ICT in the daily teaching
Introduction
Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) has brought momentous changes in almost all
aspects of our lives — more so in recent years: it is indeed developing faster
than ever before.
During
the 14th Convocation of the Royal University of Bhutan in May, 2019, His
Majesty The King shared his concerns about the dramatic changes brought about
by the emerging technology — its scale of growth and scope, and the
consequences of lagging behind. If we are not able to embrace and leverage
technology, we will be invariably left behind.
Technology
has a huge potential to enhance quality and access to education, create jobs,
ensure good governance with effective and efficient delivery of services,
develop and grow the private sector, and enhance accountability and
transparency. It is driven by new developments, such as Artificial
Intelligence, Quantum Computing, Blockchain, Machine Learning, Big Data, IOT
(the Internet of Things), Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, etc..
Realising
the huge opportunity that technology brings, and guided by His Majesty’s
vision, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has been working to enhance ICT in the
Bhutanese education system.
ICT
in the Bhutanese education system was introduced in the late 1990’s with ICSE
Computer studies offered in a few high schools. One of the biggest developments
in ICT education came with the Chiphen Rigpel Project, run by the Ministry of
Information and Communications and NIIT India. The project established computer
labs in 168 schools, introduced ICT literacy curriculum for all students from
class VII and above, and trained more than 5,000 teachers in basic ICT skills.
The
Bhutan Education Blueprint 2014-2020 recommended upscaling the ICT ecosystem to
raise the quality of education. Further, to maintain continuity on the ICT
project, iSherig-1, the MoE has now developed iSherig-2 — 2019-2023 (ICT
Masterplan-2).
This
scaling-up of the scope and efforts of ICT education will not only accelerate
the use of ICT, but also prepare our children to be able to create systems and
products using ICT, in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4).
ICT and its implications in
implementing
Although
the Ministry of Education has tried to infuse schools with ICT, much remains to
be done, especially in my school (Primary School) where the network system is
unavailable for most of the time, the power is off for a week and a month long
sometimes. Seldom are many teachers not
competent in using ICT in daily teaching and learning. Even competent teachers
fail to use ICT in classrooms, due to many factors as mentioned above and I strongly believe that teachers are critical,
followed by infrastructure and facilities. Classrooms are overcrowded, teaching
and learning resources and reference materials are limited, the method of
instruction is still predominantly chalk and talk, student learning materials
are confined to centralised textbooks and a real measurement of learning is
absent in most classrooms.
Classroom
learning in Bhutan is clogged by the shortage of qualified teachers and
accessibility to information and support outside the classroom. Some teachers
had received some form of ICT workshop or training; it is evident in many
schools that such workshops or training has minimal or no impact on the
abilities and confidence of teachers to use ICT in classrooms. The quality of
an education system depends on the quality of its teachers. The only way to improve
output, outcome, and impact is to improve ICT instruction. Thus, enhancing the
capacity of teachers in the use of ICT should be a priority.
Lack of Infrastructure
Many
teachers have expressed concerns about the availability of and access to
resources and facilities for teaching and learning. There is still a dream in
school – “one lap for one teacher” and “one tablet for one student” during 12th
Five-Year Plan. Schools are inadequately equipped with computers and Internet
facilities. Just over one third of schools have computers, and only 13 percent
might have Internet facilities. Even those with Internet facilities have found
them to be too slow and irregular, and are unable to download or watch YouTube
videos. Data charges are also exorbitant for urban users. A digital divide
separates the haves from the have-nots. This is unfortunately often true for
teachers and children across Bhutan. Most schools I have taught in complained
of not having enough computers for students. Available ones are mainly used by
ICT students; those who pursue other optional subjects such as Economics,
Environmental Science, Media Studies and Agricultural Studies, have limited
access to computer laboratories.
Discussions
with students reveal that they felt neglected; most did not have access to
computers, whether at home, in schools or elsewhere. With the introduction of
the ICT curriculum, students get to use computers once a week for the duration
of one period, which in most cases is 50 minutes.
Ban on Carrying Electronic Gadgets
All
students are banned from carrying electronic gadgets, such as mobile phones and
tablets, during school hours. In the past 17 years of my teaching career, I
have seen only a few innovative teachers, and persistent principals who use
ICT, and who practice quality education. They are few in number and isolated
from each other; it is very difficult for other teachers to draw inspiration
from them.
Unfortunate and Uncoordinated Professional Development
While
teachers and educational officials generally agree that professional
development has increased over the last few years, there is still a lack of
opportunities for teachers to continue their professional development in
schools. Most professional development courses offered did not address the main
concerns of classroom realities. Professional development suffers in terms of
resources, expertise, time, content and delivery. Although the Ministry of
Education encourages professional development programmes in ICT, many teachers
fail to practice, due to limited resources and heavy workloads. As a teacher, I
feel that insufficient training and a paucity of professional development
programmes for integrating technology into the existing curriculum are major
hindrances to ICT integration in schools. Professional development should be
continuous and dynamic, with new ideas and developments in ICT education. The
frequency of professional development in ICT should be increased at schools.
