THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ICT IN EDUCATION
Abstract
The use of computer in teaching started since 1960s and it continued to be improve from time to time and now the term ‘Information and Communication Technology (ICT)’ has become familiar to us. In fact, ICT gives many advantages in teaching and learning process both for teachers and students. Among the advantages for students are practicing English, increasing motivation, improve learning achievement, online dictionary, learning resource and sharing ideas and for English teachers, ICT is a teaching resource, getting authentic materials, preparing interesting lesson plans, improving innovation and creativity and a source of information. Although its great deal of advantages, there are still barriers of using ICT in teaching such as financial barrier, skill gap, accessibility, lack technical support and acceptation.
Keywords: computer, ICT, advantage, barriers
A. Introduction
The advancement of technology has touched all aspects of human life. As the result of the advancement, the way live also changes. Some decades ago, people still communicate by using telephone box which cannot be taken along where we go but now, you can bring it easily everywhere even you can put in your pocket. In the field of navigation, we can go from one place to another which far away from us in a short time because planes, for example Boeing 747, can fly 909km/h.
The education field also takes advantages from this technology. Long time ago people have used tape recorder and television in teaching. Computer, which was firstly made in 1936, and firstly used in teaching in 1960s (Lee in http://iteslj.org/Articles/Lee-CALL barriers.html) has been blooming then. In 1990s, computer assisted Language Learning (CALL) has been introduced in Indonesia. Since then, the application of computer as a medium in teaching has been improving from year to year in which teachers do not only can use the teaching software but also can use it online with the existence of internet in which we can use computer not only finding information but also for communication. The term ‘information and communication technology’ (ICT) becomes familiar among us. Therefore, the application of computer not mainly for powerpoint presentation. In Indonesia, the development of ICT infrastructure in education environment has been started since 1995 but it looks more and more rapidly since 2006 with the development of the National Education Network (Jardiknas) (Purnomo in http://fkip.ummgl.ac.id/materi/20100629112450 pembelajaran%20berbasis%20ICT-2.pdf).
In the context of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL), using ICT gives a considerable impact on the teaching result. Lu, Hou and Huang in http://ijedict.dec.uwi. edu/viewissue.php?id=26, state that the use of ICT in the classroom has had a considerable impact on the teaching methodologies in China in which it increases the emphasis on strengthening students’ learning initiative and adopting a “student-centred” teaching concept in FLT. Thang and Wong in http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewissue.php?id=26, who conducted a research about the implementation ICT in the classroom, state “The rapid proliferation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has significantly changed the educational landscape globally”. The changes they meant in this context are the positive ones.
Due to its benefits in teaching, according to Prof C. Blurton, more than 80% of schools in Solvenia have access to the Internet, 43% of schools in the United Kingdom are connected to the Internet and In Germany, by the mid of 1999, the government had connected more than 10,000 schools with internet access (http://www.unesco.org/education/educprog/ lwf/dl/edict.pdf). Therefore, according Zhang and Martinovic in their research, the participants said it was important for teachers to become ICT literate (http://www.cjlt. ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/498/229)
B. Advantages of Using ICT in Teaching
There are a lot of researches have been done to find out whether or not the use of ICT in the classroom give considerable positive impacts on the success of teaching and learning. Margaret Cox, Preston and Kate Cox (http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/ 00001304.htm), Lai and Kritsonis (http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/saad/Documents/CALL%20 Advantages%20and%20disadvantages.pdf ) and Zhang (http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/ article/view/498/229) have proved the usefulness of ICT in teaching. The followings are some advantages for students and teachers may have with the use of ICT in teaching and learning English.
Advantages for students:
a. ICT gives access to students to practice their English: There many facilities such as email, facebook, twitter and yahoo messenger in which students can use to talk to people from different places around.
b. ICT is motivating: there are a lot educational games which are interesting for students and this can maintain students’ motivation to learn.
c. ICT increases learning achievement: educational programs such as www.onestopenglish.com where students can use to improve their English ability.
d. Online dictionary: students who face difficulty with English words can use online dictionary to find out the meanings of the words, even not only the meanings but also how to pronounce the words.
e. Learning resource: for example, when the teacher assigns students to discuss about a topic, such as “global warming”, they can find a lot ideas in the internet.
f. Sharing idea: students can share idea with other people around the world. This is useful to build up understanding particularly cross-culture understanding which is very important to the basis of peaceful life.
