ICT in Higher Education
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
IN
HIGHER EDUCATION
International Federation for Information processing (IFIP)
November 2000
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
IN
HIGHER EDUCATION
Yvonne Buettner, Switzerland
Charles Duchâteau, Belgium
Catherine Fulford, USA
Pieter Hogenbirk, The Netherlands
Mike Kendall, United Kingdom
Raymond Morel, Switzerland
Chair & Editor: Tom van Weert, The Netherlands
The Chair of the Working Party wishes to thank the
Centre Pédagogique des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (CPTIC),
Geneva, Switzerland
and its director Raymond Morel for their continuing support.
The Chair of the Working Party also acknowledges the support from
the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
IN
HIGHER EDUCATION
Contents
Acknowledgement 5
Approaches to ICT Development 6
Stages of Teaching and Learning 8
Staff Development 10
Approaches to ICT Development at Institutional Level 12
Approaches to ICT Development 12
Areas of ICT Development 14
ICT Development at Institutional Level 4
Emerging Approach 4
Applying Approach 6
Integrating Approach 8
Transforming Approach 10
Professional Development of Teachers 12
A. Emerging ICT Skills and Knowledge 13
B Applying ICT to the Teachers’ Subject Area 17
C Integrating ICT to improve Learning and the Management of Learning 20
D Supporting Integration by a “Resource Person” for Teachers and Students 23
References 25
IFIP Curricula 25
Background Information 25
Acknowledgement
In the autumn of 2000 a working party of the International Federation for Information Processing has been working on the issues concerning the development of Information and Communication Technology in education. There was broad consensus within this working party on the way ICT develops in education on all levels. This consensus made it possible to produce a document describing this development. The outcome of the work was used in the production of an updated version of “Information and Communication Technologies in Secondary Education, A Curriculum for schools” [1], developed by IFIP for UNESCO. This document is an adaptation of the outcome of the work specifically aimed at higher education.
Approaches to ICT Development
Looking for similarity in diversity in earlier experiences with the introduction of ICT in curricula one can identify specific approaches to ICT in higher education. These approaches are related to the situation in a particular institution and to the growth of ICT in this institution. These approaches are:
· Emerging,
· Applying,
· Integrating,
· Transforming.
Emerging
This approach is linked with a institution in the beginning stages of ICT development. The institution begins to purchase some equipment and software. In this initial phase, administrators and teachers are just starting to explore the possibilities and consequences of adding ICT for institution management and the curriculum. The institution is still firmly grounded in traditional, teacher-centred practice.
In this approach an ICT-curriculum is indicated that increases the basic skills and awareness of the uses of ICT. This curriculum assists movement to the next approach (Applying) if so desired.
Applying
This approach is linked with an institution in which new understanding of the contribution of ICT to learning has developed. In this approach administrators and teachers use ICT for tasks that are carried out in institution management and in the curriculum. Teachers largely dominate the learning environment.
In this approach the institution best choice is for an ICT-curriculum that increases the use of ICT in various subject areas with specific tools and software. This curriculum assists movement to the next approach (Integrating) if so desired.
Integrating
This approach is linked with an institution that now has a range of technologies both in laboratories, classrooms and administrative offices. The institutional staff explores new ways in which ICT changes their personal productivity and professional practice. The ICT-curriculum begins to merge subject areas to reflect real-world applications.
Transforming
This approach is linked with an institution that has used ICT to creatively rethink and renew institutional organisation. ICT becomes an integral though invisible part of daily personal productivity and professional practice. The focus of the curriculum is now learner-centred and integrates subject areas in real-world applications. ICT is taught as subject area at the professional level and incorporated into all vocational areas. The institution has become a centre of learning for the community.
Stages of Teaching and Learning
In the field of ICT, teaching and learning are the two faces of the same “educational” medal. There are four different stages in the way teachers and students can discover, understand and use ICT:
A. To discover ICT tools and their general functions and uses; this implies: ICT literacy and basic skills. These are linked with the “Emerging” approach in ICT development.
B. To learn HOW to use ICT tools and to be able to make use of them in different disciplines; this implies: general or particular applications of ICT in the different matters. These are linked with the “Applying” approach in ICT development.
C. To understand WHY and WHEN to use ICT tools in achieving a project; this implies: to be able to recognise situations where ICT will be helpful, to choose the appropriate tools and to combine them for solving real problems. These are linked with the “Integrating” and “Transforming” approaches in ICT development.
D. There is a fourth and last means to cope with ICT when one enters more deeply into the science that creates and supports ICT; this implies: to study ICT to become specialist. This study is quite different and concerns vocational or professional education rather than general education.
A. ICT Literacy
This covers the use of ICT in daily life in a competent and intelligent way. Topics include: basic concepts of ICT, using computers and managing files, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, creating presentations, finding information and communicating with ICT, social and ethical issues, and jobs using ICT. The European Computer Driving License (1997) may be used as a reference in organising this area.
B. Application of ICT in Subject Areas
This covers the application of ICT-tools in work within specific subject areas including languages, natural sciences, mathematics, social sciences, and art. The topics include: measurement, modelling and simulation, robots and feedback devices, statistics, creating graphics, spreadsheet design, and database design.
C. Integration of ICT across the Curriculum
Here projects combine subject areas to work on real-world projects and solve real problems with ICT-support. There are examples of how within one course ICT can help students to integrate several areas, such as math, science and art. There are also examples of larger projects that include several courses and several institutions integrating ITC in community or global projects.
D. ICT Specialisation
Here students plan to go into professions that use ICT such as engineering, business, and computer science, or who plan to advance to higher education. They need to be able to use advanced tools and techniques for ICT specialist. Topics include: basic and advancing programming, planning information systems, designing process control systems, and project management.
