Education: Tap Into It!

Type a keyword, for example, “Education” into “Google” and the student before the computer screen is bombarded with 671,000,000[1] search results almost instantaneously.

This is the Internet that we are so familiar and yet so unfamiliar with at the very same time. We are familiar with it, only because it is already synonymous with education for both students and teachers. Yet we are unfamiliar with it, because there is just too much on the internet that we do not know about and there is a constant overload of all relevant, irrelevant, reliable, unreliable, true and false information online for everyone.

As a 21st century teacher, we must be able to tap on Information Technology as our teaching tool. However, the pretext for tapping is that, we must be individually well equipped with knowledge and skills of Information Literacy[2] in order to be able to differentiate the relevant from the irrelevant, the reliable from the unreliable, and the truth from the lies on the Internet before we can even consider it as our tool for teaching.

It would be extremely myopic to think that teachers can tap on the tool of Information Technology readily without skills of Information Literacy and students not being adequately information literate.

With the above in mind, it is therefore critical that teachers practise Information Literacy, emphasizes on and teaches their students the importance of Information Literacy. It is only when Students are information literate, then will they be able to fully utilize the Internet as a tool to facilitate and aid in their learning.

Teachers, as strong classroom practitioners, can be the scaffold for students’ learning of information literacy.

With information literacy as the ballast for the tapping of Information Technology, Teachers can venture into the possibilities of Online Discussion, Group Project Work and Online Forums for class/subject or even miscellaneous discussions. The benefits of this would be that, since students are information literate, they will be able to select the most relevant and appropriate materials for their online discussions, group projects and forums participation and thus, there will be quality in the discussions. Online activities will too help bridge distances, cultivate independent learning and positive mentoring relationships can thus be built.

Teachers can also make use of Blogs[3] to log lessons and encourage students to write reflections on lessons and/or comment on lessons conducted. This will help teachers to foster a positive teaching-learning relationship with their students. Blogs can thus be used as a feedback channel between students and teachers. With such two-way communication, students will feel engaged and teachers can thus build positive mentoring relationships.

However, Information Technology is a double-edged sword that must be wielded carefully. Even when both students and teachers are equipped with Information Literacy abilities, given the pervasiveness and permeability of the internet, there is no saying that students and teachers are free from the hidden dangers online, such as the accidental stumbling upon on pornography, being infected with Trojans and Viruses through Internet Surfing, personal or critical details stolen etc. Dangers exist online. Moreover, internet gaming could also bring about addiction and students’ deviation from studies to gaming. It is thus also part of Teachers’ role to educate about the dangers of the internet. 

In addition, Internet Technology does create an unfair advantage[4], tilted towards those who have access to the Internet and biased against those without or do not have as much usage time. The question that we must thus ask ourselves is simply that of “Will all students be able to complete the IT task successfully?” This is possibly the biggest issue with integrating IT into classes.

In conclusion, we can and should definitely tap into IT but we must be equipped with information literacy skills and when we do tap into IT and utilize IT, we must always bear in mind that IT have its failings and not every student is fortunate enough to have the necessary IT resources.

[1] Search Results retrieved as of 27th August 2007 9.27p.m.

[2] The American Library Association’s (ALA) Presidential Committee on Information Literacy, Final Report states that, “To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information” (1989)

[3] Online Diaries

[4] 2006 Annual Survey of 2005 households: 88% owns personal computers and only 71%  have internet access (Singapore)