Overworked Teachers
Teachers
are overloaded with academic and non-academic activities and have to manage a
large number of students in the classrooms. A teacher’s workload stretches
beyond normal working hours. Teachers are assigned to carry out clerical tasks,
such as Class Teacher, House Mastership, Cultural Coordinator, Clubs, Mentors
and regular preparation and submission of students’ data to the school,
MoE, Thromde (municipality), and other stakeholders. When
heavy workload creeps into personal and family lives, the possibility of not
using ICT in classroom increases, because such use entails preparation of
resources, PPT and videos, requiring time and access to the Internet, printers,
photocopiers, and projectors. Another major barrier to integrating ICT is the
lack of classroom time for students to use computers.
Chalk and Talk Method
Most
of the time, students sit listening to teachers, taking notes from class lectures
and from their own reading of teaching learning resources. While “quality
education matters” is the message and objective, pass percentages are the
actual operating performance metrics of quality for all schools in Bhutan, and
the main criteria for ranking schools. I have seen the ranking of universities
across the globe, but not ranking for schools. In addition, there is a trend to
initiate policies top down, without proper dialogue with teachers and students.
Policymakers are unable to understand ground realities, creating frustration
and resistance.
ICT as a Source of Distraction
Recently,
I heard many complaints about ICT use at home. Some parents worry that ICT,
such as the Internet and smart phones, are distracting students. It is true
many students are lured by temptations, like games, videos, or chats. Parents
have limited time to monitor ICT use at home. TV is seen as another distracting
technology. Parents find it impossible to manage and monitor their children’s
time watching TV. So the parents land up in not giving the mobile phones to
their children.
Absence of Online Professional Materials
Professional
journals must also be made available in schools for ICT integration. Teachers
do not have easy access to national and/or international learning resources to
enhance their professional standing. The access to and availability of
electronic resources or library are essential components of learning for
teachers and students. The Ministry of Education should explore opportunities
to partner with international schools and institutes to address such resource
gaps, and to keep up to date on any new technology developments. We need to
develop ICT-driven curriculum to support ICT teaching and learning in Bhutanese
schools. This will transform educational practices to make education more
relevant and facilitate inclusiveness. ICT provides opportunities for teachers
and students to collaborate with other countries.
Willingness of Teachers and Students
Web
based and online distance education are becoming popular and are being used
increasingly, viewed as an innovative strategy to attract teachers to study and
update ICT skills. For ICT to be widely adopted and used in schools, the
willingness and commitment of teachers are important. The recent outbreak of
COVID-19 has pushed teachers and students to adopt online teaching and
learning. However, many teachers are still sceptical, and uncomfortable with
the change, perhaps believing that such online learning promotes a one-way
knowledge transmission without face-to-face discussions and interactive
learning. Many teachers still prefer face-to-face interaction in the classroom.
Such negative attitudes towards ICT usage hamper the integration of ICT in the
classroom. There is inadequate technical support for ICT in schools. Not all
children and parent have smart phones, television, and computers at home.
Pre-service Teacher Training
The
most visible aspect of teachers’ ICT development skills is in pre-service
teacher training, which helps to refresh teachers’ knowledge of ICT pedagogy
and innovative practices. Delivering relevant and continuous in-service or
pre-service training programmes is important for Bhutanese teachers. Trainee
teachers need to be prepared in ICT with opportunities to demonstrate and practice
21st century skills and strategies. But in many areas, it is alarming to see
that there is mediocre preparations for ICT use in the classroom.
Way Forward
I
feel our policymakers should analyse how teaching learning is being infused
with ICT. Our plans, policies, and programmes should be supported from the
grassroots level. We need to prepare our youths for a digital world. Our
teachers and students should have easy access to ICT and should be given
opportunities to learn ICT at school and at home. A notable feature of the 12th
Five-Year Plan is the flagship programme, “Digital Drukyul”. Teachers in Bhutan
in general are positive about the teaching profession. The morale of teachers
has improved significantly over the last few years.
How I used ICT
Although
I am very interest in implementing ICT in my daily teaching, but due to the
2019 pandemic( COVID 19) the schools are
off, students are cut-off from the face to face teaching and many teachers are
on frontline duty; some as De-suup and some as a volunteer. I being a part of
Desuup under Chhukha Dzongkhag in Phuentsholing we are deployed in boarder side
( India -Bhutan boarder). Still then I tried to keep myself connected with most
of the students who have smart phones. I tried to link with them through WeChat,
messages and video calls and even tried to use google classroom and zooming
class but due to poor networking facilities I could not implement it. So the
learning are being done by the student themselves through SIM
Self
-Instructional Materials provided by the Ministry of Education. We receive the
SIM on monthly bases and accordingly my teachers friends go in groups to meet
the students to their doorstep and show them the directions to how to go about
with their activities. If they come across any problems and doubts while
proceeding with the SIM they are instructed to contact with their respective
subject teachers through WeChat or video call, sometimes they take photo and
send it to us for corrections and assessments. But it’s very challenging for us
to carry out such work where the power is not stable and weak network
facilities and being on duty.
Your comments and suggestions would be highly valued .
