Identity of Education Policy - Assignment Example

? Education Policy Outline Policy Synopsis 1. Identity of the policy of the policy, Effective source 2. History and background of the policy and issue its trying to address 1.3. Aims of the policy 1.4. Funding Arrangement and structure 1.5. Implementation Process 1.6. Main target audience/Stakeholders and their role in the implementation process 1.7. Relationship to other policies eg state, national and international. Situate this policy as part of a broader trend. 2. Practitioner reflection 2.1. Effects of the policy to professional practice 2.2. Strength of the policy 2.3. Weakness of the policy 2.4. Factors undermining the policy 1. Policy Synopsis 1.1. Identity of the policy This study is a discussion of Federal Australian education policy. This paper will concentrate on the policy we have identified, entitled “Transformative ICT and Education Policy”. The code reference for this study is ICT4E. It was formed and began operating effectively from June 28, 2005, as an education policy in Australia that is accessible online. The policy is available on the URL http://apo.org.au/node/25007. It is downloadable as a html web page or a portable or protected data file. 1.2. History and background The policy emerged from an analysis of the elements of the current generation. The society was being changed using Information Technology and communication. The Federal Australian government discovered that Information and communication technology favored other important aspects of development such as the economy, work environment, residential homes and businesses, the affairs of the government, medical sector and transportation. It however neglected the area of education. The government then decided to make it a policy in country to provide support to the education sector by application of information technology. In 2004, the government began the strategic plan of making the transformative educational ICT policy a reality in the entire nation of Australia (Ball, 2008). In the recent and the current educational sector, the educational policy has been addressing the issue of computer proficiency to transform the students from novices to experts. Students use information technology to share educational resources, to communicate effectively and to socialize with others. The policy offers influential centre stages in the position of advanced studies. This study focuses on improving design at universities. The implementation of the education policy on Information and Communication Technology works in three different levels of priority (Tomei, 2010). 1.3. Aims of the policy The policy aims at improving the education quality among students in the education institutions. The main aim is to ensure that the composition of human resources is highly equipped for quality performance in work places. It also aims at improving the processes of research and educational trainings. This was to promote the green agenda while reducing the cost of document printing on papers. Minimal paper use was seen as a means of protecting the environment from degradation, because it implied reduced cutting of trees (Pelgrum & Law, 2003; Abbott, 2001). 1.4. Funding Arrangement and structure The federal Australian government of Australia identified the financial aspect of the policy as a critical challenge. The challenge was to do with establishment of ICT environments in all learning institutions with the international standards of set up. Funding of the program officially takes place through Digital learning revolution with an aim to create a direct contact of one on one. The educational sector conducts massive procurement of the devices and softwares at discounted rates, to reduce the size of the budget (Jimoyiannis, 2011). 1.5. Implementation Process Top of Form The implementation of this project makes use of 5 projects to enable teachers as well as the school administration to make the optimal utilization of ICT in the learning environment such as a typical classroom. One of the implementation projects is the application of the popular “Teaching Teacher”. This is a project that is under the co-ordination of the Educational Services in the federal state of Australia. The next project is referred to as teaching the future tutors. The third project is application of Information and Communication Technology in every aspect of learning. It has an extension as “Teacher Online”. The toolkit is also under the co-ordination of Australian Educational services (Bracey & Culver, 2005). The forth implementation project is referred to as “Anywhere, anytime professional ICT learning”. The final project of implementation was referred to as “Leading ICT in learning” (Ball, 2006). 1.6. Main target audience/Stakeholders The major target groups for the education policy on ICT have been the leaders of education institutions, the student body and the teaching staff. There are other stake holders who benefit indirectly from the project such as the funding agents, the support teams and the service providers in the educational sector. Vendors of ICT equipment such as computers and softwares also fall under the category of external entities or indirect stake holders to the policy. The role of the target audience is to address the issues that affect their daily operations in the implementation of the policy, so that the government can intervene appropriately in facilitating the implementation process and apply necessary recommendations (Stephenson, 1998). 