E-Content Development : Need and Significance

Introduction

The unprecedented advances in the field of ICT have impacted the field of education more than any other field. “Rapid advances in Information and Communication Technology have created unprecedented opportunities in the field of education and have had a profound effect on the way teachers teach and how learners learn. Mastering ICT skills and utilising ICT towards creating an improved teaching and learning environment is of utmost importance to teachers in creating a new learning culture” (Molly Lee, 2005).

With the speed at which technology is changing the world, it is impossible to imagine education in the year 2020 not being immersed in technology. As the new millennium unfolds itself, most people are by now aware that we are in the midst of one of the most dramatic technological revolutions in history that is changing everything, the way in which we work, communicate, transact business, spend our leisure time and what not. The technological revolution centres on computer, information, communication and multimedia technologies, is often interpreted as the beginnings of a knowledge or information society, and therefore ascribes education a central role in every aspect of life. This great transformation poses tremendous challenges to educators to rethink their basic tenets, to deploy the media in creative and productive ways, and to restructure education to respond constructively and progressively to the technological and social changes that we are now experiencing, as “teachers are the central forces in tapping the learning opportunities created by ICT” (Majumdar, 2004).

Framework for ICT in Teacher Education

UNESCO Planning Guide on ICT in Teacher Education proposed a generic framework for ICT in Teacher Education (Figure-1), which is composed of four clusters of competencies encircled by four supportive themes. The curriculum framework suggests that each teacher may be allowed to interpret the framework within his or her context and personal approach to pedagogy. This may always be related to the subject discipline or content area, rather than to the technology itself.

Figure 1. A Framework for ICT in Teacher Education

The holistic framework defines areas of ICT competency organized in four groups:

1. Content and Pedagogy focus on instructional practices of teachers and their knowledge of the curriculum. It requires that teachers apply ICT in their respective disciplines to support and extend teaching and learning.

2. Collaboration and networking showcase the communicative potential of ICT to extend learning beyond the classroom and necessitate the development of new knowledge and skills.

3. Social issues, which imply that teachers can acquire an understanding of social issues, including the recognition and understanding of legal and moral codes such as copyright and intellectual property rights; participation in debates on the impact of ICT on society; and the use of ICT in the promotion of a healthy society. Awareness of such issues will lead to suitable application of ICT in pedagogy and development.

4. Technical issues include technical proficiency and the provision of both technical infrastructure and technical support for ICT integration throughout the curriculum. These core competencies can be seen as ‘cluster objectives that are critical for the successful use of ICT as a tool for learning’. They can be developed and utilized in technology-pedagogy integration in the following four supportive themes:

• Context and culture identify social, cultural and other contextual factors to be taken into account in infusing ICT into teacher education curriculum. This will include the use of ICT in culturally appropriate ways with respect to pluralistic and diversified cultures and contexts.

• Leadership and vision are essential for the effective use of ICT in teacher education and will benefit greatly from the support of the administrations of the teacher education institutions concerned.

• Lifelong learning recognizes the nature of capacity building as a long-term process, rather than as a one-stop-for-all training course.

• Management of change signifies the importance of planning in effective management of the changing process involved in the use of technology for educational purposes.

As seen in the above framework (Fig.1), it is the ‘content and pedagogy’ that stands as the competency of prime importance in the process of technology-pedagogy integration. Such prime importance, given to ‘content and pedagogy’ underscores the change in the teacher’s role from that of a knowledge transmitter to that of a facilitator, knowledge navigator, co-learner and courseware developer, all rolled into one. The new role does not diminish the importance of the teacher but requires new ways of thinking that will culminate in ICT-enhanced pedagogy. The paradigm shift from traditional model of teaching to the new model of teaching and its technology implications (Table 1), as illustrated by Shirley et al. (2000) deserves a close study in this context.

Table 1: Implications of New Technologies

‘Traditional’ Model of Teaching	New Model of Teaching	Technology Implications
Classroom Lectures	Individual Exploration	Availability of networked Computers with guided access to online information and learning Materials.
Teacher as Deliverer of Information	Teacher as a Guide	Teaching via programme websites and online learning environments; access to external experts over the Internet
Individual Work	Collaborative Learning	Access to email and online ‘conferencing’ tools
Face-to-face Teaching	Flexible and Distance Learning	Student access to networked computers for materials delivery and support
Consistent Content	Fast-changing Content	Availability of networks, web space and web publishing tools; sharing of computer-based learning materials with other institutions

