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Recent years have seen extraordinary and accelerating developments in the pedagogical
potential of ICT, to improve traditional school teaching and learning methods at all
levels, and to offer greater diversity in the delivery of open and distance-learning
programs. Active participation in this process of continuous change is crucial for
developing countries, but carries a double challenge. First, schools and universities must
constantly adapt to the new technologies; since they can no longer perform effectively
without these resources. Furthermore, society generates and therefore demands for the
professions and the workplace a new technological culture, in which literacy and
arithmetic skills are no longer enough.

However, the application of ICT in education may have important domestic and
international repercussions in the context of existing inequalities. In less developed
countries, social inequalities are a fundamental problem, deeply rooted in demographic,
economic and cultural factors. In order to provide the possibility of a more dynamic and
fair social development, it is imperative for these countries to promote equity in
educational opportunities. The equity issue must be addressed when ICT policies are
adopted, lest existing inequalities are worsened by the digital divide. As in every large-
scale process, there are inherent and important risks as well as great opportunities.

A GENERAL HYPOTHESIS
ICT brings to education the capacity to reach massive audiences with consistent quality
of content, and to target groups with specialized needs. The use of the new technologies
in developing countries could contribute to solving traditional learning gaps, reducing the
educational lag of the adult population, and consolidating a national education system
that offers quality services to all sectors of society. However, for this to occur to full
potential, it is necessary to identify and comply with a series of conditions and strategies,
based on the specific requirements and context of each country.

The impact and repercussions of ICT are two-fold. On the one hand, ICT may help
significantly to increase delivery and coverage of educational services to the different
segments of society, by offering more varied and flexible programs, able to respond to an
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increasing and diversified demand. On the other, it may have considerable impact on the
quality of education, in as much as it transforms the traditional teaching-learning process,
to the point where a cognitive gap emerges between teachers and students with access to
ICT and those without.

The positive effects on students of ICT in education include (Papert, 1997):
! Enhanced motivation and creativity when confronted by the new learning
environments.
! A greater disposition to research and problem-solving focused on real social
situations.
! More comprehensive assimilation of knowledge in the interdisciplinary ICT
environment.
! Systematic encouragement of collaborative work between individuals and
groups.
! Ability to generate knowledge.
! Capacity to cope with rapidly changing, complex and uncertain environments.
! New skills and abilities fostered through technological literacy.

In general, all these effects raise the students self-esteem and enable those who might be
lagging behind their peers to become more self-assertive.

It is important to underline that ICT brings beneficial side effects in addition to the
original objectives, with impact on the overall socio-economic context. These effects are
seen in the creation of a new technological culture, with increased productivity and
competitiveness in the economy and stimulation of lifelong learning. Moreover, the same
technological infrastructure can be used for different educational objectives servicing
other audiences. All such groups are then able to organize themselves to receive and use
knowledge and information in new and unexpected ways. Such beneficial side effects,
almost non-existent without ICT, are of particular importance to developing countries:
the social returns are likely to be higher, with more people gaining benefit in more ways.
In sum, ICT can affect the pace at which the learning gap is bridged in developing
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countries, both domestically and in relation to other nations. The great challenge is to
harness the advantages of those technologies, in order to improve the delivery and quality
of educational services, as well as to accelerate the rate at which knowledge is distributed
and learning chances and outcomes are equalized throughout society.

Suggested Technology
The IWB Continuum
As any new technology arrives, it will inevitably be used initially to continue doing many
of the same things that the old technology could do, gradually moving on to reinvent
some of the old things in new ways. If we observe most teachers as they begin to work
with an IWB, we will probably see them making this shift by converting many of their
old paper-based tasks into an equivalent IWB-based task. This is normal behavior and to
be expected as any new technology is adopted, explored and eventually tamed. But we
need to remind ourselves that this approach is really just old wine in new bottles.
Ultimately, if the true potential of these new tools is to be fully realized, there must come
a point where teachers start to think in completely new ways; not just to begin using the
technology to do things that are merely a digital version of the old, but rather to create
entirely new things that were not possible with the old technologies. IWBs can let
educators do more than just continue with the old ways. As interactive technologies
become an accepted part of todays digital classrooms, new and previously unimagined
ways are being found to use technology to enhance the teaching and learning process. In
seeking to realize this revolutionizing potential, it is important to understand a little of
the:
! context within which teachers of the twenty-first century will be working
! shortcomings of the earlier teaching tools
! factors that set this technology apart from the many other instructional
technologies that promised to revolutionize teaching in the twentieth century,
and
! effective uses of this new tool in the classroom.