1.7. Relationship to other policies In the wider trend, the education policy is related to other sectors of the government, and other policies. A good example of the policies in this sense is the taxation policy of the federal Australian government. A critical overview of this relationship reveals that the national taxation policy supports the implementation of ICT policy of education by funding the five education policy implementation projects. On the same point, the policy supports the taxation policy by producing highly qualified personnel for industrial development, which generates more revenue for the government (Imison & Taylor, 2001). 2. Practitioner reflection 2.1. Effects of the policy to professional practice Our professional practice is directly affected by the policy of ICT. This is because it applies international standards of service provision and forces levels of compliance to the OSI and ISO in the Information and communication application. ICT doesn’t appear to be relevant to the fields, perhaps because they do not have adequate skills to apply ICT techniques (Marginson, 1993). 2.2. Strength of the policy The policy is essential in the development of education curriculum and improving the skills of students in educational sectors. It motivates even the students in non technical disciplines to find application of Information and communication technology in their study areas. The policy has a proper funding and does not entirely depend on the government funding. It therefore adds value to the government by minimizing expenses and maximizing the output in the education sector. Being a policy related to technical skill, it has a great future in Australia and the rest of the world, where Information Technology is a global target for all sectors. The policy develops a high level of competence among the students (Anderson, 2009; Lingard & Ozga, 2007). 2.3. Weakness of the policy The policy requires a lot of training to equip the teaching staff. Following the policies of making ICT the leading in educational sector, it is a heavy responsibility that exerts too much pressure on the policy implementers. Its expectation from the teaching staff is too high considering the dynamism of the ICT field. The policy tends to consume more resources for other study areas and sectors of the economy. It is true that at the inherent level, the ICT and education was neglected. Even so, the reverse is gradually becoming true; following the emphasis that the implementation projects place on the ICT application in the education sector (Tatnall & Jones, 2009; Cranston & Ehrich, 2009). 2.4. Factors undermining the policy The policy tends to suffer from certain factors that tend to work against its objectives and purpose. A good example is the seriousness with which the teaching staffs perform their tasks. Majority of them consider the policy as an unnecessary burden, that doesn’t need to be implemented in schools. Secondly, the dynamic evolution in the ICT sector demands a continuous review of the systems and continuous update of most of the education programs. They feel that this is a burden; hence they do not offer adequate support to the students (Henry, Lingard, Rizvi, & Taylor, 2013). References Abbott, C. (2001). Ict: Changing Education. London: Routledge. Anderson, N. (2009). Equity and Information Communication Technology (Ict) in Education. New York: Peter Lang. Ball, S. J. (2008). The Education Debate. Bristol: The Policy Press. Ball, S. J. (2006). Education Policy And Social Class: The Selected Works Of Stephen J. Ball. London: Routledge. Bracey, B., & Culver, T. (2005). Harnessing the Potential of Ict for Education: A Multistakeholder Approach: Proceedings from the Dublin Global Forum of the United Nations Ict Task Force. New York: United Nations Publications. Cranston, N., & Ehrich, L. (2009). Australian school leadership today. Brisbane: Australian Academic Press. Henry, M., Lingard, B., Rizvi, F., & Taylor, S. (2013). Educational Policy and the Politics of Change. London: Routledge. Imison, T., & Taylor, P. H. (2001). Managing ICT in the Secondary School. London: Heinemann. Jimoyiannis, A. (2011). Research on E-Learning and Ict in Education. New York: Springer. Lingard, B., & Ozga, J. (2007). The Routledge Falmer Reader in Education Policy and Politics. New York: Routledge. Marginson, S. (1993). Education and Public Policy in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pelgrum, W. J., & Law, N. (2003). Ict in Education around the World: Trends, Problems And Prospects. New York: Unesco, Internat. Inst. for Educational Planning. Stephenson, J. (1998). Values in Education. London: Routledge. Tatnall, A., & Jones, A. (2009). Education and Technology for a Better World: 9th IFIP TC 3 World Conference on Computers in Education, WCCE 2009, Bento Goncalves, Brazil, July 27-31, 2009, Proceedings, Washington: Springer. Tomei, L. A. (2010). Online Courses and ICT in Education: Emerging Practices and Applications. New York: IGI Global Snippet. Read More