No wonder, the UNESCO Planning Guide (2002) nominates pedagogy, along with content, as “the most important aspect of infusing technology in the curriculum”.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Pedagogy cannot exist in isolation to contents. In fact, there is a new beginning to appreciate that the two intertwined into what is described as Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), and is an essential tenet in the current thinking about teacher education. The term content refers to far more than factual information. It encompasses all aspects of a subject: concept, principles, relationships, methods of inquiry and outstanding issues. The blend of content and pedagogical knowledge includes understanding why some learners experience difficulties when learning a particular concept, while others find it easy to assimilate knowledge about useful ways to conceptualize and represent a chosen concept. The basic principle of PCK is to make teaching and learning: (a) engaging and motivating; (b) interactive; (c) contextual; (d) reducing cognitive load; (e) scaffolding; and (f) collaborative. With ICT, there are better ways and opportunities to make above principles more realistic learning experiences. ICT encourages interactions, development of collaborative culture, utilization of active learning and introduction of feedback in proper context. ICT can bring abstract concept to life by bringing into the teaching and learning the real world experiences through simulating, modeling, capturing and analyzing real event.

E-Content Development

An essential condition for effective ICT enabled teaching and learning is that there must be access to high quality, culturally relevant content. Although it may not provide such content, the Web can be a powerful tool for teacher educators, teachers and others to develop and share content that meets cultural, linguistic and educational needs of the Indian education system. SchoolNet (Africa) and Four Direction Project (North America) are examples using the Web for indigenous and collaborative development and sharing of e-content that reflect the language, culture and resident knowledge of the community. In the process of developing a techno-pedagogy for the ‘new’ learner in the ‘new’ environment, learning ‘new’ things using ‘new’ technologies, the first issue to be addressed is the development of content. It is imperative to note that many corporate organizations have entered this domain which should be totally under the control of the teachers. The point of paramount importance is the fact that if teachers don’t create e-content, either no one else can or somebody else will. Of course, the task of developing e-content or Knowledge Packaging necessitates collaborative efforts by technologists and academics. In this context, the following observation of Vladimir Kinelev (2005) needs attention, “ICTs have not eliminated the most pressing of problems that education systems face. Attempts to improve education through ICTs suffer from the absence of sound education paradigms”. It is here that the teacher with clarity in content and depth in pedagogy assumes a pivotal role in creating the right instructional design and in creating appropriate content in effective manner. Indeed, Knowledge Packaging has always been there since the Gurukula days in different forms like conversations, lectures, songs, stories, manuscripts, print, audio and what not. Now, the need for digital convergence of these forms is imperative to provide quality education to greater quantities of learners for the simple reason that the reach and richness of e-content is quite high. Other salient features of e-content viz., bi-sensory learning experience, digital convergence of text, image, audio, video, animation etc. to create the effects of multimedia, accessibility, reusability, interoperability etc. are the supporting points in favour of the claim to give top priority to e-content development, among all academic endeavours. The question of content creation looms large in the backdrop of EDUSAT and exclusive educational television channels like Vyas, Gyandarshan, Ekalyva which are badly in need of content to telecast. Responding to the need, the UGC – Consortium of Educational Communication has taken up a mission of training the Higher Education teachers in the art and science of e-content creation. But, for a country like India with one of the largest higher education systems in the world, a single agency cannot serve the immediate purpose. The need of the hour is a policy decision to train the teacher educators and personnel of other teacher development agencies in the country as trainers in e-content development, who in turn would carry the message and continue the mission of providing e-content development training to scores of teachers across the nation. Of course the question of creating the necessary infrastructure comes up. The solution is to exploit the potentials of EMMRCs and to create departmental level studios, like the one at the Department of Educational Technology, Bharathidasan University. The cost involved will only prove to be an investment and not expenditure.

Conclusion

The global village has been reduced to the size of a nano-chip. VOIP and VOD have become the hot topics. Wi-Fi and WiMAX have become buzz words. India revels at Vijay Bhatkar’s idea of ETH (Education-To-Home). It is high time that the teaching community rose up to the occasion and exploit the advances of the Grey Revolution for the benefit of the learning community, for “India can become one of the developed countries in the world by 2020, if we adopt technology as our tool. For this, the teaching community should change its mindset and enthuse the students by means of technology”(Abdul Kalam, 2004).

References

[1] Majumdar.(Ed.). 2005. Regional Guidelines on Teacher Development for Pedagogy – Technology Integration. Bangkok : UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education.

[2] Shirley et al. 2000. Teaching with Learning Technology. Edinburgh : Napier University.

[3] Rest, P. (Ed.). 2002. Information and Communication Technologies in Teacher Education : A Planning Guide. Paris: UNESCO.

