Improvement in Existing ICT Related Teaching Instruction - Research Proposal Example

Report on Literacy Project 1. Introduction The project is all about introducing improvement in existing ICT related teaching instruction where no appropriate or relevant materials are available. It identified and analysed existing ICT literacy instructions through observation and document analysis. Through careful examination, the project identified several literacy requirements not included or inadequately encouraged in existing ICT literacy instructions such as those associated with social practices in the workplace, ethical and legal issues involved in information access and retrieval, measuring performance, and evolution of knowledge and skills in the years to come. The following sections discusses ICT literacy requirements in the workplace along with the results of observation and document analysis conducted in a particular ICT literacy class for adult learners. 2. Literature Review Literacy, according to Hayes & Whitebread (2006), is one area of learning that can greatly enhanced by the use of ICT (p.37). However, it is not clear whether ICT literacy instructions in adult education can do the same with students who need to learn ICT skills for the workplace. Although adequate emphasis have been given by the Australian government on ICT literacy, there are only a handful of details how this new literacy should be developed and explicit connection between teaching of literacy and teaching of technology in schools (Subramaniam 2006, p.123). ICT literacy is generally the ability to use digital technology, communication tools, and computer applications appropriately to solve information problems thus this includes developing the ability to use technology for research, organise, evaluate and communicate information and understanding of ethical and legal issues associated with access and use of this information (Neuman 2011, p.66). ICT literacy is more than knowing how to use computers or any advanced workplace technology but involves a number of skills associated with information use and access. This new literacies developed because of technological advances has impacted teaching and learning in a number of ways. For instance, traditional literacy skills in content-area classrooms are often focus on improving students’ comprehension of printed materials while new literacies require students develop knowledge and skills they can use to navigate complex networked environments (Wood & Blanton 2009, p.85). In other words, literacy is no longer confined to reading, writing, and understanding information from books but include research, evaluation, and comprehension of information from different technology sources. For instance, the students may be required to identify important questions, locate information, use critical thinking and evaluation skills, and communicate this information effectively. Acquisition of literacy in this context is considered a set of social practices rather than acquisition of narrow cognitive skills (Warschauer 2004, p.44). According to Subramaniam (2006), social learning skills are now essential to literacy instruction particularly with new technologies for information and communication that demands teachers and their students to make connections and view the world differently (p.30). Moreover, ICT literacy requires development of potentials inherent in ICT and innovative use of ICT in learning and work related activities (Cohen 2009, p.159). Therefore, basic ICT literacy instructions in adult education should include familiarity with ICT and recognition of lifelong learning concept. Moreover, schools according to Subramaniam (2006) must equip students with not only ICT literacy but also fluency skills to support the evolution of knowledge economy (p.122). Mastery of ICT such as information and communication technologies is considered very important for future citizens since it is becoming increasingly present in people’s everyday life. Lifelong learning or the continuous update of personal knowledge and skills is also becoming more reliant on ICT proficiency. Transformations such as e-government, e-commerce, e learning, and so on are good examples of how ICT will be at the centre of almost everything in the future (Carbonara 2005, p.38). It is therefore necessary that ICT literacy instructions should be relevant to the needs of future citizens. ICT Literacy is not as simple as it looks as the ICT Literacy progress map involves level of proficiency that should be met by each student. For instance, if ICT literacy is about working with information then students should progress from using keywords to retrieve information from a give source. However, along this line, student must be able to determine the proper keyword and appropriate sources to find the exact information quickly. Similarly, students must be able to use specialized sourcing tools and determine the credibility of such information coming from the chosen sources. In terms of creating and sharing information, students must know how to use software features to edit, format, adapt, and generate work for a specific purpose. These may include the ability to interpret and integrate information from various sources and use of one or two software and tools to enhance their work. More importantly, if one would consider the responsible use of ICT then students must understand the impact and influence of ICT social, economic, and ethical aspects of people’s life (Kelly & Haber 2006, p.204). There is a correlation between ICT literacy instruction and best practices such as integrated approaches, problem-based and situated learning, and heuristic processing models thus assessment or measuring the outcomes of