Information & Communication Technology (ICT)
What is ICT?
Information and communication technology (ICT) is the combination of devices, networks, applications, and systems that connect people to the digital world. Broader than information technology (IT), it includes anything related to digital technologies including things like television, radio, robots, etc.
Why is ICT important?
Information and communication technology is all around us in the digital age. It has both personal and business uses, playing a major role in the economy. In the classroom, ICT relates to digital learning and innovation. Teachers must understand the uses and barriers of ICT in order to create significant learning environments in which students learn and make connections.
What can we learn from ICT projects?
By studying ICT projects, both successful projects and failed projects, educators can see how technology is being used throughout the world in a variety of settings. We can learn from the work of others and apply our understandings to our own projects.
My ICT Project
"Ditch the Basement Box" - an ePortfolio initiative for grades four through twelve (and beyond)
ICT on the Blog
Let's "Ditch the Basement Box"
A Call to Action
"The head won't go where the heart hasn't been." - Dr. Dwayne Harapnuik
The heart of my innovation plan, an ICT project involving the use of ePortfolios as learning and assessment, has been shared through a video, images, and words. If your heart isn't with me YET, please watch this promotional video and view my "why, how, and what" statements. Now that the heart has been there and our emotions have been established, we can give our mind a chance to connect and process the information. A successful innovation plan and/or ICT project is based on both heart and head - leaders must be passionate but also base their ideas on research.
Now that our hearts are on the same page, let's get our heads together. I reviewed literature focused on ICT projects across the globe and synthesized my findings into what worked, what could have been done better, and the lessons that were learned. From there, I applied that knowledge to my innovation project to learn from the mistakes of others.
The point? We can learn from the mistakes of others and ensure the success of "Ditch the Basement Box." It is what our students need to make connections in significant learning environments where true learning occurs. Join me! YOU are an innovator!
View the Prezi presentation HERE!
Based on literature of various ICT projects worldwide, I have learned that successful projects consider vision, infrastructure, leadership, resourcing, stakeholder involvement, and feedback/evaluation. "Ditch the Basement Box" has a plan for these aspects as well as incorporating professional development, communication, and a paradigm shift based on creating significant learning environments.
Your knowledge and experience is needed. Help FRSD make the paradigm shift to student-centered learning with reflection and connection. Create significant learning environments. Develop 21st century skills and growth mindsets. Facilitate student development of ePortfolios. It is what our students need to succeed. Imagine a world where students WANT to reflect and connect. Start ePortfolios, and that becomes a reality.
Global Trends in ICT
Technology in education is the present and the future. Information and communication technology has been entering education consistently, sometimes successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully. Global trends indicate that the success of ICT projects depends on vision, infrastructure, leadership, resourcing, stakeholder involvement, feedback/evaluation, professional development, communication, and a paradigm shift. To successfully implement ePortfolios, all of these factors must be considered in planning the innovation. If ePortfolios, and ICT in general, have a place in education, the look of the education system must change. Technology alone cannot change the future, but what is done with the technology can. There has been ICT success and ICT failure, but ePortfolios can be on the success side after applying the lessons learned from global trends before implementation.
View the document HERE.
Other trends in education that match with ePortfolio goals include COVA, 21st century skills, growth mindset, and STEAM. To view a literature review of these trends, please click HERE or visit the Innovation Plan page.