What are the top 5 problems or challenges in integrating ICT in teaching and learning?

 © 2019 IJRAR June 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138)

INTEGRATION OF ICT IN EDUCATION: KEY CHALLENGES

Abstract:The role of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) in Education is undisputed globally. ICT have potentially powerful tool for extending educational opportunities. ICT have the potential for increasing access to and improving the relevance and quality of Education. ICT can enhance the quality of education in several ways: by increasing learner motivation and engagement, by facilitating the acquisition of basic skills and by enhancing teacher training. In 21st century teaching learning skill underscore the need to shift from traditional teacher centered pedagogy to more learner-centered method, so that's why we need ICT facilities in our modern education system. But some barriers may discourage teachers & student to integrated ICT in education, like- availability in educational institution, maintenance, lack of knowledge, pace of change & funding. The process of using ICT is changing everyday in education that’s very complicated, because people can't know, what is it, how can we handle it, when we use it. People must know what can be done with ICT.This paper examined some key challenges faced by the higher education institutions (HEIs) in integrating ICTs into teaching and learning & key challenges of ICT envisaged in our 21st century Education & how we overcome the problems that we face in use of ICT in 21st century of education.
 
Keywords:ICT, Challenges, higher education institution, ICT integration, availability.
 &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="line-height:normal;text-align:justify"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:medium"&gt;Introduction&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;ICT stands for Information and Communication Technologies and are define, for the purpose of this primer, as a " diverse set technological tools and resources used to communicate, and to create, disseminate, store, and manage information. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) defines Information and Communication Technologies: "ICTs are basically information-handling tools-a varied set of goods, application and services that are used to produce, store, process, distribute and exchange information............"&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) is an accepted element in all our lives and has a central role to play in Education. 21&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; century is the age of Information and Communication Technology. All over the globe, there is a trend to use ICT in teaching learning process. ICT is inevitable for all sectors and all segment across region. ICTs offer the potential to share information across traditional barriers, to give a voice to traditionally unheard peoples, to provide valuable information that enhances economic, health and educational activities. ICT has a direct role to play in education sector. It can bring many benefits to schools, educational as well as to the community. ICTs in school add to knowledge production, information and communication sharing among the school community. But more barriers or challenges may discourage teacher and student to integrated ICT in education.One of the major challenge of using ICT in Higher Education is to base choice on technological possibilities rather than educational needs. The educational effectiveness of ICT depends on how they are used and for what purpose. ICTs do not work for everyone, everywhere in the sane way. In the different part of the world the use of ICTs is differently depending on the affordability, availability and access to technology.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="line-height:normal;text-align:justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;&lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1097738723363484" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt; <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;text-align:center" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1097738723363484" data-ad-slot="2070265619"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Role of ICT in Modern Education
ICTs can play the same role in our information and communication process and their outcomes as played by other technologies in making our lives quite comfortable and purposeful. The ICT has been developing very rapidly nowadays. Therefore, in order to balance it, the whole educational system should be reformed and it should be integrated into educational activities, Traditional learning was hard, introduction of ICT has change the traditional concept. It has the potential to transform the nature of education. ICT and their role have a tremendous potentiality of serving its cause and helping the persons connected with the process and product in a number of ways. Role or benefits of ICT in education are-

• ICT has the potential to improve education system of the nation.
• Enable student to demonstrate achievement in ways which might not be possible with traditional method.
• ICT may help student to satisfy their urges of curiosity, inventories and construction.
• ICT helps enhance the quality of education by facilitating new forms of interaction between students, teacher, education employees and the community.
• ICT act as and provides students and teachers with new tools that enable improved learning and teaching and adds to skills formation.
• ICT improve quality and structure of the syllabi by enforcing competency and performance based approach towards it.
• Access to the learning programme any time convenient to the learner, learner can be at any place to log on.
• The teacher gets sufficient help from ICT, in their task of teaching.
• To increase variety to educational services and medium.
• It improves that learning process through the provision of more interactive educational materials that increase learner motivation and facilitate the easy acquisition of basic skills.
• ICT makes education more accessible for all, bringing to the doorstep of children living in remote rural location by means of enabling distance learning.
• Improving the efficiency of educational administration and management at every level from the classroom, school library, through the school and on to the sector as a whole.

• Entry- learners are trained how to use information and communication technologies;
• Adoption- teachers use technologies as supplementary aids in the context of traditional teaching/learning methods;
• Adaptation- technologies are used for expansion/enrichment of the curriculum;
• Appropriation- technologies are integrated and used due to their exceptional and unique qualities;
• Invention - new areas are invented where the use of technologies is appropriate.

In stage one (Entry) learners, not the teacher, gets acquainted with information technologies. Technologies are treated as a problem and inconvenience.

How to overcome barriers

Having overviewed the barriers and difficulties of ICT integration presented by different authors, such as Murray and Campbell (2000), Hargreaves (1994), Cook (1997), Ang (1998), Glennan and Melmad (1996), Ringstaff (1995), (Lai 2001), Sinko (2002) and etc., summarizing we will present the main factors that have to be taken into account seeking to overcome the barriers and difficulties:

1.  Political decisions- Using information and communication technologies in the process of teaching/learning, i.e., in class, their integration into the present curriculum aiming at improvement of teaching/learning is the most difficult process. This attempt to integrate information and communication technologies can be fruitless and inefficient unless the Ministry of Education and Science plans and provides schools with proper resources (Lai 2001).

