16 December 2010
A new infoDev paper shows that more emphasis is usually placed on teaching ICT as a curriculum subject than on using it as an instructional aide.
The effective use of ICT as a tool for education relies on the coordination of various governmental, financial, educational, and community based groups and policies. The planning process must include those at all levels, from the micro-level of the classroom to the macro-level of national policies on infrastructure, connectivity, and communication. One of the key learnings of this essay is that more emphasis needs to be placed on using ICT for instruction, as opposed to teaching about ICT as part of a curriculum.
Education is a key element in social and economic prosperity. This essay studies existing policies in the focus countries of South Asia, both in the education and the ICT sectors, to focus on the enabling features and the gaps with respect to content development, curriculum design, infrastructure and capacity building, monitoring and evaluation, as well as use of ICTs in education management.
Policy Coherence in the Application of ICTs for Education, an infoDev commissioned paper by Price Waterhouse Coopers India, emphasizes the necessity of locally developed ICT for education policies that are based on pedagogical practices and use ICTs as a tool to meet learning objectives. The lack of infrastructure in many South Asian countries requires that a range of products be produced to the meet the needs of all.
The fifth and final essay to be released, Policy Coherence in the Application of ICTs for Education accompanies the Survey of ICTs for Education in India & South Asia and focuses on the trends and dominant features of the use of ICTs for school education as profiled in different initiatives captured in various country reports.
This infoDev / PWC India report examines the policy structure in several South Asian countries and then identifies measures that need to be taken to ensure the effectiveness of a given policy:
- provide a detailed implementation plan
- ensure financial allocation
- increase institutional capacity and political and administrative will
- heighten community demand for ICT
For the full essay, please see:
Please see the Survey website for more information and to find all five thematic essays!
ICT4E in India and South Asia - Extended Summary
ICT4E in India and South Asia - Full Report Innovating and improving education through ICTs