Staff Development
Teacher training and professional development are essential to establish the use ICT in the professional life of teachers. These are also tied to the approaches that are identified for ICT institutional development:
· Emerging,
· Applying,
· Integrating,
· Transforming.
Emerging
In this approach the focus is on the technical functions and uses of ICT and on the need for some knowledge and representation of the impacts of ICT systems as a whole. This approach often involves teachers own personal use of ICT, such as, the use of word processing to prepare worksheets; finding learning resources on CD-ROMs or on the Internet; communicating with friends and family be e-mail.
A. Emerging ICT Skills and Knowledge
Here teachers are developing their ICT literacy, learning how to apply ICT to a range personal and professional tasks. The emphasis is on training in a range of tools and applications and increasing their awareness of the opportunities for applying ICT to their teaching in the future.
Applying
In this approach the teachers use ICT for professional purposes, focused on improving subject teaching to become able to enrich their own ways of teaching with a range of ICT applications. This approach often involves the teachers integrating ICT to teach specific subject skills and knowledge; beginning to change their pedagogy; using ICT to support their own training and professional development.
B Applying ICT to the Teachers’ Subject Area
Teachers have confidence in a number of generic and specialised ICT tools that can applied to the teaching of their subject area. The opportunity to apply ICT in all of their teaching is often limited by the lack of ready access to ICT facilities and resources, hence it is not fully integrated into all lessons for all students.
Integrating
In this approach ICT integrates in all aspects of professional life to improve the learning and management of learning processes. Integrated ICT supports active and creative teachers, able to propose and manage the learning of students, integrating a range of preferred learning styles and uses of ICT in achieving similar goals. The integrating approach often involves teachers integrating different knowledge and skills from other subjects easily into project based curricula.
C Integrating ICT to improve Learning and the Management of Learning
Teachers are fully integrating ICT in all aspects of their professional life to improve their own learning and the learning of the institution’s students. The teacher uses ICT to manage the learning of the students and themselves. They use ICT to assist all students to assess their own learning in achieving specific personal projects. It is natural to collaborate with other teachers to solve problems and to share experiences as they become able to tell and analyse their own experiences (meta-competencies). ICT are not a problem, it is an opportunity.
D Supporting Integration by a “Resource Person” for Teachers and Students
Integration of ICT into a institution needs (as in all other areas) human resources to support users work and needs. Hence, there must be experts or specialist teachers who will spend a great amount of time acting as “resource persons” or ICT co-ordinator. Without this human support, integration will not take place, whatever good the other factors are allowing ICT use and integration.
Transforming
In this approach teachers and other institution staff need not to be convinced of the value of ICT personally and professionally. Teachers and students will expect a continuously changing pedagogy designed to meet their personal learning objectives.
Approaches to ICT Development at Institutional Level
Approaches to ICT Development
One can identify various approaches to the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in higher education. These approaches are related to the situation in a particular institution across all areas related to the growth of ICT in the institutional system. A matrix has been developed (see Figure 1) to help institutions determine their stage of development in various areas. An institution may find itself more in one area of the matrix while being less involved in other areas. The identified approaches and areas of development are in line with international trends of the use of ICT in education.
Each institution must work within the context of its own system to fit choices to what best suits its unique situation and culture. The advancement of technology and the way it is incorporated into a system is a dynamic process. Even within one institution, various units or courses may use different approaches. The approaches are hierarchical with the “emerging” approach as a beginning point, and the “transforming” approach as goal many perceive as the future of education.
Emerging
This approach is linked with an institution in the beginning stages ICT development. The institution begins to purchase equipment and software. In this initial phase, administrators and teachers are just starting to explore the possibilities and consequences of adding ICT for institution management and the curriculum. The institution is still firmly grounded in traditional, teacher-centred practice. For example, teachers lecture and provide content while students listen, take notes, and are assessed on prescribed content. Institution organisation provides discrete time periods for each subject. Learners access to technology is through individual teachers. Curriculum that increases the basic skills and awareness of the uses of ICT assists movement to the next approach (Applying).
Applying
This approach is linked with an institution in which new understanding of the contribution of ICT to learning has developed. In this phase administrators and teachers use ICT for tasks carried out in institution management and in the curriculum. Teachers largely dominate the learning environment. For example, teacher lectures may be supplemented with ICT such as presentation programs and word-processed handouts. Students listen to lectures and add notes to teacher prepared handouts. They use ICT tools to complete required lessons and are assessed on prescribed content. Institution organisation provides discreet time periods for each subject with some flexibility to combine subjects and time periods. Learners access to technology is mainly through computer labs. Up till now ICT has been taught as a separate subject area (ICT-literacy). To move to the next phase (Integrating), the institution chooses to implement an ICT-curriculum that increases the use of ICT in various subject areas with specific tools and software.
Integrating
This approach is linked with an institution that now has a range of technologies both in laboratories, classrooms, and administrative offices. The institution staff explores new ways in which ICT changes their personal productivity and professional practice. The curriculum begins to merge subject areas to reflect real-world applications. For example, content is provided through multiple sources including resources through the internet. Learners access to technology enables them to chose projects and ICT tools to learn and demonstrate their knowledge across subject areas. Institution organisation provides overlap and flexibility to combine subjects and time periods. Learners have more choices with regard to learning styles and pathways. They take more responsibility for their own learning and assessment. ICT is taught to selected students as a subject area at the professional level. To advance to the next phase, the institution chooses an ICT-curriculum that allows a project-based, ICT enhanced approach