ZPD Incidence Development Strategy for Demand of ICTs in Higher Education Institutes of Pakistan

Zaffar Ahmed Shaikh

The 3rd International Conference on Intelligent Information Technology Application (IITA 2009) 21-22 November Nanchang China

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Agenda

Background Statement of purpose Relevant literature survey Methodology Discussion on results Conclusions & Implications References

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Background

Paper titled “ICT for shaping the future of higher education in Pakistan”, WORLDCOMP’09, FEC’09, Las Vegas USA, 13-16 July 2009. Its extended version titled “Role of ICT in shaping the future of Pakistani higher education system” is accepted in ETR&D Journal (Impact factor 0.695)

Paper titled “Usage, Acceptance, Adoption, and Diffusion of ICTs in Higher Education: A Measurement of Critical Factors”, Journal of Information Technology Impact Volume 9 No. 2, 63-80, 2009

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Statement of purpose

An effort to stratify ZPD incidence development strategy that chalk out measures Pakistani higher education authorities should take in order to inline ICT integration in higher education.

In this study, teaching/learning with and without the help/use of ICT at HE level is explored and their ZPD gaps are recorded.

A questionnaire on ICT strategic framework was designed to be used as an instrument in normative Delphi method.

It further guides and coordinates ICT investment towards government’s vision of improved learning outcomes at HE level.

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Relevant Literature Survey More and more interdisciplinary work is being carried out in HEIs; hence

ICT systems by which exchange of ideas and information is facilitated are needed (ICT strategic framework, 2005-2010, University of Oxford).

With the help of ICT students can continue their learning experiences out with the education environment (ICT strategy for education, 2009).

(Gillard et al., 2008) argue in their study that for teachers, change either in

ICT innovations, pedagogical practices or in domain area is unavoidable; such change is predictable and manageable process and requires teachers to change their teaching tools/methods in timely fashion.

While more ICT being pushed-in in academia; our teachers will become more confident in using a variety of ICT to motivate and challenge their students within varied teaching & learning styles (Deshpande, 2009).

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Relevant Literature Survey (continued …)

(Vygotsky, 1978) coined the concept of ZPD which states that when a child at certain age level solve problems with help or guidance; but once he internalize these problem solving techniques, he can tackle and solve same nature of problems independently.

In this study, ZPD gap is taken as the difference between future and current state of any development in ICT.

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Methodology

Data showing ZPD gaps obtained through normative Delphi study initially conducted by (Z. A. Shaikh, 2009) has been taken as input in this study as shown in Table 1.

Further extending that study, the same group of panelists was asked to devise a ZPD incidence development strategy.

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Analysis: Table 1: ZPD gaps (Source: [6])

ISSUES ZPD Gap

Planning/Developing/Organizing Instruction 2.07

Housekeeping & Record keeping Tasks 1.93

Managing Students Conduct 1.93

Presenting Subject Material/Teaching 1.87

Assessing Student’s Learning 2.03

Academic Research 2.10

Administrative Support 1.90

Social Networking 1.97

Library Research & Information 1.80

Group Discussion/Supervision/Training 2.79

Use of Common ICT tools/applications 0.03

Use of Educational/Research ICT tools 1.90

Rely on ICTs in HEIs 0.93

Use of ICTs HEIs 0.93

Help by ICTs in HEIs 1.00

ICT Demand in HEIs 1.88

ICT Supply in HEIs 2.69

Problem of Attitude in HEIs 0.47

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

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Discussion on results

Significant ZPD gaps are calculated in almost all dimensions.

Such big gaps show confidence level of students/faculty/staff in using ICT.

Lack of ICT-based training, unavailability of resources, under funding, lack of vision/creativity/attitude, ICT-based curriculum issues, and lack of political will, are some the main causes of such big ZPD gaps that this study suggests.

It was found that there is no such strategy in existence at any state in the developing countries (also Pakistan) that provide persistent solution to this global issue.

Hence, by this study, an effort has been made to devise a strategy that discuss some best practices and recommend measures to the authorities of HEIs of Pakistan for ICT enhancement.

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Conclusions and Implications

ZPD incidence development strategy as suggested by Delphi panelists is comprised of six dimensions, each of which focuses on a distinct area of development.

A consolidated list of recommendations is given on next slides.

