into all the classrooms.
Technology, as we all know, is helping and improving many disciplines of life. Technology, in Britannica Encyclopedia, is defined as the application of scientific knowledge to the practical aims of human life. (Britannica, 2009)
The introduction of technology into education has revolutionized the teaching quality and learning outcome in the last ten years. The integration of technology into lectures by teachers in classroom has become so natural that both teachers and learners consider computers and their related applications for instruction are “a routine component of the classroom and educational processes in general” (Nuldén, 1999 cited in Buzzard et al., 2011, pp.131-139).
ICT's vital role cannot be ignored in increasing attainment to education as well as preparing better quality education (Gutterman et al, 2009). Education has not been untouched by the pervasive impact of information and communication technology. No doubt that ICT has influenced the quantity and quality of teaching, learning, and research. ICT, in concrete terms can improve teaching and learning via its engaging and interactive content; and it can prepare real opportunities for individualized teaching. ICT has the potential to speed up, enhance, and deepen skills. It motivates and engages students in learning. It also helps to connect school experiences to practices and to develop economic viability for future
Technology properly used in the classroom has many advantages to a student’s learning. Technology can help students become more involved in their own learning process, which is not seen in the traditional classroom. It allows them to master basic skills at their own rate rather than being left behind. Teachers and students alike can connect to real life situations by using technology in the classroom; this can also help to prepare students for real world situations. Technology can be used to motivate students as well as to offer more challenging opportunities. It can also be used as a visualization tool to keep students interested in the subject that is being taught. When technology is used effectively, students have the opportunity to develop skills that they may not get without the use of technology (Cleaver, 2011). Assessing and monitoring students is easier on the teacher because of the ability to use technology in the classroom. When technology is used correctly it offers limitless resources to a classroom atmosphere.
ICT have become commonplace entities in all aspects of life. Across the past twenty years the use of ICT has fundamentally transformed the practices and procedures of nearly all forms of exertion within business and governance. Education is a very socially focused activity and quality education has traditionally been connected with strong teachers having high degrees of personal contact with learners. The use of ICT in education lends itself to more student-centred learning settings. But with the world moving swiftly into digital media and information, the role of ICT in education is becoming more and more essential and this importance will continue to grow and develop in the 21st century.