ICT literacy acquisition is important. For instance, to measure the outcomes of students ICT literacy acquisition, tangible evidence must be produced such as a proposal, a design, charts and graphs, and so forth in order to determine how students think and use the information to solve a particular problem. Similarly, thought-revealing activities may be implemented to create conditions that increase opportunities to observe, document, or measure change within an ICT class. The resulting data may be considered as student-created artefacts showing the stages of problem solving, information requirements, possible solutions, and ways to refine ideas (Macklin 2007, p.39). Since ICT literacy is mostly taken in response to demands of the workplace, it also necessary to determine the level of ICT literacy required by the workplace, identify which applications is considered important in a particular workplace, and understand the problems associated with application of ICT at work. This is because ICT literacy plays a very important role in meeting the ever-increasing globalisation requirements, fluency with IT, workers learning requirements to effectively utilize different digital technology, communication tools, access to different networks, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information. Moreover, ICT literacy not only have to deal with technology but development of individuals in order to have good personal attributes and attitudes that a global player needs to survive in a knowledge economy (Remenyi 2005, p.70). Improving instruction for ICT literacy is thus important considering the various requirements mentioned earlier. ICT literacy is not just about computer literacy but involve deeper understanding of the workplace, the level of both ICT and thinking skills, attitudes towards work , and increasing proficiency through constant interaction with technology. 3. Process The project is divided in three phases, one is examination of actual workplace qualifications and requirements, two is observation of actual ICT class, and three is document analysis of ICT literacy instructions. For this reason, the following steps were taken to ensure completion and success of this project. 3.1 Planning, Preparation, and Analysis of Workplace Qualifications and Requirements Planning and preparations is one of the most important parts of this project because the success of the following steps is highly reliant on the accuracy of planning and quality of preparation. As mentioned in the proposal, the research questions served as a guide for this project in order to determine the activities that must be taken. Since the first question requires determination of existing ICT literacy requirements of the workplace, the following steps were taken. Planning for the most effective information gathering technique by considering the nature of the workplace and the people that can provide the right information for this project. These include selection of appropriate workplace in the area with work activities that is dependent on ICT fluency, vulnerable to changes in the global market, and with policy of hiring adult workers who completed a lifelong learning course in ICT. Prepared a list of questions for the selected workplace HR Manager or representative. Wrote a letter of permission to interview the HR Manager or his/her representative on specified date regarding hiring qualifications and requirements. Conducted a one hour personal interview and list down ICT workers qualifications and actual workplace requirements Analysed and list down all relevant data to a reference table as shown in Table 1 below. Selected Workplace ICT Literacy Requirements No. Activities/Work Knowledge and Skills Required Level of Proficiency Comments 1 Clerical Software application/office package/Basic PC maintenance Medium 2 Accounting Software application/Accounting package/basic PC maintenance High 3 HRD Software application/office package/Basic PC maintenance High 4 Engineering Software application/office package/Basic PC maintenance/CAD/CAM/Design package High 5 Machine Operation Basic PC/Digital machine control High 3.2 Observation The conducted observation is part of phase 2 and this was done after completing important preliminaries such as preparation, permission and ethical requirements. The observation was planned to take an hour or equivalent duration of a regular ICT literacy class. At the start of the observation, the number of students present was noted down along with important details of activities scheduled for that class and age levels of participants. The purpose of this observation is generally to get familiar with how an ICT literacy class is conducted, the teacher’s approach, the activities involved, and responses of students. There was no intervention whatsoever; the observation was conducted almost unnoticed as the teacher agreed to introduce the observer as another lifelong learning student. The observation noted how the teacher handles the class, the topic being discussed, the exchange of ideas, and activities that are being conducted. It also observed students responses and the speed in which they acquire ICT literacy in one session. The exchange of ideas enable the observer to note down students level of knowledge of the particular topic while at the same time measure the effectiveness of the ICT instructor in responding to these questions. 