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ICT for teaching, learning, and development

1. Education portal for curriculum purposes need be developed,

2. Ongoing training to teaching/support staff be provided,

3. Innovative methods of teaching/learning are advised,

4. Teams of teachers, educational advisors, and library staff be asked to develop course-based educational content in local/regional and in English language,

5. Curriculum-based local intranet in each HEI need be developed which may be linked with education portal,

6. Video conferencing/streaming facility must be made available for curriculum and management purposes.

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ICT for gaining proper attainment of students1. Enabling teachers to record and evaluate students class/course attainment at the

classroom level by providing them relevant ICT tools and applications,

2. Students progress between key stages may be measured through management information system (MIS),

3. Database of students/staff records and data warehouse for data analysis services should be designed to increase the current level of data sharing,

4. Relevant database tools integrated with database and data warehouse should be provided to universities for tracking students class/course progress, and

5. A policy regarding use of available software/hardware while delivering a lecture or performing some accounting/admin task should be developed.

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ICT for improving teaching skills

1. Design of a persistent training program for students/faculty/staff that address weak areas in the use of ICT,

2. A mechanism should be devised by which university teaching/support staff receive regular technological and curriculum related updates through internet, education portal, intranet, and other sources,

3. Workshops for top management and decision making authorities of HEIs should be arranged through which they receive information about best practices and strategic data management advice to maintain effectiveness of data,

4. HE authorities should provide their faculty the best available educational software/hardware in the market,

5. HE teaching/support staff should get opportunities of studying and gaining higher qualifications through scholarships/fellowships, and attending research oriented events worldwide.

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ICT for managing, sharing, and using information1. Mechanism for secure electronic transfer of information among all institutes,

2. Secure/efficient data flow through video conferencing/ streaming,

3. Supporting students/faculty/support staff to use intranet,

4. Enable high speed internet access for management, faculty and admin staff,

5. All HEIs should have an established information management strategy to be shared with parents, top authorities and other related stakeholders,

6. Design of a mechanism that provide access to appropriate and secure information using portal technology to parents, higher authorities, and other related stakeholders,

7. Design a class/course management system supporting students attendance policies, timetabling, grading, conduct, and other policies.

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ICT for partnership, training/community learning1. All institutes of HE should establish ICT training centers that not only

fulfill local training needs of staff but also provide such services to communities of nearby area,

2. Training programs that develop skills of ICT tutors should be designed by every HEI to enable them to train faculty/support staff with major developmental and technological changes occur with time in the world of ICT,

3. Develop a countrywide e-learning program which provide high quality education services to remote students on anywhere and anytime learning pattern.

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ICT for connectivity and access

1. All institutes of HE should have computer levels at or in excess of 3:1 students-computer ratio by the end of 2019.

2. 50% of teaching faculty should have access to laptops by the end of 2019,

3. Devise a mechanism for access of high speed broadband/internet connection,

4. All HEIs should have access to wireless technologies to achieve ‘mobile/anywhere’ access,

5. Use of video conferencing/streaming should be extended between HEIs,

6. Secure and efficient links should be established via “thin-client technology”.

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References1. “Information and Communication Technology Strategic Plan, 2005-06 to 2009-10,” University of Oxford,

Retrieved August 2009, from: http://www.ict.ox.ac.uk/strategy/plan/ICT_Strategic_Plan_March2007.pdf

2. “Argyll and Bute Community Services: ICT Strategy for Education,” Retrieved August 2009, from: http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/pdffilesstore/infotechnologystrategy

3. S. Gillard, D. Bailey, and E. Nolan, “Ten reasons for IT educators to be early adopters of IT innovations,” Journal of Information Technology Education, vol. 7, 2008, pp. 21-33.

4. P. Deshpande, “Connected – where next?: A strategy for the next phase in the development of education ICT in Bournemouth,” Retrieved August 2009, from: http://www.bournemouth.gov.uk/Library/PDF/Education/Education_ICT_Strategy_2004_to_2009.pdf

5. L. S. Vygotsky, “Mind in Society: The development of higher psychological processes,” Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press: USA, 1978.

6. Z. A. Shaikh, “Usage, acceptance, adoption, and diffusion of information & communication technologies in higher education: a measurement of critical factors,” Journal of Information Technology Impact vol. 9(2), July 2009, pp. 63-80.

7. M. Kelly, “Top 6 teacher tasks – what teachers do,” Retrieved August 2009, from: http://712educators.about.com/od/teachingstrategies/tp/teaching_tasks.htm

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Thank You