Today,
people live in a highly digitized and networked society where information can
be accessed easily with a click of a button. The education sector benefits
tremendously from this. Pritchard and Hara (2014) reported that school Internet
connectivity worldwide grew from 35% in 1994 to 100% in 2005, while classroom
connectivity increased from 3% in 1994 to 90% in 2005. With the increasing
availability of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), students worldwide,
especially in Singapore, no longer need to visit a bookstore or library for
books or resources and teachers are given access to online materials that they
can share with their students. Due to the convenience of the Internet access to
information, students of all levels worldwide, especially in Singapore, should
use this in their learning experience in order to attain a better efficiency as
they can have access to databases they need at the tip of their fingers if they
encounter a problem while studying.
However,
according to Obrien (2014), many of these online resources are not evenly
distributed and utilised effectively. A digital divide can still occur within
different levels of the education system which may lead to the problem of the
digital divide where students in lower education levels may not be able to adapt
to their future tertiary educations. The Singapore education system still
experiences problems caused by the digital divide due to the different usage in
different education levels. Lim (2010) explains that MOE invested
in ICT to support teaching and learning in primary and secondary
schools to ensure that students are well prepared for their tertiary education
as well as working life. However, it is not observe by schools in Singapore
that ICT was effectively utilized in lower education level as compared to
tertiary level. The effective implementation of ICT in schools by multiple
organisations in Singapore is a complex process that not only involves
providing the technology to schools but also the competency of teachers and
curriculum restructuring, and these are not seen in lower education levels.
Firstly,
the mind set and competency of teachers is important in ensuring ICT
implementation is successful. Dzidonu (2010) explains that in many schools, ICT
is typically poorly adopted and underused in classroom. Keengwe and Onchwari,
(2011) explain that even though there is rapid growth in ICT infrastructures in
school as well as access by teachers and students both at home and school, most
teachers are unwilling to adapt and adopt ICT tools during teaching. It appears
that teacher’s competencies in ICT as well as their attitudes towards ICT
remain an obstacle for them to adopt and use efficiently the technology in
classroom. In order to remove the digital divide caused by the underuse of ICT
in the classroom, the National Institute of Education of Singapore (NIE) have
been incorporating courses involving usage of ICT into its teacher training
programs. This ensures ICT competency of teachers and ensure that they
incorporate ICT into the teaching curriculum.
Despite
the extensive support for the teachers, the adoption and integration ICT into
classroom learning and teaching by NIE is behind expectations. In practice,
ICTs are rarely used or only used as a supplement to traditional teaching in
lower secondary (Redecker, 2009). This could be due to the traditional
perspective of teachers in teaching whereby older teaching staffs may still
prefer traditional style of classroom teaching without the use of ICT. Surveys
can be conducted to investigate teachers’ beliefs and attitudes toward ICT
adoption so that the problem can be identified and solved. This may help to
narrow the digital divide in the lower education levels as compared to the
higher ones and allow students to have an easier transition from lower to
higher education level.
Besides
the competency of teachers, curriculum structure which the school adopts is
also very important. According to Gupta (2014), the use of an ICT structured
curriculum free up class time to allow deeper thinking and more problem solving
experience for the students. These students are actively engaging in
learning with their peers while solving problems, or taking assessments.
Some examples of ICT structured curriculums are flipped classroom, class
website or even by utilizing the social media Facebook as a learning support
group. Most of these are being utilized in the tertiary education system but
not at lower levels. However, ICT can be a double edge sword. As mentioned by
Shen (2010, as cited in Lim, 2010), MOE reported in 2012 that $850 million
Standard ICT Operating Environment (SOE) for school systems. This system enable
all schools to have access to 1Gbps wireless broadband. This aims to allow students to use portable
computing devices and multimedia
resources in school for outdoor learning. Such a system encourages all schools
to implement ICT into their curriculum. However, one cannot neglect the
distractions ICT can cause in the form of emails, blogs, YouTube video and even
online games. Lim (2010) explained that MOE has put in place cyber-wellness
programmes to educate students on cyber wellness and the safe use of
technology, as well as filters to restrict undesirable contents online. Through
these various protection schemes, primary and secondary schools could also
utilize ICT to the fullest in their curriculum. This will narrow the digital
divide between tertiary education and the lower education levels.
The
existing digital divide between tertiary education level and the lower
education levels is apparent if nothing is done to bridge this gap. To start
off, the government and schools could do their part by improving the teachers’
beliefs and attitudes toward ICT adoption and to refine the school’s curriculum
structure. If all of these can be done, digital divide within the education
sector can truly be narrowed.
Reference
Dzidonu,
J. (2010) The role of ICTs to
achieving the MDGs in education: An Analysis of the Case of African Countries.
Retrieved October 1,2014, From http://www.ait.edu.gh
K.Gupta
(2014), Edutopia, Increase student engagement & extend
beyond the classroom using the blended learning model. Retrieved October 1,2014, From
http://www.edutopia.org/discussion/increase-student-engagement-extend-beyond-classroom-using-blended-learning-model
Keengwe,
J. & Onchwari, G. (2011) Computer Technology integration and student
learning: Barriers and promise, Journal
of Science Education and Technology 17 560-570 , Retrieved October 1,2014, From http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10956-
008-9123-5
Ministry
of Education (2010). Use of ICT in schools aimed at enhancing teaching
and learning, Retrieved October 1,2014, From http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/forum/2010/06/use-of-ict-in-schools.php
Obrien, A (2014),
Edutopia . Celebrating access
to information. Retrieved October 1, 2014. from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/information-access-digital-divide-gutenberg-anne-obrien
Redecker,
C (2009). Review of Learning 2.0 Practices: Study on the Impact of Web 2.0
Innovations. Education and Training in Europe. JRC Scientific and Technical
Report. Retrieved October 1, 2014
S
O'Hara, R Pritchard (2014). What is
the digital divide's impact on learning. Retrieved October 1,2014,
From http://www.education.com/reference/article/what-digital-divides-impact-learning/
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