assignments;
Post your position on the issue described in the case study. Provide at least three points in support of your position.
case study:
Introduction
Digital learning seems to be the future of education. More and more states now support learning opportunities online to supplement traditional classroom instruction either in part time or full time basis.
To better understand the issues associated with this case, this paper will seek to answer questions such as; what is the role of technology in education? What are the standards that would be required in the implementation of technology use in education? What are the problems associated with issue of technology in education?
Stakeholders
The major stakeholders in the case study include students who will be the recipients of the education in both the non – traditional settings. Teachers, who deliver the education, are another set of stakeholders in this case study.
Relevance of the stakeholders
The students have great relevance in this case study as they are they are the group that is greatest affected by the inclusion technology and digital literacy in learning. Technology will be used for instruction and also in the gauging the academic achievements of the students. Inclusion of technology will also support learning all through the week and this will improve the productivity. Teachers and education leaders are also a relevant group in the case study. The teachers will be more connected to their students and to content that is professional, teaching systems and resources that will be vital in bettering their delivery and make the learning more personalized for the students.
Problems with integrating technology in the K – 12 education system
Technology has been widely adopted in almost all aspects of the K – 12 education, but there are challenges that are constraining the effective implementation of instructional technology. Some of these barriers are teacher and technology related while others are systemic. The following are some of the major challenges to the process.
Professional challenges
The major problem is the lack of professional development of the teachers and instructors. The teachers play a role in integrating the technology in their classrooms but their professional development is wanting. They are not in a position to understand the technology, especially emerging technology that they are expected to integrate in their classrooms. This means that most of the resources that are dedicated to the integration of technology in classroom instruction remain underutilized, or used in a manner that adds little value to the integration process. This negates the objective of engaging the learners. (Bullock, 2004)
Resistance to change
It is in the human nature to resist change. People will mainly want to stay the old system that they have been used to and any new system is usually resisted, sometimes openly or subtly. The problem is that people are too comfortable with the status quo, and they want to remain there. For this reason, they feel that integration of instructional technology is challenging the old system. The leaders in the education sector and the instructors also feel that the new process is not their obligation and therefore they do not show much initiative in the integration.
New schooling models
Institutions in the K – 12 system are known to be followers in adopting new models. In the integration of technology in the learning into the schooling they also come as latecomers and this has slowed down the integration process. The new models have proven to be great competition for the traditional models. (Ertmer, 1999). This could be linked to being comfortable with the status quo and not readily embracing change.
Challenges in using technology in Africa
The use of technology in education in African countries is clearly lagging behind other countries. There have been concerted efforts to integrate technology in education but there have been challenges that have hindered the progress. The most obvious of the challenges is that the largest group of the learners has no sufficient access to the infrastructure for information technology (Brown, 2003). Suffice to say that most of the schools in rural areas are connected to the national power line. Without the necessary infrastructure, it is not possible to achieve the success that is envisioned in the field of technology in education. Aside from the lack of the structural infrastructure, there is also a shortage of human resource to support the integration. Very few teachers in the education sector have the necessary skills required in the use of ICT in education.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we learn that technology, if effectively applied in the education system, it can be of great value. Technology is useful in increasing the learners’ engagement and providing a round the clock support. Technology can also be very beneficial to the teachers as they can use it to develop more professional content and providing a personalized learning experience. It is also clear that the effective implementation of the integration process faces several challenges that need to be addressed so that the process can be effective.
References
