Implementing ICT in Education: Challenges and Recommendations

The assignment report explores the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the learning and teaching process in schools. It highlights both positive and negative effects on students and teachers, as well as challenges faced by school authorities during implementation. The report suggests that ICT should be used as a complement to traditional teaching methods rather than replacing them. It also recommends consulting with NGOs for assistance in implementing ICT in schools, especially those with capital crunch or located in backward regions. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of engaging parents and external stakeholders prior to implementation to ensure their support and understanding of the project's goals and requirements.

Running head: TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION SYSTEM
Technology in education system
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Executive summary
The aim of this report is to discuss about the positive and negative impact of the information and
communication technologies in the education process in United Arab Emirates. In addition, the
challenges to be faced by the school authorities in installing the technologies are also being
discussed in this report. This report concludes that technology will have both negative and
positive impact on the education system. This report also discussed some recommended steps,
which will help in help in coordinating both modern and traditional way of learning.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Positive impact of technology in education.....................................................................................3
Negative impact of technology in education...................................................................................4
Challenges to be faced by schools...................................................................................................5
Recommendations............................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Reference.........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The current education scenario is witnessing a huge reform or change in its existing
process. This is mainly due to the reason that the student traffic in the recent time have increased
in leaps and bounds. Moreover, along with the increase in the inflow of students, the number or
varieties of stream have also got increased. Thus, in the current scenario, education system is
much more varied and diverse in nature than it was a few years ago. Another significant change
noted in the education system of United Arab Emirates in the recent time is the popularity of
technology in the process of teaching and learning (Fu, 2013). Various information and
communication technologies are being introduced in the market, which are customized according
to the educational needs. More number of schools and other educational institutions are
accepting the use of technologies in the mainstream learning process.
However, implementation of the technology in the schooling system is having different
challenges to be faced. The majority of challenges are being faced by the managers of schools.
Moreover, initiation of information and communication technologies in the education system is
not only having positive impacts but also having negative impacts. This report will discuss about
the challenges to be faced by the schools in implementing the technologies along with its
negative and positive impacts. Few recommended steps will also be discussed in this report in
relation to the effective implementation of the technologies.
Positive impact of technology in education
 Initiation of the information and communication technology in the teaching and learning
process will help the all the related stakeholders with the education such as students and
teachers in having their process going beyond the limitations of the classroom. This is
due to the reason that, using of the information and communication technology will
enable the teachers to communicate with their students from their convenience at any
point of time. On the other hand, with the help of these technologies, students will be able
to stay connected with the teachers even after the school time. Thus, the range and
intensity of the teaching and learning process will be more in case of using the
information and communication technology (Wastiau et al., 2013). For instance,

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renowned schools in the United Arab Emirates are known for their innovative learning
process and they are also having high percentage of top ranked students.
 Technology will also help both the teachers and students in having the access to the
unlimited number of online educational resources. In the current scenario, internet is one
of the most valued sources of learning materials (Bude, 2014). Thus, teachers will be
benefited from the online sources by providing more diverse knowledge to their students.
On the other hand, students will also be benefited from gathering knowledge from
different sources. Hence, the source of learning materials will be more in the case of
using information and communication technology in schools.
 School students or teenage students will be more attracted towards latest technologies and
gadgets. In addition, using of the audio and visual in the learning process will further
enhance the concentration and attraction of the students in the learning process. Thus, it
will be easier for the teachers to control the students in the classroom along with
maintaining their concentration in the classroom (Abdullahi, 2014). Moreover, with the
help of the audio and visual, the quality of the learning process will further get enhanced,
which will ultimately enhance the entire learning process.
 Use of the information and communication technology will also help in overcoming the
geographical barriers of the students. This is due to the reason that, there are various
examples such as some areas in the United Arab Emirates are not having the basic
facilities of going to school for the students and they are facing barriers in attending the
class (Vandeyar, 2013). Moreover, there are extreme weather conditions in United Arab
Emirates, which further creates barriers in attending classes. In these cases, use of the
technology will help in connecting with the isolated students in remote areas.
 Use of the information and communication technology will also promote sharing of
knowledge. This is due to the reason that, technology will help in having cooperative
learning process between the students and teachers. Thus, the students will be able to the
access to other’s ideas and knowledge and it will be easier for the teachers to look after
every student equally.