Advantages of ICT for English teachers:
a. Teaching resource: in a country where teaching English as foreign language, like in Indonesia, English teaching resource books are difficult to get, ICT becomes one of the most available one.
b. Authentic materials: English teachers can find authentic materials for teaching English. For example when teaching listening skill, the teachers can access online news such BBC and ESPN to improve students’ listening skill.
c. Preparing interesting lesson plans: With abundant sources of teaching websites, English teachers can create good lesson plan.
d. Improve innovation and creativity: Even though English teacher can download freely lesson plans from the internet, it does not mean that they can use the lesson plans automatically, of course they need to adapt these lesson plans according to the context of their students, proficiency, students’ level of English ability and of course to classroom facility. This adaptation will lead teachers to be more and more innovative and creative.
e. Source of Information: Teaching English does not merely mean teaching about the language. Teachers need information about the topic they present, for example, when teaching explanation texts and the topic of the text is about ‘rain’, they need to know the process of rain. This information is available in the internet.
C. Challenges of Using ICT in Teaching
Even though using ICT in the classroom bring positive effects to teaching and learning outcome, some barriers still exist of using ICT widely, particularly in the remote areas in Indonesia. Lee (http://iteslj.org/Articles/Lee-CALL barriers.html) points out several handicaps. They are financial barriers, availability of computer hardware and software, technical and theoretical knowledge and acceptance of the technology. Zhang (http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/ article/view/498/229) in his research project with pre-service encountered skill problem. Wong (http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php? id=368&layout=html) states that the obstacles of using ICT are lack of availability of ICT for teachers, skill gap, lack of sharing of experiences, expertise and software between schools, lack of accessibility of web-based resources, lack of on-site and remote (e.g. web-based, telephone) technical support and lack of central direction in schools about the achievable targets of and limits to ICT.
D. Conclusion
In brief, ICT has been used widely in teaching and learning process because it gives a lot of benefit both for teachers and students. There are of things can be done when ICT to improve English proficiency such as sending email, talking through facebook, twitter, yahoo messenger and skype. Although ICT is good in teaching, there are several handicaps why English teachers still do not use it effectively such as financial barrier, skill gap, accessibility, technical support and the acceptance itself to ICT.
References
Cox Margaret, Preston, Christina and Kate Cox: What Factors Support or Prevent Teachers from Using ICT in their Classrooms?. Retrieved from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/ documents/00001304.htm, on 25 September 2011.
Lai, Cheng-Chieh and Kritsonis, William Allan, PhD: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Computer Technology in Second Language Acquisition. Retrieved from http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/saad/Documents/CALL%20Advantages%20and%20disadvantages.pdf, on 25 September 2011.
Lee in Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Lee-CALL barriers.html, on 24 September 2011.
Lu, Hou and Huang. A research on a student-centred teaching model in an ICT-based Englishaudio-video speaking class. International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 2010, Vol. 6, Issue 3, pp. 101-123. Retrieved from http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/view issue.php?id=26, on 24 September 2011.
Purnomo, Wahyu: Pembelajaran Berbasis ICT. Retrieved from http://fkip.ummgl.ac.id/ materi/20100629112450pembelajaran%20berbasis%20ICT-2.pdf, on 24 September 2011.
Thang, Siew Ming and Wong, Su Luan: Impact of ICT on teaching and learning in Asia: Focusing on emerging trends, patterns and practice. International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 2010, Vol. 6, Issue 3, pp. 3-6.retrieved from http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewissue. php?id=26, on 24 September 2011.
UNESCO. New Directions of ICT-Use in Education: http://www.unesco.org/education/educ prog/lwf/dl/edict.pdf.
Wong, Kit-pui. School-based Technology Coordinators and Other Human Factors in the Implementation of ICT in Primary Schools: A Comparative Study. International Journal of Education and Development using ICT - Vol. 4, No. 1 (2008). Retrieved from http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=368&layout=html, on 24 Septem ber 2011
Zhang, Zuochen and Martinovic, Dragana: ICT in teacher education: Examining needs, expectations and attitudes. Online. Retrieved from http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/ cjlt/article/view/498/229, on 24 September 2011.
