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

Zaffar Ahmed ShaikhDepartment of Computer ScienceIQRA University, Main Campus

Karachi, Pakistangemzaf@iqra.edu.pk

Abstract—Higher education institutes (HEIs) are believed as catalyst for the economic progress of any country particularly and for the whole world generally. This study analyses ICT (Information and communication technology) –based teaching and learning issues at Pakistani higher education (HE) level and efforts to devise a strategy as solution to those issues as a result. Using normative Delphi method which spanned to two rounds, a comprehensive questionnaire was developed through which panelists were asked to rate, select, and add (if necessary) from the list of diverse set of issues along-with their best available solutions in the dimension of ICT strategic framework for tertiary education. Panelists not only discussed ICT-based issues and their proposed solutions but also stratified a ZPD incidence development strategy which chalks out measures HE authorities should take in order to properly integrate ICTs in their HEIs. It was determined that ICT integration in HE need to be in lined with proper strategy in order to get their true benefits.

Keywords-ZPD incidence development strategy; information and communication technology; higher education; Delphi; Pakistan

I. INTRODUCTION

At HE level, universities are believed as catalyst for the economic progress of any country particularly and for the whole world generally. A HEI is a place where more interdisciplinary work being carried out; hence ICT systems by which exchange of ideas and information is facilitated are needed [1]. Many researchers recognize this that result-oriented and informed use of ICT tools and applications is an important life-skill for any worker. In [2], it is argued that ICT usage at home and at educational institute provides students the opportunity to extend their learning beyond the classroom and therefore they have become able to continue their learning experiences out with the education environment. It is observed that many students at HE level embrace new technologies with enthusiasm; so it does not suit teachers to lag behind their students. Dynamic ICT-skilled teachers adopt right pedagogical practices and tools in their teaching by themselves and consequently enable their students to excel in these new technologies. Researchers [3] argue in their study that a teacher at HE level is a person who adopts new ideas of research, innovation, and pedagogical practices with time and hence as a result, fulfills the role of leadership which institutes of HE have sought historically.

ICT use in academic institutions has become a standard by which they define their worth. Universities are the highest pillar of research and innovations; therefore teachers and support staff at HE level are among the first targets in the market for adopting any technological change and innovation. Today ICT has changed the whole phenomenon of teaching and learning and teachers now-a-days are more informed and interactive. It is perceived that while more and more ICT pushed-in in academia with time passed; our teachers will become more confident in using a variety of hardware/software to motivate and challenge their students within varied teaching & learning styles [4].

Sometimes unfortunately, teachers hang behind in adopting ICT innovations and hence unsuccessfully resisting the expected; [3] 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. They further alarm that any form of resistance to such change could lead to professional death.

A. ZPD gap

The concept of Zone of proximal development (ZPD) was coined by [5], 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. ZPD gap is the difference between future/maximum and current state of any development/use of ICT (the value for maximum/future use is kept as 5 in this case). In this research, teaching/learning with and without the help/use of ICTs at HE level is explored and their ZPD gaps are recorded, so that a strategy that can reduce these gaps to a minimum can be devised.

B. ZPD incidence development strategy

ZPD gaps can be reduced with some proper mechanism or strategy. In this study, university personnel, the real stakeholders of institutes of HE are asked to devise ZPD incidence development strategy with the help of normative Delphi technique (a best available method by which expert opinion is measured in a distributed environment).

The vision of ZPD incidence development strategy is to improve teacher/learner experiences by the smart use of ICT in ICT-based HE. It further guides and coordinates ICT

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0.5

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1.5

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2.5

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investment towards government’s vision of improved learning outcomes at HE level.

II. METHODOLOGY

Data showing ZPD gaps obtained through normative Delphi study initially conducted in [6] 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 which may chalk out measures HE authorities should take in order to properly integrate ICTs in their HEIs.

III. ANALYSIS

Please refer Table 1 for issues and Fig. 1 for their graphical representation. 1. A teacher plans/develops class lecture by reading online

books, searching informative content from internet (using ICT tools and applications) much before finally delivering his lecture in the classroom. A significant ZPD gap (2.07) is recorded which shows confidence level of teachers of HEIs of Pakistan in using ICT tools and applications for this area of teacher tasks.

2. Recording grades, taking attendance, and performing necessary recordkeeping tasks take a lot of teachers’ time. ZPD gap measured regarding status of this task at Pakistani HE level is 1.93.

3. For the task of designing time table, attendance policies, and managing student conduct (with the help of ICT tools), ZPD gap status at Pakistani HE level is 1.93.

4. For developing course material, delivering and sharing educational content, communication between learners/ teachers and outside world, distance learning, video conferencing, creation and delivery of presentations using ICT tools and applications; 1.87 ZPD gap is measured.

5. Task of checking exam papers and announcing results using ICT tools and applications obtained a significant (2.03) ZPD gap.

6. Finding information of research centers, communicating with researchers and sharing ideas and new developments with peer groups; a significant ZPD gap of 2.10 is measured in this study.

7. For administrative tasks such as students enrolment, keeping students records, issuing books, and supporting students with ICT tools and applications in their studies; a ZPD gap of 1.90 is recorded.

8. For teacher task of using professional blogs/social networks/learner forums and research sites in quest of information/knowledge; a ZPD gap of 1.97 is recorded.

9. In web-based and database/library research and information task, ZPD gap of 1.80 is recorded.

10. Very high ZPD gap of 2.79 is recorded for the task: Group discussion, workshop supervision, and training (live supervision by video cameras, conducting training workshops/teleconferencing).

