essay prompt draft 2 (edited)

Introduction

Today, we 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 (2014) reported that school Internet connectivity has grown from 35% in 1994 to 100% in 2005, while classroom connectivity has increased from 3% in 1994 to 90% in 2005. With the increasing availability of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), students 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 convenience of internet access to information, students of all levels 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. With such a divide existing, students may find it hard to adapt to higher education level as they are unfamilar with the ICT curriculum the tertiary education ustlised

Problem

However, according to Obrien (2014), many of these online resources are not evenly distributed and utilised effectively and a digital divide can still occur within different levels of the education system which may lead to the problem of the digital divide among different education levels. The Singapore’s education system still experience digital divide in terms of how effective the schools utilise the technologies provided for them. Lim (2010) explain 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 in Singapore that ICT was effectively utilized in lower education level as compared to tertiary level. The effective implementation of ICT in schools is a complex process that not only involves providing the technology to schools but also the teachers’ competencies and curriculum restructuring and these are not seen in lower education levels.

Solutions

Dzidonu (2010) explain that in many schools, ICT is typically poorly adopted and underused in classroom. Keengwe and Onchwari, (2011) notice that even though there are 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 they are competencies in ICT as well as their attitudes towards ICT remain an obstacle for them to adopt and use efficiently the technology in classroom. Hence, in order to remove the digital divide caused by the underuse of ICT in the classroom, National Institute of Education of Singapore (NIE) incorporated courses involving usage of ICT into its teacher training programs.

Despite the extensive support for the teachers, the adoption and integration ICT into classroom learning and teaching 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. Therefore, surveys can be conducted to investigated teachers’ beliefs and attitudes toward ICT adoption. Hence, the problem can be identified and solved. This will help to narrow the digital divide in the lower education levels as compared to the higher ones.

Curriculum structure in which the school adopts is also very important. According to Gupta (2014), the use of an ICT structured curriculum freed 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 an ICT structured are flipped classroom, class website or even by utilizing the social media Facebook as a learning support group. Most of these are being utilized at a tertiary education system but not at lower levels. As mentioned by Shen (2010) in response to Lim(2010), ICT can be a double edge sword. He mentioned that MOE announced that a $850 million Standard ICT Operating Environment (SOE) for school systems will start on 2012. This system will enable all schools to have 1Gbps wireless broadband access systems. The aim of this is to allow students to use portable computing devices as well as interactive multimedia resources in the school-wide wireless connectivity environments for outdoor learning. 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.

Conclusion

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.

Obrien, A (2014). Celebrating Access to Information, http://www.edutopia.org/blog/information-access-digital-divide-gutenberg-anne-obrien (Retrieved 1/10/14)

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, Available at ftp://ftp.jrc.es/pub/EURdoc/JRC49108.pdf. (Retrieved 1/10/14).

Dzidonu, J. (2010) The role of ICTs to achieving the MDGs in education: An Analysis of the Case of African Countries, Accra Ghana. http://www.ait.edu.gh (Retrieved 1/10/14)

Keengwe, J. & Onchwari, G. (2011) Computer Technology integration and student learning: Barriers and promise, Journal of Science Education and Technology 17(2011) 560-570 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10956- 008-9123-5 (Retrieved 1/10/14)

Lim Teck Soon (2010) Use of ICT in Schools Aimed at Enhancing Teaching and Learning, http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/forum/2010/06/use-of-ict-in-schools.php (Retrieved 1/10/14)

Kavita Gupta (2014) Increase Student Engagement & Extend Beyond the Classroom using The Blended Learning Model, http://www.edutopia.org/discussion/increase-student-engagement-extend-beyond-classroom-using-blended-learning-model, (Retrieved 1/10/14)

S O'Hara, R Pritchard (2014), What is the Digital Divide's Impact on Learning, http://www.education.com/reference/article/what-digital-divides-impact-learning/,(Retrieved 1/10/14)