BitDepth#1391

MARK LYNDERSAY

IIN HER prerecorded feature address to the seventh TT Internet Governance Forum, Education Minister Nyan Gadsby-Dolly was soberly resolute, if irritatingly vague, in her commitment to bring the value of ICT to schools nationwide.

That wasn't the case when panellists gathered in virtual conference to discuss Future-proofing ICT in Education, offering a spirited discourse on the issues and challenges that face the minister, along with the nation's teachers and students, in any effort to modernise local education.

Commenting on the move to remote school in March 2020, Dev Gosine described the result as 'a crazy, knee-jerk reaction.'

'We had teachers who basically said, I have a laptop. I have Word. I can teach online.

'Were there any rules or directives given to educators when teaching went online?' Gosine asked, rhetorically.

It wasn't as if there were no teachers available who had been trained in education technology.

Keith Laban, an ICT educator with the Education Ministry, was coaching teachers in techniques using computer technology and online tools for years before the pandemic. He proudly noted that his students were able to rally quickly and deliver effective teaching.

'Teachers who weren't prepared were the ones who had the worst possible experience,' Laban said.

'We definitely need teacher education to implement project-based learning using ICT. Teachers will learn to use technology for their Diploma in Education, but then they can't actually use the technologies in their schools.

'I coach teachers in low-performing schools and I can say that no matter how good the training, if there is no electricity in the lab or there is no internet connection, there are limits on what can get done.'

'The real issues in a quality education are always the same,' said Pundit Shiva Maharaj, an educational technologist and founder of ICT Expertz, who lectures in educational technology to candidates for the Master's degree in education.

'There is a need for teachers to be more effectively trained in technologies that make their classes more engaging and relevant. There is a need to overhaul teacher education. The goal of education should be creating an environment for lifelong learning. We can't blame infrastructure for everything. A well-trained educator will be able to use whatever resources they have to connect with students.'

'Learning software should be fun,' Laban said, 'I'm not a fan of passive learning; we need to have more development of project and game-based learning.'

'We need to be looking at the broad range of technologies and how they apply to higher education institutions,' said Dr Keith Nurse, president of COSTAATT.

'Too much of our teaching happens between four walls or on screens when the learning process is accelerated by doing. People only learn around 30 per cent of what they hear in the classroom and learn as much as 80 per cent