Education Technology

Education Technology

Student’s Name

Instructor’s Name

Course Title

Date

Education Technology

Our organization, Transformation International, majors in provision of formal education through scholarships offered to African immigrants. For the past seven years, we have been using traditional means of delivering education mainly through formal verbal lecturers and text books. However, with the technological revolution in recent times, there has been a need to revisit the approach that we have been using (Facer, 2013). For this reason, we are seeking to introduce computer studies in our curriculum. In addition, digital learning through the application of audiovisual communication methods such as use of projectors to deliver lecturers is a technique we are seeking to adopt.

Stakeholders and decision makers to be involved

As is common in every organization, there is a need to involve the relevant decision makers and stakeholders in the planning and implementation of change. In our organization, the top management, who are the Board of Directors and the teachers/lecturers, has to be consulted during planning of this change. The managers are the financiers of this change and they therefore need to informatively carry out a cost-benefit analysis on the project (Tracey, 2012). This is because they need to approve the purchase of the various support equipment. Their approval is basically the backbone of the implementation of the change.

Consequently, the teachers also need to be involved so that they provide input on how applicable the change is. This is important as it is necessary to ensure that they are conversant with the technology themselves so that it can translate in the performance of the students. The students also need to be involved in this change in order to gauge their response to the change. This will ensure that they receive the change positively instead of just imposing new teaching techniques on them. If these students are young, their parents can be invited for a meeting in our institution to inform them accordingly on these changes.

Stakeholders’ attitude towards the change

Different people respond differently to change for various reasons (Facer, 2013). Some board members, for example, may fail to see the need for adoption audiovisual techniques and introduction of computer classes. This is especially more likely to be common among the older members who may tend to feel comfortable to the old curriculum as they fail to understand the impact of technological advancement in the modern world. However, this can be changed after an informative session on the importance of the same. On the other hand, the students and the teachers may take this change positively as they will most probably find it to be an exciting as well as a more convenient way of learning.

Data on current results

Research has shown that some teachers are unable to clearly explain concepts that the students deem to be too small or too big through the basic approach of using textbooks. Some concepts such as evolution or how vibrations produce sound are too technical for about 65% of the students who are only taught these aspects theoretically on text. 89% of our students revealed that they had the desire to learn and apply computer skills in their future places of work. Unfortunately, these students are not able to perform basic computer operations (Tracey, 2012).

Additional data needed

Data on the impact of education technology in schools that have already adopted this approach needs to be collected. This will clearly reflect the relationship between audiovisual teaching approach and students’ results. Further, the statistics of the technological impact on the job market needs to be assessed. This data can be presented to the various stakeholders and decision makers to assist them in making an informed decision on adoption of the change and implementation of the plan.

Data gathering method and personnel to collect the data

The most relevant method that can be used to collect the data named above would be the use of open-ended questionnaires (Facer, 2013). The questions should be precise and direct to the point to ensure that they capture accurate results. This method would provide both qualitative and quantitative feedback that would be necessary in making the relevant decision. This task should be assigned to the interns who work in our organization. The interns include some of the beneficiaries of our education system who have graduated with outstanding performance.

Actual and perceived costs

At the moment, our organization does not have the necessary infrastructure to support this digital curriculum. In this regard, certain costs would have be incurred in acquiring e-books as well as the IT equipment such as projectors and laptops. Additionally, internet related costs to facilitate downloads of data related to digital books need to be budgeted for (Richey, 2008). Our teachers are trained to teach our students using the traditional means by using textbooks. As such, seminars and training needs to be put into consideration to adequately equip them with the skills required to implement this project.

Costs resulting from ignoring the gap

There is a significant gap between students who are adequately trained on application of computer skills and those who are not (Richey, 2008). As such, there is need to curb this gap. This is because those students who miss out on this exposure are not able to adapt in the diverse job market. According to research, about 94% of all formal job settings require that their employees have basic and advanced computer skills. This means that if we fail to implement this change, our students may not be able to find jobs in the market after graduation.

Themes to review

To get a deeper understanding on the importance of implementing this change, it is necessary to comprehensively review the theme of education technology in relation to self-employment (Ching, 2013). Further research on existing data can shed light on the impact of education technology on job creation. When individuals are equipped with necessary computer skills, they become independent in that they can start their own businesses such as cyber cafes. In a world where job creation and availability is becoming rare by the day, there is need to adequately prepare students in all possible ways that can able them to be self-reliant after graduation.

References

Hsu, Y. C., Hung, J. L., & Ching, Y. H.(2013). Trends of education technology research: More than a decade of international research in six SSCI- indexed refereed journals. Educational Technology Research and Development, 61(4), 685-705

Richey R. C., Silber, K. H., & Ely, D. P. (2008). Reflections on the 2008 AECT definitions of the Field. TechTrends,52(1), 12-25

Selwyn, N., & Facer, K.(2013). Introduction: The Need for a Politics of Education and Technology. The Politics of Education and Technology, 2-15.

Tracey, M. W. (2012). J. Michael Spector’s Foundations of educational technology: integrative approaches and interdisciplinary perspectives. Educational Technology Research and Development, 60(5), 963-965