[4] Longmire, Warren. 2000. “Content and Context : Designing and Developing Learning Objects”. Learning Without Limits,Vol.3. Informania.

e-content for ELT

E-content Development for ELT

Internet based Educational Communication

Introduction

The world has witnessed several information revolutions in the past. The first one was 6000 years ago when writing was invented. The second information revolution was in 1300 B.C. when the first written book was published. The third information revolution was triggered by the invention of the printing press in 1455 A.D. Every invention has improved productivity and has enhanced the standard of living of the mankind. We are now witnessing the fourth information revolution - the ICT revolution. Today the globe has shrunk into a tiny village and the entire globe scenario has been brought on to a tiny screen under the click of a mouse button. Literacy in the next century is going to be understood as computer literacy. If knowledge is power, Information Technology provides the means of knowledge:

UNESCO considered Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as "scientific, technological and engineering disciplines and the management techniques used in information handling and processing, their application, computers and their interaction with men and machines, and associated social, economical and cultural matters". The advent of Information Technology has had a profound and commanding global influence on the matrix of Socio-economic activity the world over. It is transforming the way people doc do things - all things.

Industrial and developing countries alike are formulating policies and programmes to accelerate its development, diffusion and empowerment abilities. The world's developed governments are rocketing ahead in formulating, developing and implementing a variety of national policies and synergic government public programmes to exploit the enormous unfathomed benefits, of this Fourth Information Revolution.

Developing countries like India having sensed it, are following at a breakneck velocity for establishing and capitalizing on the enabling capabilities of Information and Communication Technology.

Trends in ICT

ICT is under continuous development. Technological and communication advances hold the promise for a new generation of network applications that can provide qualitative leaps beyond what is possible using today's Internet technology. Trends already in evidence amply demonstrate the potential for powerful new Internet resources and applications to be widely and equitably available and affordable. The December 2000 Report of the Web Based Education Commission in the US (Kerrey, 2000) highlights a number of the more important trends.

The first trend is toward greater broadband access and better data packet handling capabilities, allowing for the transmission of large amounts of data, whether through wire or wirelessly. Broadband access today is fifty to several hundred times more powerful than its precursors, making possible continuous Internet connectivity, more interactive experience and a richer delivery of content than simple text.

Consumer access to broadband Internet connections is expected to show exponential growth over the next couple of years, affording easier access to the Internet. When the infrastructure is in place for widespread broadband access, Internet services will rapidly become a commodity and bandwidth is expected to be virtually free. This is likely to fuel the development of consumer broadband access technologies. By 2007, it is likely that over 70 million US households (80% those online) will access the Internet through a high bandwidth connection.

A second trend identified in the Kerrey Report (2000) is pervasive computing, in which computing, connectivity and communications technologies connect small, multipurpose devices, linking them by wireless technologies. It is much cheaper to build cellular relay stations that lay miles of cable. Wireless solutions may enable underdeveloped and remote areas quickly to take advantage of the web via wireless phones, two-way pages, and handheld devices.

The third trend is digital convergence: merging the capabilities of telephone, radio, television and other interactive devices. The ubiquitous infrastructure of television will be significantly enhanced by conversion to digital transmission. Through this increased capability, stations can offer dramatically enhanced programming by "data casting" a wealth of supplementary information to accompany the regular broadcast. This may include course materials, software and reference guides delivered via text, video, or audio formats. Direct satellite connections to the home offer another pathway for rich content.

A fourth trend is the dramatic drop in the unit cost of bandwidth. Bandwidth will decrease in cost and increase in power. Ubiquitous Internet access can become a viable option for all, rather than for a privileged few.

Other trends observed by the Web Based Education Commission have particular relevance for the education sector. These include the emergence of agreement on technical standards for content development and sharing, which are expected to advance the development of web based learning environments; and the emergence of adaptive technology - technology that combines speech recognition, gesture recognition, text to speech conversion, language translation and sensory immersion to change the very substance of network enhanced human communication.

Emerging New Roles in the Indian Educational Scenario

Thanks to Information Technology, new roles are emerging in the educational scenario of the current context. Information Technology literacy is becoming essential for the new educator, who has to deal with a new student, in a new school, using new media, namely the Internet in a new learning environment with free access to a large amount of information resources.
Realizing this importance of Information Technology, the ICT education in India is being incorporated as a part of the academic curriculum in schools, colleges and universities. At the school level, the basics of Information Technology and Training on computer usage are focused upon to make the school outgoing children ICT literate. At the college and University levels, the study of ICT applications in all disciplines is focused.

