Conceptual Context

Educational policymakers and strategists are faced with two major challenges:

1. The demands for more, better, and sometimes different, education anywhere and anytime are escalating. Yet the availability of financial, physical and human resources is not commensurate with these demands. A linear projection of past progress indicates that business as usual will not achieve desired targets within reasonable time. This may place some countries at risk of not developing their human capital to a threshold necessary for poverty alleviation, and for economic and social development.
2. The world is experiencing a third revolution in the dissemination of knowledge and in the enhancement of instruction, through the advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The first revolution occurred with invention of the written language, and the second with the development of moveable type and books. ICTs have the potential to enhance information distribution, learning, teaching and managing of educational services and make them affordable and available anytime, anywhere.

At the intersection of these two challenges, educational authorities are under tremendous pressure to provide every classroom (if not every student) with technologies, including computers and their accessories and connectivity to the Internet. The pressures are coming from vendors who wish to sell the most advanced technologies, from parents who want to ensure that their children are not left behind in the technological revolution, businesses who want to replicate in schools the dramatic impact that ICTs have had in the worlds of commerce, business and entertainment, and from technology advocates who see ICTs as the latest hope to reform education.

 Experience is proving, however, that acquiring the technologies themselves, no matter how hard and expensive, may be the easiest and cheapest element in a series of elements that ultimately could make these technologies sustainable or beneficial. Effectively integrating technology into educational systems is much more complicated. It involves a rigorous analysis of educational objectives and changes, a realistic understanding of the potential of technologies, a purposeful consideration of the pre- and co-requisites of effectiveness of ICTs for education, and the prospects of this process within the dynamics of educational change and reform.

The process of integrating ICTs into educational systems and activities can be arbitrary, ad hoc and disjointed -- leading to ineffective, unsustainable and wasteful investments. On the other hand, a comprehensive set of analytical, diagnostic and planning tools can force a certain discipline on the process. It does not make policy formulation “scientific” and “rational”. Nor will it replace the political/organizational nature of policy formulation. It will, however, enlighten, enrich and systematize the process of policy making and planning, by:

• Providing the necessary information and policy options
• Facilitating deliberate planning for implementation and feedback
• Allowing for a systematic and constructive engagement of different stakeholders
• Adding precision and efficiency to the different procedures

A prototype version of an ICT-in-Education Toolkit has been developed by UNESCO and its partners to assist education policy makers, planners and practitioners in a systematic process of formulating and planning ICT interventions to meet educational goals and targets efficiently and effectively. The Toolkit provides education strategists six toolboxes - containing a total of 18 tools - that cover the following areas:

• Mapping the present situation in terms of national goals, educational context, ICTs in education, and the dynamics of change
• Identification of educational areas for ICT intervention and formulation of corresponding ICT-in-education policies
• Planning for implementation of infrastructure, hardware, contentware, and personnel training
• Planning for ICT-enhanced materials
• Consolidating implementation plans and their financial and managerial implications into one master plan
• Assessment of implementation, effectiveness and impact of ICT interventions and subsequent adjustments and follow-up actions

There is an old proverb: A bad workman blames his tools. It is important to keep in mind that, like any tool used in any field of science, technology or industry, the Toolkit is only an instrument to facilitate and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of decision making, planning and implementation. It does not replace the commitment, brainpower and actions of the user, nor does it make up for deficiencies in these attributes. It is how the toolkit is used and with what skill that determine the results.

Purpose

The purpose of this workshop is threefold:

1. To examine the parameters, potential and prospects of integrating ICTs into education
2. To acquaint the country Teams with the conceptual premises and features of the Toolkit and to train them in the application of each tool
3. To receive feedback from each Team on the functionality and usefulness of each tool

The training program is built around three recurring activities for each toolbox:

• Presentation of the conceptual underpinnings of the toolbox
• Walking through the Toolbox demonstrating the functioning of the tools
• Hands-on Application of Tools by each country Team, independently