An Audit of my School's ICT Use

The Fairhall Government School is a newly constructed primary school. The institution has one computer lab which is equipped with thirty desktop computers. Due to infrastructural constraints, only twenty of these are presently in use. There are also two computers each in the special education room, and library and one each in the principal's and secretary's offices, counselor's room and the preschool.  Students in Grades Two to Six have their personal netbooks, given to them under the government's One Laptop Per Child Initiative.  Additionally, the school is equipped with a number of peripheral devices such as multimedia projectors, printers and an Interactive White Board.  

While there are many teachers who do not use the school's computers regularly, those who do, do so for varying purposes. In most instances, they are used for the preparation of teacher-made tests and for documenting and filing of students' test scores.  Some teachers also present lessons using PowerPoint, and the viewing of videos (particularly on youtube) is fairly common.  The internet is also relatively heavily used for the gathering of information and research, as well as for accessing online activities and resources for students' use.

Administratively, ICT tools are used mainly in word processing, and to a lesser degree for communicating with teachers, parents and the Ministry of Education.   

In addition to the utilization of the netbooks for the educational purposes as prescribed by their class teachers, students use them extensively for entertainment.  They play games, view music videos and movies and chat with friends. These activities do not usually occur during class time, as there are strict rules governing the use of the devices.

I teach Information Technology as a subject only in Grade 6 (two classes). Prior to this academic year, it was offered in Grades 2 to 6, however, an administration decision was made to put that program on hold due to limited human resources. 

I believe that the resources that are available at the school are severely under-utilized. There remains some resistance among some staff members, particularly the older ones. Compounding that is the reality that the IT Coordinator at the school, who happens to be me, has a full teaching schedule which does not allow for the offering of any significant amount of assistance or support to these teachers.  What is however encouraging it that there is a small core of teachers who have wholeheartedly embraced ICT integration, which is an indication that there is hope.

Conclusions: ICT Integration in Developing Countries

The general opinion among my colleagues is that although it is not impossible for developing nations to compete with those that are developed in the matter of ICT integration, it will be extremely difficult for this to occur.  For sure, both parties will not be operating on a level playing field, since developed nations have many advantages, not the least of which are finances and expertise; hence any attempt at competition will undoubtedly be met with numerous challenges.

Of greater importance than the issue of competing, in my view, is the necessity of having well defined, workable ICT integration vision and goals.  The determination to succeed and hard work must accompany these if any progress is to be made.  Obviously, trying to reinvent the wheel is not only unnecessary but it is foolish.  As such, much can and should be learned from these same developed countries, thus avoiding many of the pitfalls that they encountered.  In so doing, there is really no need to compete, as the developing nations can now maximize the resources available to them and work within their limitations to achieve success at ICT integration.