Utilizing ICTs in both Personal and Professional Life

Utilizing ICTs in both Personal and Professional Life

 By: Tika Ram Khatiwada

Since I started my teaching career, ICT has always been playing a very important role in my profession. We cannot imagine teaching pedagogy a complete pedagogy without ICT integration in Education. Even though my early teaching was only with chalk and duster which were the tools or teaching instruments/materials in the classroom. The classrooms were empty with board, chalk and duster. It is almost 15 years I have been spending my time teaching, and there are a lot of changes in teaching and learning. Different approaches and pedagogies have been brought into practice. In this respect, the use of ICT in the classroom and for learning purposes.

 

In the early periods of my career, I used printed papers, with different font sizes, types and colours. They mesmerised students and created interest in reading those colourful printed papers. I had a Desktop computer during the time which was bought for my thesis and question typing purposes.  Working on a Computer was a really good experience and feeling as I was the one who was computer literate in the school besides Computer Teacher. I was the one who could make the classroom interesting, active and participatory. Since then, I am still active in ICT and prefer using slides, audio and videos in my classrooms. However, I am not familiar with the new technologies which have been developed and brought for teachers like various tools and resources. I am just following Social Media for updating myself towards ICTs.

 

These days, I work in Microsoft Office for making questions and official documents in MS Word, MS Excel for preparing results for students, and MS Powerpoint for presentations. Gradually, after taking the classes of MED STEAM I am moving to Google apps as I am getting familiar with Google Drive, Google Sheets, Google Photos, Gmail and Google Docs. The pandemic, COVID-19 brought a great revolution in the use of ICT in the classroom. ZOOM, Google Meet and Veda Apps, School Systems getting much up to for teaching and learning. I used ZOOM, Veda App, Ms Teams, Google Classrooms and Google Meet for online classes and assignments. They are easy for online classes and recording students’ performances, assigning projects and conducting evaluations. These tools have become an integral part of my life not only for the classes but even for administrative purposes as well.

 

Information and communications technology (ICT) has become an acknowledged and integral part of everyday life for many people (Benini, 2014).  There is a need for ICT in learning any discipline. Children learn effectively and give better learning outcomes if ICT is integrated in their curriculum. Whether that is Science, Mathematics, Health, Social Subjects, Arts or Literature, Geography or History, with the use of ICT, an educator can facilitate the learners at its most. For constructing knowledge, technology is the backbone. Effective teaching depends on flexible access to rich, well-organized and integrated knowledge from different domains (Putnam & Borko, 2000) including knowledge of student thinking and learning, knowledge of the subject matter, and increasingly, knowledge of technology (Koehler & Mishra, 2009).

 

Teaching and learning with technology make it easy in many aspects. When the currently used technologies are adopted, new technologies get introduced making it easy and better to learn. However, inadequate experience in using technology in teaching and learning makes teachers backwards. Therefore, teachers need to be resourceful and take training in using technology. Besides, the pre-set notion of many teachers can make the work more difficult to deal with. In the end, students are at a loss. That is why it becomes difficult in transforming knowledge into students with their interest and knowledge becomes teachers-centric.

 

I have felt that Technology is supporting me to promote my personal and professional. At the moment I am working in a school remaining in the centre of teachers and school management. It is my duty to make good, instant decision that is productive to the management committee, teachers and students. I must support teachers in catering to better qualitative teaching and learning environment in school. From making lesson plans to evaluating them, integrating technology assists teachers in assure better and more effective learning. Generally, teachers are using google slides, google docs, google meet, and google classroom for learning. However, I have found Canva, 400 digital tools and resources very useful. Along with this digital portfolio, providing students complements by sending digital stars, making digital certificates, and google forms are very useful for me in what I have learnt as a student of MED STEAM at Kathmandu University. I use my mobile and laptop for correspondence like sending emails, chatting and sending messages as it is more convenient.

 

Further, I use ICT to develop students’ 4 skills i.e. Communication, critical thinking, critical thinking, and collaboration required for the 21^st century.  Levin Goldberg (2012) asserted that there are numerous pedagogical strategies educators can employ to infuse the 4Cs into their curriculum and instruction, for instance, the integration of technology in the classroom to create a richer learning environment. Trying to include different theories and techniques to facilitate learners, I am trying to cope and update myself in this technological generation. With this thought, I joined MEd in STEAM. Recently I learned about the 5 E Lesson Plan, TPACK, SAMR Model, and different web tools and resources that I can implement in the classroom for educating the students.

 

Now, we cannot imagine our future without technology. The recently developed tools and resources and upcoming future tools and resources will definitely support educators in better planning and upgrading his/her professional skills. Especially in academic organizations, there is no space for educators without experience and updates in ICT. Even for the management and leaders of the organizations who directly and indirectly deal with teachers and students, it has become immediate responsibility to cater to subordinates’ skills in using ICT. It is equally important to provide adequate materials for educators and learners for their better performances. The school where I am working is planning to run Flipped Classrooms with ITC integration and run a paperless school developing e-based resources and intensive training and workshops for the teachers and students.

 

Conclusion

ICT has become an integral part of our lives for our personal and professional growth. From my early life, as a student or learner and educator ITC has always been supportive of enhancing my professional career. It has developed my creativity, communication skills, and knowledge of recent development. It is directly connected to my everyday life. I feel the life without knowledge of ICT is like a person without education. It helps every learner to be transformed and supports everyone to pass the information into making meaningful concepts and life.

References

Benini, S. (2014). Is ICT really essential for learning? Perceptions and uses of ICTs for language acquisition in secondary level environments. In S. Jager, L. Bradley, E. J. Meima, & S. Thouësny (Eds), CALL Design: Principles and Practice; Proceedings of the 2014 EUROCALL Conference, Groningen, The Netherlands (pp. 23-28). Dublin: Research-publishing.net. doi:10.14705/rpnet.2014.000189

Putnam, R.T., & Borko, H. (2000). What do new views of knowledge and thinking have to say about research on teacher learning? Educational Researcher, 29(1), 4-15.

Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge?  Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60-70. 

Levin-Goldberg, J. (2012). Teaching Generation TechX with the 4Cs: using technology to Integrate 21st Century Skills. J. Instructional Res. 1, 59–66.