3.3 Document Analysis The document analysis was done soon after the observation was completed and copies of ICT literacy instructions were handed over. The document analysis conducted include examination of ICT literacy list of activities and requirements that students to need to complete. A comparison table was made between activities observed earlier and those that are listed in the instructions –see Table 2 below. The purpose of the comparison is to determine the variations in instructions and actual practices while establishing the relevance of each with selected literature discussed earlier. Comparative Table No. Observed ICT Literacy Instruction Literature Similarity 1 Hands-on/theoretical computer use teaching Theory and Application Use of digital technology High 2 Fundamental of software application/office package Software application and document processing Create, organized, evaluate information High 3 Interaction/participation Class discussion Positive attitude towards learning High 4 Information search and retrieval Introduction to database/networking/internet Understand ethical and legal issues in access and use of information Low 3.4 Analysis of Findings The results of observation and document analysis are then analysed for workplace relevance compared to data gathered from the selected workplace earlier. The purpose is to look for workplace requirements that are not present in the instruction or in actual activities. Missing requirements were then set aside and carefully analysed against existing instructions to avoid misinterpretation of content. For instance, use of word processing application required by the workplace may not be directly visible in the instruction since it is part of the office package that include spreadsheet and basic Access programming. 3.5 Generalization This part of the project generalized the results of the investigation or summarization of important findings. The purpose of this is to make it easy for reader to understand the report and determine its relevance to the aims and objectives of this project. Generalization is one way presenting the core of the issues and possible solutions to the problem without going through complex analysis of different data or information. 4. Analysis The literature generally indicate that there still some work to be done to ensure the effectiveness of ICT literacy instructions since the link between teaching of literacy and teaching technology is not yet completely established. However, the common requirements of the workplace are clear that workers need the ability to use digital technology, communicate, and solve problems using computer applications. Therefore, the most basic ICT literacy instruction should include development of students’ ability to research, organise, evaluate, communicate, and solve work problems using a computer and its installed software application. Findings of this project suggest that existing ICT literacy instructions contains the above requirements particularly in mastering computer applications. However, mastery of computer applications is not the same as being familiar with all aspects of computers at work. For instance, literature about ICT literacy commonly argued about the importance of understanding the ethical and legal issues involved with access and use of information but there is no indication that it is included in the existing ICT literacy instruction. As Wood & Blanton (2009) suggest, ICT literacy should not be all about use of computers since there are a number of associated skills that must be acquired particularly in the area of information use and access. Another is development knowledge and skills student can use to navigate across networking environments that are often complex. More importantly, they must acquire critical thinking and evaluation skills, and be able to communicate information effectively in the workplace (p.85). The existing ICT literacy instructions seem unaware of the role of social practices in ICT literacy acquisition as evidenced by its focus on computer skills development. It may be also unaware that the workplace is a social environment where people interaction thus requires social learning skills. For instance, Subramaniam (2006) and Cohen (2009), argues that social learning skills must be included in literacy instructions particularly when the requirement involves new technologies for information and communication. This is because the nature of information and communication using new technology demands teachers and students to work together and view the world as a place requiring innovative use of ICT. Like many other literacy, the social side of computing or ICT literacy in general term, is required as the workplace is one big place for interaction. Therefore, a worker with superior ICT literacy but no social skills will find it difficult to move around the workplace and get his job done alone. Particularly in networking, workers with acquired ICT literacy are likely to perform well if they understand the appropriate social practices since it involves collaboration and integration of information coming from different sources. Similarly, social skills can enhance communication between users of the network as their behaviour corresponds to what others expect from a computing worker. For instance, if one worker will communicate over the Internet he must be aware of accepted conduct online otherwise he will not only create trouble but compromise the security of the company network. Basic ICT literacy instructions should contain familiarity with ICT and recognition of lifelong learning concept and the observed ICT class is no doubt following this basic requirements. They are also well equipped with computers and different software applications. However, it is not clear whether the instructions support or anticipate the evolution of knowledge in an ever-changing environment like the workplace because as observed, lifelong learning was seldom discussed. In the instruction itself, there is no indication of any subject or topic about continuous learning or