TABLE I. ZPD GAPS (SOURCE: [6])

11. For use of common ICT tools such as MS Office, search engines, e-mailing, web browsers etc; very small ZPD gap (0.03) is recorded.

12. For research and educational ICT tools such as Encyclopedia, ACM, IEEE, online mapping, demo and scenario tools, web meeting/conferencing tools, and course management tools etc; a ZPD gap of 1.90 is recorded.

Figure 1. ZPD gaps.

13. ZPD gap of 0.93 is measured regarding how much should students/faculty/staff of HEIs rely on ICT tools and applications.

14. ZPD gap of 0.93 is calculated regarding how much should students/faculty/staff of HEIs use ICT tools and applications.

15. ZPD gap of 1.00 is measured regarding how much help students/faculty/staff of HEIs get while using ICT tools and applications.

16. ZPD gap for the issue of demand of ICTs in HEIs of Pakistan recorded is 1.88.

17. ZPD gap for ICT supply in response to its demand in HEIs recorded is 2.69.

# ISSUESZPD gap

1. Planning/Developing/Organizing Instruction 2.072. Housekeeping & Record keeping Tasks 1.933. Managing Students Conduct 1.934. Presenting Subject Material/Teaching 1.875. Assessing Student’s Learning 2.036. Academic Research 2.107. Administrative Support 1.908. Social Networking 1.979. Library Research & Information 1.8010. Group Discussion/Supervision/Training 2.7911. Use of Common ICT tools/applications 0.0312. Use of Educational/Research ICT tools 1.9013. Rely on ICTs in HEIs 0.9314. Use of ICTs HEIs 0.9315. Help by ICTs in HEIs 1.0016. ICT Demand in HEIs 1.8817. ICT Supply in HEIs 2.6918. Problem of Attitude in HEIs 0.47

18. Problem of attitude/vision such as grabbing resources and misusing them did not obtain significant ZPD gap (0.47) as was expected before calculating these gaps.

IV. DISCUSSION

Teachers have to perform a number of tasks before beginning any lesson. If a teacher is effective at planning his lessons, he will find that his day-to-day teaching tasks are much easier. Recordkeeping requires a teacher to spend time taking attendance, recording grades and other housekeeping tasks. Managing student conduct in a classroom requires an effective classroom and course management policy. There are many ICT tools and applications that all teachers must use while teaching regardless of how they deliver their lecture. As instruction is considered the meat of any course material, hence assessments are the measure of success; therefore, teachers must spend time for developing suitable assessments for students [7].

Significant ZPD gaps are calculated in almost all dimensions while relating these teaching/learning issues with HEIs of Pakistan. Such big gaps show confidence level of students/faculty/staff in using and getting benefits from these technologies in their everyday routine tasks. 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.

While the dissemination of ICT tools and applications is often perceived as a necessity for HEIs of less developed countries so that they can cope with pedagogical and ICT-based challenges posed by latest developments in the technological world; it was found while reviewing current ICT status in less developed countries 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, we have tried to devise a strategy that discuss some best practices and recommend measures to the authorities of HEIs of Pakistan for ICT enhancement.

V. CONCLUSIONS

ZPD incidence development strategy as suggested by Delphi participants is comprised of six dimensions, each of which focuses on a distinct area of development. A consolidated list of recommendations is given below.

A. ICT for teaching, learning, and development

Some of the recommendations suggested by our panelists in this dimension are: (1) education portal populated with relevant teaching and learning resources for curriculum purposes needs to be developed, (2) provide ongoing training to teaching/support staff so that they can get maximum benefit from this portal, (3) teaching/support staff should be supported/encouraged to use innovative methods of teaching/learning in their routine work, (4) teams, comprising of teachers, educational advisors, and library staff need to be developed which develop course-based educational content in local/regional and in English language, (5) curriculum-based local intranet in each HEI needs to be developed which may be linked with education portal, (6) video-conferencing and video streaming facility

must be made available for curriculum and management purposes.

B. ICT for gaining proper attainment of students

ICT is used to improve the course/class attainment of students through training events, educational websites, quizzes and ICT-assisted monitoring of students. Some actions that our panelists suggest in this regard are: (1) 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, (5) relevant database tools integrated with database and data warehouse should be provided to universities for tracking students class/course progress, and (6) a policy regarding use of available software/hardware while delivering a lecture or performing some accounting/admin task should be developed.

C. ICT for improving teaching skills

To work effectively and efficiently, HE teachers need to be proficient users of ICT tools and applications. This strategy suggests ( 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.

D. ICT for managing, sharing, and using information

Accurate and timely information is a key resource for any 21st century company to succeed. This study gives following recommendations in this area: (1) mechanism for secure electronic transfer of information among all institutes of HE, (2) devise a mechanism for secure and efficient data flow through video-conferencing and video streaming, (3) supporting students/faculty/support staff to use intranet in their routine tasks, (4) enable high speed internet access for management, faculty and administrative 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 student and teacher related policies.

E. ICT for partnership, training/community learning

Some recommendations in this dimension are: (1) 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.

F. ICT for connectivity and access

ICT should be used to develop an effective and efficient communications infrastructure that may enable teachers/support staff to get maximum benefit from educational material and technologies. Some actions this study recommends in this dimension are: (1) all institutes of HE should have computer levels at or in excess of 3:1 students-computer ratio by the end of 2019. 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 to all universities, (4) all institutions of HE should have access to wireless technologies to achieve ‘mobile/anywhere’ access, (5) use of video conferencing and video streaming should be extended between HE institutes, (6) Secure and efficient links should

be established via “thin-client technology” between HEIs that enable multiple-access to shared data/data warehouse.

REFERENCES

[1] “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