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Setting the stage for a digital classroom
Right now, in classrooms around the world, what classroom tools do teachers use most on
a day-to-day basis? According to a 2007 study, the most commonly used instructional
technologies (other than the teachers voice, of course) are still the pen, paper and
teaching board (Lee & Winzenried, 2009). This is an important understanding because it
highlights a key premise about why interactive whiteboards are different to many of the
revolutionary classroom technologies of the past. As a concept, the teaching board is a
well-understood tool used by teachers to help perform the job they do in their classrooms
every day. This is a great starting point. It acknowledges that while there are many
technologies teachers may not be comfortable with, the humble teaching board is already
a well-understood part of the way a classroom works. Of course, for many classrooms,
those teaching boards are still the old-style blackboards (or green or white ones), but the
underlying idea is that a shift to interactive technology as a better, more capable teaching
board is essentially a case of rethinking an existing concept that most teachers are already
familiar with rather than forcing them into a whole new way of working.

Interactive whiteboards have the potential to be the second revolutionary teaching tool,
and teachers may be thinking: But what about the personal computer? Didnt that
revolutionize the way we teach? The PC certainly has hadand will no doubt continue
to havea huge impact on classrooms all over the world, but in most cases it is still more
of a learning tool for students than a teaching tool for teachers. There is no argument that
the personal computer has been revolutionary in almost every way imaginable and its
impact over the last 25 years has been enormous, but when we look at its impact on the
actual act of teaching, it is still relatively minimal. In a world where so many industries
and professions have been completely reshaped and redefined by the advent of the
personal computer one could argue that the act of teaching (as opposed to the act of
learning) has been largely immune to such technological advances. There are plenty of
reasons that account for this. The small screen size does not easily facilitate teaching in a
group setting, and most non-IWB classrooms do not have a mounted projector ready for
use. The PC is far more engaging when one gets to interact with it on a personal level, so
it often fails to be an effective teaching tool in classrooms where the teachers are the only
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ones with a computer in front of them. There are plenty of reasons that account for this.
The small screen size does not easily facilitate teaching in a group setting, and most non-
IWB classrooms do not have a mounted projector ready for use. The PC is far more
engaging when one gets to interact with it on a personal level, so it often fails to be an
effective teaching tool in classrooms where the teachers are the only ones with a
computer in front of them.



In January 2002, the Welsh Assembly Government in the United Kingdom announced
that it would provide every primary school with one interactive whiteboard (IWB), one
computer, and one projector while every secondary school would receive three of each.
In the meantime, pilot studies in England resulted in the Schools Interactive Whiteboard
Expansion Initiative 2003-04 in September 2003. These moves made the IWB a
particularly important focus for educational debate and research (Beauchamp, 2004).
Subsequently, in April 2009, the Taiwanese government approved a budget of NT$3.9
billion (about US$12.4 million) to invest in better-designed classrooms and e-teaching
equipment in elementary schools as well as to fund Internet access upgrades. These
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classrooms were set for installation with different facilities, each according to the subject
taught. IWB was one technology under consideration (Ministry of Education, 2009).

IWBs have become significant platforms for learning interaction between teachers and
students. Such devices not only replace traditional blackboards but also enable users to
integrate and manipulate visual multimedia resources. A growing numbers of studies
(Armstrong et al., 2005; Bruun, 2009; Glover & Miller, 2001; Jankowska & Atlay, 2008;
Kennewell & Morgan, 2003; Lpez, 2010; Schmid, 2008; Smith, Hardman & Higgins,
2006) have focused on curricula, pedagogy, and the process of utilizing IWBs in schools.
For example, in a traditional classroom, teachers allow students to use the blackboard for
demonstration purposes. Classroom demonstrations can now be integrated with IWB
functions and enable students to move the material, accomplish tasks, and mark
annotations as needed. These capabilities can improve the demonstration activity and
reveal students developmental progress, thus affecting the teaching and learning
interaction in the classroom (Glover, Miller, Averis & Door, 2005).