development. The ICT literacy progress map includes various level of proficiency and these include responsible use and understanding of the social, economic, and ethical aspects of people’s life. Apparently, these are the realities of ICT use that is inherently changing and affect people’s lives if their skills are not updated. As observed, existing ICT literacy instructions adopted best practices in literacy since the class has an integrated approach to learning, problem-based, and situated learning activities. More importantly, it has developed ways to measure ICT literacy acquisition outcomes as evidenced by the need of each student to generate documents, produce graphs and charts from data, and so on. However, thought-revealing activities seems not part of the ICT literacy acquisition since although it is generally student-centred, informational requirements and possible solutions were all coming for the teacher. For this reason, students have no ownership of the learning or artefacts to show their development. In summary, the existing ICT literacy instructions lack adequate thought revealing activities, support for evolution of knowledge, focus on social skills, ethical and legal implication of information access and use. For this reason, it may be recommended the inclusion of the above aspect of ICT literacy in future ICT literacy instructions as they could help increase the effectiveness and proficiency of workers in a highly demanding workplace. 5. Conclusion The project is generally after on improving existing ICT literacy instruction based on actual workplace requirements and learning theories found in literature. Observation and document analysis have been used to gather relevant data from the selected workplace and ICT class. Various relevant literature guided this project in determining the most proper approach in ICT literacy teaching. One of this guiding principle is the need provide knowledge and skills necessary to enable use of digital technology, communication tools, and computer applications. However, ICT literacy does not stop there since use of technology entails the ability to research, organise, evaluate, and communication information following ethical and legal requirements. The workplace requirements are clear and there has to be some consideration on aspects that are not directly computer related such as creative thinking and problems solving skills. Moreover, as basic requirement, workers should understand the ethical and legal issues involved with access and use of information. Apparently, the existing ICT literacy instructions failed to provide these requirements and more focus on computer use and applications. Although there are some provisions for networking and navigation it seems so basic that students cannot handle complex networked environment such as those found in the selected workplace. However, this does not necessarily mean that the existing ICT literacy instructions is a failure but rather inadequate in the sense that some aspects of ICT application in the real workplace are ignored including ICT learning theories found in different literature. The implications of this project to ICT literacy acquisition is improvement of certain important part of ICT literacy in adult education. These include inclusion of social practices, ethical and legal knowledge about access and information use, activities that could develop students critical and creative thinking, problem solving skills, and so on. In other words, the existing ICT literacy instruction must be updated to accommodate actual workplace requirements beyond computer use and information access and retrieval. It must consider the core requirements of ICT application in the workplace instead of generalizing the need as computer-based work. Some consideration must be given on the possibility of incorporating the social side of computing as well as restrictions imposed by law on information access and retrieval. Although significant preparation has been put in this project, it recognized the reality that it needs further improvement. For instance, the scope of workplace investigation is too small to generalize the whole country’s workplace ICT requirements. Similarly, one ICT class cannot represent the entire ICT literacy system. It is therefore necessary that future studies about ICT literacy instruction widen its scope to cover more workplace and ICT literacy classes. Another shortcoming of this project is the possibility that there are misinterpretations of information particularly during the analysis work. This is because the method of analysis used is vulnerable to bias and some other form of unintentional distortion of facts. There is therefore a need for more advanced quantitative approach where data processing is by numbers and mathematical computations. 6. Reference Carbonara D, 2005, Technology literacy applications in learning environments, Idea Group Inc., US Cohen E, 2009, Growing information- Part 1, Informing Science, US Hayes M. & Whitebread D, 2006, ICT in the early years, McGraw-Hill International, UK Kelly M. & Haber J, 2006, Resource for student assessment, ISTE, UK Macklin A, 2007, Integrating information and communication technology literacy, ProQuest, US Neumann D, 2011, Learning in Information-Rich Environments, Springer, Germany Remenyi D, 2005, Proceedings of the 12th European Conference of IT evaluation, Academic Conference Limited, UK Subramaniam R, 2006, Handbook of Research on Literacy in Technology at the K-12 level, Idea Group Inc, US Warschauer M, 2004, Technology and social inclusion: rethinking the digital divide, MIT Press, US Wood K. & Blanton W, 2009, Literacy Instruction for Adolescents: Research-based practice, Guilford Press, US Read More