In order to analyze possible barriers to
effective use of the technology in education, it can be a good idea to consider
the issue in two tiers, i.e. Teaching and Learning. The teaching is what is
delivered by a teacher and learning is that is to take place at the end of
students. So the barrier could be falling in the remit of any of these two
spheres in terms of responsibility. A constraint in any of the two spheres can
play a role of learning not taking place, and thus, teaching not taking place
in deed.
Teacher
Responsibility Sphere
An example from my Micro-Teach lesson is
used to explain this sphere. When Micro-Teach lessons were being delivered, I
was listening to them in a student capacity. There was a glare on the projector
screen because of the unnecessary lights being on. All of us in student
capacity were shy to request to turn the lights off to avoid the glare, causing
uncomfortability and distraction. However, when I was up to deliver my
Micro-Teach lesson, the first thing I did was to turn those extra lights off.
This was appreciated by all the audience (who were there in the student
capacity as a role play). The point is that it was the teacher’s (Micro-Teach
lesson deliverer in this case) responsibility to make sure there are no
distractions on behalf of the teacher responsibility. Such little matters can
make huge difference to remove barriers and bong the teaching with learning
more productively. It can be good idea ask students if everything is alright or
they can hear me fine, etc.
Student
Responsibility Sphere
Similarly there are distractions that fall
in the responsibility remit of students e.g. using mobile phone and social
media for their personal use in the classroom. However, social media such as Facebook
can be employed in educational context. For instance, when I was at the University
of Exeter, I co-supervised a mini-project in which Facebook was chosen as a
medium of updating all group members of each other’s progress to communicate between
the student group members and supervisors including me. Similarly, mobile
phones can be used in the classroom setting in a number of ways, e.g. to engage
students in a poll with software like Nearpod. However, I need to master this
art yet, which itself can be deemed as a barrier, that is lack of time and staff
training and development on how to effectively use the ICT technology in
classroom and other teaching-learning settings.
General
Idea
Based on above paragraphs, the following
point can be made: Although the technology has brought about new and innovative
opportunities to boost styles of learning, student-oriented education and deeper
level stimulation of thinking; the teachers’ mind-sets and traditional beliefs
may impede them to uptake and usefully apply the technology with their course
designs and syllabus to its full potential. I personally believe the main hurdle
simply is the lack of the understanding of the concept of the technology and
the social media.
General
Examples of Barriers
A few examples of barriers are listed
below (but not explored further due to brevity of the blog) where these
barriers (or constraints) can be intrinsic or extrinsic depending upon how and
where boundaries are drawn (Bingimlas, 2009):
·
E safety (e.g. privacy, hacking, spam,
virus, phishing, etc.)
·
Lack of teacher confidence
·
Resistance to change and negative
attitudes
·
Lack of teacher competence
·
Lack of effective training
·
Lack of time
·
Lack of technical support
·
Culture
·
Disability / Special Education Needs
·
Language
·
Cost
·
Lack of motivation
·
Access to facilities
·
Prior knowledge (lacking or
inappropriate)
·
Numerical skills lacking
·
Etc.
Reference
Bingimlas, K.A., 2009.
Barriers to the successful integration of ICT in teaching and learning
environments: A review of the literature. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics,
Science & Technology Education, 5(3), pp.235-245.
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