Although these IWB related studies focus on the relationship between technology and
interactive pedagogical practices in the classroom. Little attention has been paid to
relevant associations among teaching, learning and IWBs.

Suggested: Teaching and learning interactions with regard to IWBs
Interactions between teachers and students are not always in consensus reciprocally but
are instead a process of confrontation and negotiation. In the interaction process, both
teachers and students utilize various strategies in an attempt to confirm their own ideas.
These strategies usually result in a well-ordered interaction model and the development
of a common consensus. For example, the way a teacher provides information to a
student is dependent on his or her perception of the students cognitive abilities. This
perception is directly influenced by the prior interactions between the teacher and student
(LeBlanc & Bearison, 2004). On the other hand, the interaction between teachers
perceptions of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and pedagogy is also
important. Loveless (2003) highlighted the teachers perceptions of ICT as a social and
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cultural phenomenon that requires more investigation.

After the IWB was first introduced into the classroom, it obviously influenced the
interaction between the teacher and his or her students, which initiated the interaction
reform in the classroom (Glover et al., 2005). Moreover, Anderson (2003) emphasized
that rapid advances in information technology would make interaction transmission
simpler and faster and that this should be adapted accordingly to conform to
contemporary education. Keegan (1988) also noted that interaction is a key factor in
information transmission and effective learning.

Distance education interaction can be divided into three types: student-content (learning
material) interaction, student-student interaction, and student-teacher interaction.




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CONDITIONS AND STRATEGIES
Research and content development
Whether it be new learning environments, open and distance learning, teacher training
initiatives, the incorporation of ICT into traditional school systems these all require a
sound policy of research and content development, as well as training of human resources
in technical and pedagogical areas. For this, the participation of higher education
institutions is critical, as is the analysis of international experiences, with the support and
consulting services of multinational organizations. The construction of models that
incorporate ICT is a complex task in several fields, particularly when directed to
mitigating educational gaps. It involves formal curricular programs, ranging from basic to
higher education, and non-formal learning, from parent education to a variety of
workplace training courses and continuous education programs. There are also initiatives
geared towards improving traditional services in general.

An important challenge is the design of effective models to integrate the content and
processes of education with the technologies available for their delivery. It requires the
participation of expert teachers and ICT specialists, to establish new methods of learning.
Such liaison is also indispensable in the application to local needs and conditions of ICT
knowledge from domestic or foreign research institutions. For this to function effectively,
not only must these groups relate well to the educational bureaucracy, they must also be
involved in pilot projects to test the different models.

Development of a flexible, open and cost-effective technological platform
It is essential to have a sound and adequate telecommunication and computer network
infrastructure that can support and deliver diverse educational models. This infrastructure
must be open and flexible enough to meet the countrys needs, with appropriate
procedures for its upgrading and maintenance. Account must be taken of the high level of
investment required, in spite of the general tendency for prices to fall. It is therefore of
the utmost importance to select the technological platform carefully, along with the right
mix of economically viable software applications of suitable quality. Furthermore, the
concept of technology as a magic key for solving all problems must not be the driving
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premise.

In many cases, the latest instructional models require state-of-the-art technology, but a
more realistic and pragmatic strategy for developing countries may be a favorable
combination of technologies, human resources, and infrastructure. The relative
advantages of one technology over another may vary considerably, depending on the
target audience and the learning model adopted. It may be appropriate to use simpler
technologies such as radio for rural areas, and despite the fact that television as a learning
tool has well known limitations, it still represents an economically viable and efficient
option. This assertion, however, should not be seen as an argument for delaying the
incorporation of on-line educational programs. In fact, in some countries, educational
television has encouraged the implementation of other initiatives in ICT, which today
reinforce one another through a continuous process of technological convergence.
Lesson Samples:


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N.B: Technical Prospects pending.