IMPACT OF ICT ON EDUCATION.

Information and communication technologies ICT are extremely influencing every discipline under the sun including Education. It is affecting every aspect of education from teaching-learning to assessment and evaluation.

It improves the effectiveness of education. It aids literacy movements. It enhances scope of education by facilitating mobile learning and inclusive education. It facilitates research and scholarly communication.

Impact of ICT and its potential for the education field is manifold. It positively affects all the stakeholders of the education field. The current papers discuss the same along with the various challenges posed by ICT. The challenges include economical issues, educational.

In the education sector, we have seen ICT having a huge impact in the schools and colleges curriculum by introducing it as a area of study. For example in Universities and tertiary colleges, KCA as an example, we see ICT as a field of study in different professional disciplines.

Some of the disciplines include Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Communications, Computer Engineering, Management Information Systems, Mobile Computing, among the many others. This in turn has led to professions in the ICT, both in education system and the industry. The ICT as an object is a key driver on the use of ICT in other application areas.

In most cases, 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. In current higher learning institutions, coursework's, assignments and other work are no longer done the traditional way of paper work. They are done and submitted electronically.

ICT has transformed the way the education is delivered. It is as a tool for teaching and learning itself, the medium through which teachers can teach and learners can learn. There are many different types in which ICT has been envisaged as a medium for teaching and learning included computer assisted learning, web-learning, computer-classes, online training, distance education, eLearning, virtual learning, digital training, etcetera.

ICT is used as a tool for administration and management of record such as school examination preparation and printing, examination results compilation, timetable, school fee and school attendance.

ICT play a role on three fundamental aspects of education: access, quality and cost. It has advanced knowledge by expanding and widening access to education, by improving the quality of education and reducing its cost while extending the education to the remote areas through Virtual, eLearning, online and distance learning.

ICT in education has provided more employment opportunities within the education system directly and indirectly through academic and non-academic staff.
eLearning is a promising tool for expanding and widening access to tertiary education.

Because they relax space and time constraints, ICTs can allow new people to participate in tertiary education by increasing the flexibility of participation compared to the traditional face-to-face model:

working students and adults, people living in remote areas (e.g. rural), non-mobile students and even foreign students could now more easily participate in education.

Online learning allows access to education to larger number of students. The constraints of the face-to-face learning experience, that is, the size of the rooms and buildings and the students/teacher ratio are eliminated.

With ICT, a lesson can be reproduced and communicated very cheaply via different means like the digital recording. This has widened access to tertiary education to young people and too small academic workforce.

E-learning has shown a promising way for improving the quality and effectiveness of tertiary education and learning. These promises have been derived from different characteristics of ICTs: the flexibility of the learning experience to students; enhanced access to information resources for more students; potential to drive innovative and effective ways of learning and/or teaching, including learning tools and easier use of multimedia or simulation tools.

E-learning has also led to reduce the cost of tertiary education, which is critical for expanding and widening its access worldwide. It presents new opportunities for students having difficulties with this traditional format.

ICT can play varied roles in developing an effective learning environment. It acts as a teacher and explains core content concepts and addresses misconceptions. It acts as a stimulant and fosters analytical thinking and interdisciplinary studies.

It networks a learner with the peers and experts and develops collaborative atmosphere. It plays the role of a guide and mentor by providing tailor made instructions to meet individual needs. Online learning facilitates learning through digital mode.

With the help of multimedia, it enhances effectiveness of teaching-learning and hence proves crucial for early learners, slow learners and differently abled learners. Modern ICT tools not only deliver the content but also replicate formal learning experience via virtual learning. The intention of virtual classrooms is to extend the structure and services that accompany formal education programs from the campus to learners.

ICT also addresses the need of mobile learning. It offers independent space and flexibility that comes from working away from the learning institute or tutor. It makes education accessible to all, irrespective of geographical barriers or resource constraints.

Learners from remote areas, working people who want to learn further and update their knowledge and differently-abled students who find travelling an issue of concern - benefit from the mobile learning mode.

There is widespread belief that ICTs can and will empower teachers and learners, transforming teaching and learning processes from being highly teacher-dominated to student-centered, and that this transformation will result in increased learning gains for students, creating and allowing for opportunities for learners to develop their creativity, problem-solving abilities, informational reasoning skills, communication skills, and other higher-order thinking skills.

However, there are currently very limited, unequivocally compelling data to support this belief.

Placing computers in classrooms enables much greater use of ICTs for ‘higher order’ skills than placing computers in separate computer laboratories (indeed, fewer computers in classrooms may enable even more use than greater numbers of computers located in separate computer labs).

Related to this is an increasing attention given to the use of laptops by both teachers and students (and in some places, ‘computers-on-wheels’), as well as, to a much lesser extent, to the use of personal digital assistants and other mobile devices.

Since technology seems infinite, it sparks the brain to work to its full potential. In the past, it used to be very difficult to start a business, one had to have lots of capital, and they even had limited access to business information.

Today, it is simple to start a business while at home. Let’s look at companies like Etsy.com which enable creative people to sell their works online; this encourages creativity. Another good example is kickstarter.com which helps creative people get funds for their projects through crowdfunding.

On this platform, creative developers post projects to seek funding from the community; this helps them generate capital for their ideas which later leads to the creation of new jobs and further innovation of technology. The other creative works which have been facilitated by modern technology include Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, etc
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