Using ICT as a Subject, Tool for Curriculum and Co-curricular Resource

Abstract

While all educators realize that use of ICT can be a valuable resource for improving teaching and learning, the process of integrating technology into the curriculum is not easily or quickly accomplished. It challenges all educators to reconsider teaching practice, the curriculum, the role of teachers and the ways in which ICT can be incorporated into school curriculum to maximize educational outcomes.

This paper discusses ways in which ICT have been applied in educational settings as a tool to assist and generate learning across all levels of education. It highlights the need for effective professional development to be provided for teachers so that they are able to adequately identify the educational issues involved in the integration of ICT. Any implementation calls for substantial rethinking of curricular and educational practice. Time and effort must be expended when developing in teachers a critical understanding of the technology as a shaper of information and values. Teachers need to go beyond training in technical competence and the use of the technology merely as a tool. The focal point should be that use of ICT must provide students with a variety of experiences and contexts to integrate their skills and knowledge both in and out of school.

Finally, true cross-curricular integration can take place only when teachers appreciate that integration of information technology has rich potential for enabling more effective learning where the technology is subordinated to the learning goals of the school. It is only then that teachers will critically select the appropriate digital content based on the needs and learning styles of their students and infuse it into the curriculum. When this paradigm shift occurs, teachers will have become more sensitive to the kinds of learning that students engage in and can critically examine the implications for the management of learning and the effects on students’ attitudes and perceptions of the task in hand. Last but not least, in discussing the use of ICT as a co-curricular resource, a working model for the development of an integrated learning environment is used to amplify all of the issues raised in the paper.