Introduce to ICT

Introduction to ICT

ICTs stand for information and communication technologies and are defined, for the purposes, as a “diverse set of technological tools and resources used to communicate, and to create, disseminate, store, and manage information.” These technologies include computers, the Internet, broad casting technologies (radio and television), and telephony.

The  Effectiveness  of ICTs in Education:

•  Anytime, anywhere. One of the ability of ICT is to transcend time and space. Its make a possible asynchronous learning. Online course materials for the example, can be accsessed 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. No time limit, and space limit in ICT

•  Access to remote learning resources. With the ict, teacher do not need to rely on the text book again. The source for the learning materials can be obtained everywhere inside the World Wide Web. It will prevent the student and the teacher from the "Mainstream Zone". It will be always something new everyday, not always materials from the text book.

·         ICTs help prepare individuals for the workplace.

One of the most commonly cited reasons for using ICTs in the classroom has been to better prepare the current generation of students for a workplace where ICTs, particularly computers, the Internet and related technologies, are becoming more and more ubiquitous. Technological literacy, or the ability to use ICTs effectively and efficiently, is thus seen as representing a competitive edge in an increasingly globalizing job market.

General benefits

·         Greater efficiency throughout the school.

·         Communication channels are increased through email, discussion groups and chat rooms

·         Regular use of ICT across different curriculum subjects can have a beneficial motivational influence on students’ learning.

Benefits for teachers

·         ICT facilitates sharing of resources, expertise and advice

·         Greater flexibility in when and where tasks are carried out

·         Gains in ICT literacy skills, confidence and enthusiasm.

·         Easier planning and preparation of lessons and designing materials

·         Access to up-to-date pupil and school data, any time and anywhere.

·         Enhancement of professional image projected to colleagues.

·         Students are generally more ‘on task’ and express more positive feelings when they use computers than when they are given other tasks to do.

·         Computer use during lessons motivated students to continue using learning outside school hours.

Benefits for students

·         Higher quality lessons through greater collaboration between teachers in planning and preparing resources .

·         More focused teaching, tailored to students’ strengths and weaknesses, through better analysis of attainment data

·         Improved pastoral care and behaviour management through better tracking of students

·         Gains in understanding and analytical skills, including improvements in reading

·         Comprehension.

·         Development of writing skills (including spelling, grammar, punctuation, editing and re-drafting), also fluency, originality and elaboration.

·         Encouragement of independent and active learning, and self-responsibility for learning.

·         Flexibility of ‘anytime, anywhere’ access (Jacobsen and Kremer, 2000)

·         Development of higher level learning styles.

·         Students who used educational technology in school felt more successful in school, were more motivated to learn and have increased self-confidence and self-esteem

·         Students found learning in a technology-enhanced setting more stimulating and student-centred than in a traditional classroom

·         Broadband technology supports the reliable and uninterrupted downloading of web-hosted educational multimedia resources

·         Opportunities to address their work to an external audience

·         Opportunities to collaborate on assignments with people outside or inside school

Benefits for parents

·         Easier communication with teachers

·         Higher quality student reports – more legible, more detailed, better presented

·         Greater access to more accurate attendance and attainment information

·         Increased involvement in education for parents and, in some cases, improved self-esteem

·         Increased knowledge of children’s learning and capabilities, owing to increase in learning activity being situated in the home

·         Parents are more likely to be engaged in the school community

·         You will see that ICT can have a positive impact across a very wide range of aspects of school life.

Examples of ICT-based activities

What kind of classroom activities are suited to the use of ICT? The following is a brief guide to some of the most common uses of ICT in teaching and learning.

Finding out

Students can use ICT to find out information and to gain new knowledge in several ways. They may find information on the Internet or by using an ICT-based encyclopedia such as Microsoft Encarta. They may find information by extracting it from a document prepared by the teacher and made available to them via ICT, such as document created using Microsoft Word or a Microsoft PowerPoint slideshow. They may find out information by communicating with people elsewhere using email, such as students in a different school or even in a different country.

Processing knowledge

Students can use ICT as part of a creative process where they have to consider more carefully the information which they have about a given subject. They may need to carry out calculations (eg. by using Microsoft Excel), or to check grammar and spelling in a piece of writing (perhaps using Microsoft Word), or they may need to re-sequence a series of events (for example by re-ordering a series of Microsoft PowerPoint slides).

Sharing knowledge

Students can use ICT to present their work in a highly professional format. They can create documents and slideshows to demonstrate what they have learned, and then share this with other students, with their teacher, and even via email with people all around the world.

     So, it is clear now why we should using ICT in our education. Event it seems really nice and perfect, it is also has a lack in the proccess. But it is our job to prevent the "lack" to give a negative impact to our student as a teacher.

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Kenakalan Anak dan Faktor Pengawasan Orang Tua

Jum'at kemarin, seperti biasa saya solad jum'at. Tapi ad sesuatu yang mengganggu, yaitu anak-anak yang berada di shaf paling belakang. Mereka bukan solad seperti jamaah lain, melainkan asik bermain bersama teman-temannya. Hal ini tentu saja mengganggu jamaah yang lain. Ini hanya sebagian contoh kecil dari sekian banyak kenakalan anak-anak di sekitar kita

Hal ini tentu saja bukan salah mereka. Mereka hanya anak kecil yang pola pikirnya masih polos, dan tidak mengerti apa akibat dari perbuatan mereka kepada orang banyak dan terutama akibatnya kepada dirinya sendiri. Hal itu merupakan tanggung jawab orang tua, dan juga kita semua yang berada di sekelilingnya, untuk mendidik dan mengayomi anak tersebut sehingga menjadi insan manusia yang tidak hanya cerdas, tapi juga berahlak dan berbudi pekerti baik.

Dan menurut penelitian kecil-kecilan yang saya lakukan d lingkungan sekitar, penyebab utama kenakalan anak adalah KELEMAHAN PENGAWASAN DARI ORANG TUA. Mereka cenderung membiarkan anak bermain sendiri, tanpa pengawasan. Memang tujuannya baik, yaitu agar si anak dapat mandiri. Tapi hal ini merupakan pisau bermata dua. Disatu sisi, si anak akan menjadi mandiri dan terbiasa jauh dari orang tua, tapi disisi lain, si anak akan menjadi memiliki pergaulan yang terlalu bebas. Dia akan belajar mengumpat dari temannya, belajar menjadi kurang ajar kepada orang tua, dan mungkin bahkan belajar merokok.

Jika sudah demikian, tentunya sudah terlambat bagi orang tua untuk memberikan pengawasan kepada si anak. Dan dampak lebih lanjut tentu si anak akan lebih menyusahkan bagi si orang tua itu sendiri. Sedikit saran dari saya, luangkan waktu anda untuk mengawasi anak anda tatkala ia sedang bermain. Segera tegur bila ia telah kurang ajar seperti mengumpat atau sebagainya, agar si anak paham bahwa perbuatannya itu salah. Jika tidak sedari dini, maka efek buruknya akan semakin kuat pada diri si anak dan akan semakin sulit di hilangkan....

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