The unprecedented advances in ICT and its widespread application to education and training have signaled a paradigm shift in the field of education, besides changing the venues and hours of teaching and learning. The world is witnessing the presence of three different types of educational institutions today viz., the brick institutions, the click institutions and the brick and click institutions, though it is early to predict which one will stand the test of time. As common sense dictates, the brick and click institutions are likely to have an edge over the other two, as it is a combination of them. Whatever is the case, the success of ICT enabled teaching and leaning largely depends on the application of appropriate pedagogical principles. In this context, the following observation of Vladimir Kinelev, the Director of UNESCO Institute of Information Technologies in Education needs attention, “ICTs have not eliminated the most pressing of problems that education systems face. Attempts to improve education through ICTs suffer from the absence of sound education paradigms that could support genuine renewal”.

In the process of development of pedagogy and technology for the ‘new’ learner in the ‘new’ environment, learning ‘new’ things using ‘new’ technologies, the first issue to be addressed is the content. E-content development or Knowledge Packaging in electronic forms is a major task before the teachers and content developers, which calls for the coming together of the technologists and educationists. While planning for e-content development, the differences in the learners, their learning environments, their styles of leaning are the most important factors to be seriously considered, as other factors of interaction could be standardized, to some extent. Knowledge Packaging has always been there from the days of Gurukula to the present day in different forms, conversations, lectures, songs, stories, manuscripts, print, audio, video and what not. Now, there is a need for digital convergence of these forms of Knowledge Packaging has become imperative to provide quality education to greater quantities of learners in the changed scenario of teaching and learning. At this juncture, as India stands on the threshold of developing e-content for the learning of not only the current generation of learners but also the posterity, it is imperative that all involved in this mission take a panoramic view of the whole system for planning and look into every aspect of e-content through the microscope at the development and deliver stages.

ICT based Educational Communication

Internet based Educational Communication is a preferred made to others for a variety of reasons. ICT dissolves the barriers of time and place and it throws open to possibility to initiative any human activity. The choice of ICT for educational communication is due to its user friendliness, speed, accuracy high degree of reliability, high storage capacity, integrity, consistency, logicality, diligence, versatility, low failure rate, durability and probability; above all, it has a special characteristic of ‘interactivity which gives the total control to the learner. Hence, with internet based educational communication, the receiver of the message decides when, where and how much of content to receive and for how much of time. The student takes more or less time for learning different concepts depending on his/ her ability to group, understand and internet. In short, it promotes learner autonomy. Thus, the paradigm shift the field of education triggered by Grey Revolution is matched by real life teaching learning situations. The whole game of education becomes learner – centric and learning centric. To be in tune with the paradigm shift that the world of education has witnessed, any teacher at any level of education must “adapt their relationship with learners, switching roles from ‘soloist’ to ‘accompanist’ and shifting the emphasis from dispensing information to helping learners seek, organize and manage knowledge, guiding them rather than molding item”. (Delor’s Commission Report).

It is time for all teachers of the present day world to play two roles – both pivotal to education; one that of a use of the plethora of materials and services available on the net for effective teaching and that of a developer of e-content and e-resources for the learning of the student community of the present and the future. As users the day teachers have access to a lot of services like search engines, e-mail, chat, e-libraries and digital libraries, e-zines and e-journals, e-books, e-dictionaries and digital dictionaries, e-forum, e-learning portal, downloadable software, online storage and preservation and many move. If a teacher wants to evolve into an e-content developer he/she can make use of authoring tools, integrating tools, dissemination tools and on-line storage and preservation tools of the myriad services available on the net for the teachers to choose from the following three are not my quite useful but who easy to use.
1. Blogging
2. Pod casting
3. Applets

Blogging

In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basic. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what’s new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Since Blogger was launched, almost five years ago, blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics and education, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have voice and connect with others.

Podcasting

“Podcasting” is a compound word coined in 2004, that combined two words: “iPod” and “broadcasting”. Podcasting is the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. The term podcast, like ‘radio’, can mean both the content and the method of deliver. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster. Podcasters’ web sites may also offer direct download or streaming of their files.

Applets

An applet is a program written in the Java Programming language that can be included in an HTML page, much in the same way an image is included in a page.

Though the internet offers many, many such useful and easy to use technologies in the form of services and software, what is required today is a change in the mindset of the teaching community to embrace these new technologies and make the best of it not only for the larger benefit of the learning community but also for professional and personal enrichment. For, “it is true that technology cannot replace a teacher, but it is also true that a teacher who does not use technology will be replaced by the we who uses”.