2.  School management- Schools can play a very important role in integrating ICT into the system of education. It is worth mentioning that not only ministries should tale how the process of integration should be organized, but also schools could give feedback on difficulties they are facing integrating ICT into curriculum and suggesting what could be done differently.

3.  Teacher as learner- Teachers have to experience learner position. In the learner position teacher models a positive situation for learners and shows learners a different perspective, which makes the perception of new subjects easier. Teacher has to feel free and without any restrictions in the teaching environment. Only these feelings will foster the teacher to learn and develop further.
 
4.  Barriers as opportunities- The emerged difficulties should be viewed as opportunities to develop. It should not decrease motivation but should be transformed into the constructive process of teaching/learning, which could support ICT integration in a more efficient way (Lai 2001).
 
5.  Peer support- Reliable colleagues can become internal "technology" teachers who could teach in small and convenient groups. Teachers can be provided help by sharing best practices of the same school teachers or analyzing the benchmarking projects.
 
6.  Time issue- If the school intends to achieve good results in the area of ICT integration, then at least one week a year should be devoted to teacher activities outside the class. During these events teachers should be acquainted with innovations in information and communication technology area, and should be explained in detail how to use these innovations and integrate them into the process of teaching/learning.
 &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="line-height:normal;text-align:justify"&gt;&lt;b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:medium"&gt;Conclusion&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;Current situation shows us that access to ICT is a major requirement for participation in a technological society (Tello, 2007). Adoption of ICTs as a means to provide access and continuity must begin by breaking up the digital divides of a society that has not internalized adaptation dynamics yet.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="line-height:normal;text-align:justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;There is talk of integrating ICT in education once the educational system is in a position to design meaningful learning generated through experiences and a reflective content, capable of having both students and teachers generate knowledge. The above is focused not only on the classroom (Aguilar, 2012). Every space and moment where learning occurs must conceive of the idea of becoming this signal achievement.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="line-height:normal;text-align:justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;ICTs, as technological tools, have increased the degree of significance and educational conception, establishing new models of communication, besides generating spaces for training, information, debate, reflection, among others, as well as breaking up the barriers of traditionalism in the classroom (Ayala, n.d.).&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="line-height:normal;text-align:justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;The teaching-learning process in the classroom, using ICT, requires a set of skills to be developed by the teacher with a view to internalizing a methodology to make the most of technological tools, in which teacher training shall be deemed among the first options prior to facing new educational challenges.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="line-height:normal;text-align:justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;In the context of ideas above, the transition from traditional education to a knowledge acquisition-based society has been no easy task. The functional role of teachers within this approach not only requires a change in their methodological practices, but a change of mind involving their beliefs in the different environments where learning can be achieved.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="line-height:normal;text-align:justify"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial"&gt;&lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1097738723363484" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt; <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;text-align:center" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1097738723363484" data-ad-slot="2070265619"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

The contribution of ICTs to education and society as such is undoubtedly flexibility and adaptability to an increasingly changing environment. While at the outset labour was mainly affected by this process, however, the passage of time has shown that society depends on a technological approach to help it build and acquire knowledge.

ICTs, in their role as tools added to pedagogical models, can become valuable resources for learning and for equipping students with appropriate personal and professional skills for a country’s development (Prieto, Quiñones, Ramírez, Fuentes, Labrada, Pérez & Montero, 2011).

Revolution in information and communication technologies has reduced national boundaries to meaningless lines drawn on maps. In this scenario, education has been identified as one of the services which need to be opened up for free flow of trade between countries. ICTs use in modern education can save a lot of money of the Government. Moreover a lot of qualitative improvement can be seen as resource persons for the training can be best of the world. ICT can be helpful in quality and standards of education by implementing it in various phases of education. But lack of resources within the educational sector educational is a hindrance in the implementation of ICT in developing in 21st century. The task of employment and integration of ICT in modern eduction is facing a lot of challenges. the challenges like- availability of ICT facilities in educational institution, lack of knowledge to handle ICT equipment, language problem, insufficient funds, lack of trained etc. but we can over come the challenges- to create awareness on ICT Education, to formulate policies to promote broad access to skills and competencies for learning and adopting ICT, enlarge community participation for self-sustainability in ICT application, develop supportive infrastructure facilities such as electricity, internet, etc. Government should actively. Responsible authorities have to try and overcome these challenges, so that the modern education can benefit.
 
Recommendations
Recommendation Sequel to the fact that lack of adequate facilities negatively affects the application of ICT in the school administration, it may be recommended that school administrators in collaboration with parents and other stakeholders in the school should come together and contribute meaningfully in their own small measures towards the provision of ICT the facilities to their school. This will help in improving the adequacy of ICT related facilities in the school. 

The school management should adopt best resource management practices that will expedite the process of monitoring the adequacy and status of the available ICT related resources in the school. Moreover, in this line, rules and regulations should be set to ensure adequate security is provided to the available facilities so as to prevent them from being stolen or destruction from viruses. 

Students should be highly encouraged by the school administrators and management to take up ICT classes so as to acquire more knowledge on how they may be able to use ICT effectively.

 
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