TUTORS APPRECIATE THE INTEGRATION OF ICT IN EDUCATION.

TUTORS APPRECIATE THE INTEGRATION OF ICT IN EDUCATION.

Tutors and Student Teachers who participated in the training of integration ICT in teaching have applauded the innovation as enriching. This was revealed at Canon Apolo Core PTC in Kabarole District by the participants during the 3 day Training from 18^th- 20^th June 2013. The participants were college Tutors, student teachers and supervisors. The trainings was conducted by Rwenzori Information Centers network [RIC-NET] and Computers for Schools Uganda [CFSU] under the theme; “ICT ENABLED INNOVATIVE TEACHING METHODS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE”

 ICT for Education (ICT4E) refers to use of ICT devices and tools to support teaching and learning across the curriculum. ICT is not the main focus of learning, but supports the learning process. This refers to the use of technical aspects of ICT to extend and enhance the pupil’s learning in English and other subjects. The use of ICT however, makes new activities and approaches to the teaching of English possible.

In the context of the school curriculum, students/tutors are expected to explore, conduct research, write reports, do assignments, carryout personal revision and participate in discussions and present their individual or joint assignments. Computers can aid all these tasks and can move instruction/teaching away from the teacher-centered model to one that is more conducive to student problem-solving, written communication; creativity and collaborative skills – skills identified as necessary for 21st Century success.

Some of the benefits of integrating ICT into teaching and learning include the following; ICT caters for Different learning Styles of learners, it enables learners to play an active role in learning, it increases the attention span of learners, it provide real-life experience, it encourages collaborative approach to learning, it improves presentation of work, as well as offering flexibility of anywhere anytime learning during the teaching learning process.

ICT innovations also involve “Digital Storytelling,” it involves combining the art of telling stories with a variety of digital multimedia, such as images, audio, and video. Digital stories bring together some mixture of digital graphics, text, recorded audio narration, video and music to present information on a specific topic. As is the case with traditional storytelling, digital stories revolve around a chosen theme and often contain a particular viewpoint. The stories are typically just a few minutes long and have a variety of uses, including the telling of personal tales, the recounting of historical events, or as a means to inform or instruct on a particular topic.

The potential for integrating speaking and listening, reading and writing can be enhanced by use of interactive multimedia resources. Most importantly, ICT engages pupils to work actively on language both when reading and writing and has the potential to highlight the way in which meaning is constructed.

After the training the Deputy Principle who closed the training thanked the training team for the good work in trying to simplify teaching learning process and pledged total support to the innovations. She asked those who have acquired the knowledge to pass it over to others properly and keep applying regularly.