NORSYAZREEN RAMLAN (CRITIQUE ARTICLE 1)

CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS TO SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICTs) IN TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION (TVE) IN NIGERIA by Muhammad Bappa-Aliyu

1.0       Article’s Summary

ICTs are reachable, quite interactive and the cost is reasonable which applied in many educational specializations to achieve goals. The useful of ICTs in TVET in Nigeria are for Teaching and Learning; Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition; Research and Communication; Placement of Graduates; Programmed Development; Labor Market Information; Career Education and Guidance; Administration Purposes; Special Needs Learners; Virtual Internship; Informal Skill Development; and Assessing Teaching and Learning. Strategic readiness, pedagogical readiness, organizational readiness and technical readiness are factors that need to provide for effective integration of ICTs in TVET in Nigeria. There are challenges to the integration of ICTs in TVET in Nigeria such as lack of time, staff, knowledge and skill in the preparation of teaching materials and to plan instruction; cost and access; lack of funds for training; unstable electric supply; lack of ICTs awareness and unwillingness to change from the traditional method among principals or teachers. Meanwhile the barriers are Content and Curriculum; Appropriateness and Efficacy; Quality and Branding of ICT-Mediated Learning; Resistance; Lack of Appropriate Software, The Digital Divide, Cognitive Divide and Copyright Issues. The conclusion is TVE institutions in Nigeria should prepare their students with ICTs skills for fulfill the requirement of employer and realize the changing nature of the world of work.

2.0       Revision, Critique and Discussion

This article state the benefits, functional, advantage and disadvantage of ICTs but focuses on the need, factors, challenges and barriers for successful and effective integration of ICTs in TVE and I totally agree with this article based from the literature, but this article is not really complete. For improvement this article should state the definition of ICTs, and the example of successful integration of ICTs in TVE in other country that can be refer such as Australia to know the integration of ICT in Australia which are suitable to refer and apply in Nigeria.

The definition of ICTs are generally relates to those technologies that are used for accessing, gathering, manipulating and presenting or communicating information. The technologies could include hardware (e.g. computers and other devices); software applications; and connectivity (e.g. access to the Internet, local networking infrastructure, video conferencing). What is most significant about ICT is the increasing convergence of computer-based, multimedia and communications technologies and the rapid rate of change that characterizes both the technologies and their use (Toomey, 2001) in (Lloyd, 2005).

According to Bruniges (2003) in Lloyd (2005), in Australia, there is increasing use of ICT since 2005 to improve and increase the quality, accessibility and cost-efficiency of the delivery of education, while taking advantage of the benefits of networking learning communities together to equip them to face the challenges of global competition. The integration of ICT is from peripheral to the mainstream of school life as progress is made towards meeting the specific national aim to “integrate information and communications technology into all facets of education and training, including the administrative functions and e-business models required to support learning” (Bruniges, 2003) in Lloyd, 2005).

Lloyd (2005) paper has contended five issues of concern in the measurement of ICT integration. These are the transposition paradox where old learning is moved to new media; the reliance on/centrality of technology on the learning experience; the relationship between student, learning and the technology, that is, is the learning occurring about, with, from or through the technology; determining the base unit of measure, for example, teacher (which may mask complexity) or school (which may not allow for differences both within and between schools because of enacted belief dominating stated policy and goals); and potentially erroneous causal connections. What can be stated unequivocally is that the measurement of integration is problematic.

Based from articles and from my opinion, ICT plays huge role in education if we use it properly. But it is very challenging to make the integration of ICT successful and to make ICT very useful for the people in education such as students and teachers. Continues learning or lifelong learning with ICT is very efficient and effective to provide competence students which always update their knowledge and skill depends on current industries requirements and the technologies  that industries use.

Reference:

Muhammad (2012), Challenges And Barriers To Successful Integration Of Information And Communication Technologies (Icts) In Technical And Vocational Education (TVE) In Nigeria. Journal of Technical, Vocational and Engineering Education.

Lloyd, Margaret (2005). Towards a definition of the integration of ICT in the classroom. In AARE 2005, AARE, Eds. Proceedings AARE '05 Education Research-Creative Dissent: Constructive Solutions, Parramatta, New South Wales.