3. How can ICTs help?

Different ICTs have the potential to contribute to different facets of educational development and effective learning. Planning for effective use of ICTs in education necessitates an understanding of the potential of technologies to meet different educational objectives and, consequently, to decide which of these objectives will be pursued. This decision affects the choice of technologies and the modalities of use.

You would have studied the given reference material. Let us summarise the different potential of technologies for the education sector.

No	Potential	Examples
1.	Expanding Educational Opportunities	The potential of ICTs to reach large audiences was tapped initially in the late 1800s, when correspondence courses became an alternative means to provide education for individuals who could not attend regular schools due to geographical, social, or cultural barriers. Experiments with radio broadcast started in the early 1900s, and, in 1924, the British Broadcast Corporation (BBC) began to air educational programmes. Since then, radio has been instrumental in reaching scattered and rural populations.
2.	Promoting Efficiency	ICTs promote efficiency of delivery of educational services by supplementing conventional delivery mechanisms.
3.	Improving Quality	Teachers can be empowered with high-quality educational videos and software. Teachers are no longer the sole providers of information but facilitators of the learning process.Most educational software comes with a teacher's guide and tutorials, and support can be found on the Internet. E-mail and Internet-related collaborative environments provide teachers with individualised and immediate help, regardless of their geographical location.
4.	Preparing for Life-long Learning	ICTs are flexible, unconstrained by time and place, can be used on demand, and provide just in-time education. They have the potential to offer synchronous as well as asynchronous learning opportunities. But, above all, if well prepared, they can pack a wealth of expertise and experience in efficient packages that can be modified and updated all the time in response to feedback, new demands and varied contexts. Possibilities include a wide range of technologies, including videos, correspondence, Internet, and e-learning superstructure.
5.	Enhancing Training for the Workplace	Network technologies have the potential to deliver timely and appropriate knowledge and skills to the right people, at a suitable time, in a convenient place. This is what e-training is about. It allows for personalised, just-in-time, up-to- date, and user-centred educational activities.
6.	Improving Management	Many educational institutions and systems have introduced simple management and statistical information systems; but this should be only the beginning. Use of computing and telecommunications equipment and services can make schools and school systems more efficient and cost-effective to enable principals and superintendents to streamline operations, monitor performance, and improve use of physical and human resources. At the system-wide level, technologies provide critical support in domains such as school mapping, automated personnel and payroll systems, management information systems, communications, and information gathering, analysis, and use. Technology also can be powerful in driving and managing new approaches to learning that involve more student interaction, more connections among schools, more collaboration among teachers and students, and more involvement of teachers as facilitators. These needs are especially critical in self-study, distance education, and e-learning settings, and many platforms have been developed to meet such needs.

If you are not clear on any of the items summarised in the table above, go back to the reference material in pages 8-12 in Chapter 1 and read again carefully. If you still have any questions, please discuss with your peers and tutor.