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Negative impact of technology in education
 One of the key negative impacts of using technologies in the learning process is the risk
of plagiarism. This is due to the reason that, with having the access to millions of online
learning resources, it will be easier for the students to have readymade copy of their
studies (Blackwell, Lauricella & Wartella, 2014). Thus, the core objective of the learning
process will get hampered.
 Privacy of the students and teachers will also be at stake due to the use of information
and communication tools in the learning process. This is due to the reason that, there are
various cases of security breaches in the online medium in the recent time. Thus, students
and teachers will be more exposed to this (Bulman & Fairlie, 2016). In addition, part
from the learning materials, students may get attracted to the harmful materials on
internet. According to various reports, over exposure to the internet will have harmful
impact on the students.
 Initiation of the telecommunication technologies in the education may also reduce the
importance of attending classrooms. However, classroom studies will always remain as
the core mode of learning and teaching. However, having the access to the materials from
convenience will reduce the interest of the students to attend schools (Tess, 2013). Thus,
the connection between the teachers and students will get reduced.
Challenges to be faced by schools
 One of the key challenges to be faced is the cost involved. Installation of the technologies
in the schools will involve huge cost for the authorities (Smith & Hu, 2013). Thus, for the
majority of the schools, it will be difficult to incur the huge cost in installing the devices
and systems required.
 Parents will also face the cost issue due to the reason that communication devices should
be from both end in order to have the connectivity between the teachers and students.
Thus, there is high probability of resistance from the side of the parents in initiation of
the technologies in the school.
 It is important for the schools to have experts in using the technologies and made the
existing staff comfortable and accustomed with the system (Wu et al., 2013). Thus,

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training should be provided to all of them. This will be challenging for the authorities in
convincing the existing staff and incurring the cost for training.
 There are still various regions in United Arab Emirates where technologies are not being
accepted over the traditional means. These areas are more conservative in nature. Thus, in
these regions, the social acceptability of the technologies in education system over the
traditional way will be less and the authorities will face the challenge of resistance from
the parents (Stromquist & Monkman, 2014).
 There are various underdeveloped regions still left in United Arab Emirates where people
do not have the access to the internet. Schools in these areas will have the difficulties in
installing the technology for the learning process (Tsai & Hwang, 2013). Moreover,
majority of the language in the educational technologies is English, which is not being
used in every region, where Arabic is the official language. Thus, the schools will face
the difficulties to communicate with the students through these technologies.
Recommendations
 It is recommended that prior to the implementation of the technologies; schools should
first determine the specific needs. This is due to the reason that, every school will have
different types of needs and requirements. Thus, effective and proper determination of the
needs will help the authorities to implement the technology accordingly. Only then it will
have most benefits for all the related stakeholders.
 It is also recommended that the technologies should be implemented as complimentary to
the traditional teaching process rather than substituting it. For instance, technologies can
only be used in having online database of learning materials for the students but they
have to attend the class to interact with the teachers. Thus, it will help in having proper
coordination between the traditional and modern approach of the education.
 Schools with having capital crunch and from the backward regions should have
consultation with the NGOs. There are various international organizations working
towards providing latest technologies to the students. They will help the schools in
having incurred less cost in the process.
 Parents and other external stakeholders should be consulted prior to the implementation
of the technologies. This will ensure that there will be no resistance from their side in the

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further stage. Moreover, it will also help them to determine the exact expectation and
requirements of the students.

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Conclusion
Thus, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that initiation of the information
and communication technologies in learning and teaching process will have both positive and
negative impact on the students and teachers. Moreover, this report also discussed about the
challenges to be faced by the school authorities in implementing the system. In accordance to the
identified challenges, this report discussed about few recommended steps that will help in having
effective implementation of the system.

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Reference
Abdullahi, H. (2014). The role of ICT in teaching science education in schools. International
Letters of Social and Humanities Sciences, 19, 217-223.
Blackwell, C. K., Lauricella, A. R., & Wartella, E. (2014). Factors influencing digital technology
use in early childhood education. Computers & Education, 77, 82-90.
Buda, A. (2014). ICT in Education. Information and Communication Technologies in Education
Overview in Visegrad countries. Ostrava, University of Ostrava, 15-32.
Bulman, G., & Fairlie, R. W. (2016). Technology and education: Computers, software, and the
internet. In Handbook of the Economics of Education (Vol. 5, pp. 239-280). Elsevier.
Fu, J. S. (2013). ICT in education: A critical literature review and its implications. International
Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication
Technology, 9(1), 112.
Smith, J., & Hu, R. (2013). Rethinking teacher education: Synchronizing eastern and western
views of teaching and learning to promote 21st century skills and global perspectives.
Education Research and Perspectives (Online), 40, 86.
Stromquist, N. P., & Monkman, K. (Eds.). (2014). Globalization and education: Integration and
contestation across cultures. R&L Education.
Tess, P. A. (2013). The role of social media in higher education classes (real and virtual)–A
literature review. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(5), A60-A68.
Tsai, C. C., & Hwang, G. J. (2013). Issues and challenges of educational technology research in
Asia. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 22(2), 215.
Vandeyar, T. (2013). Practice as policy in ICT for education: Catalysing communities of practice
in education in South Africa. Technology in Society, 35(4), 248-257.
Wastiau, P., Blamire, R., Kearney, C., Quittre, V., Van de Gaer, E., & Monseur, C. (2013). The
use of ICT in education: a survey of schools in Europe. European Journal of Education,
48(1), 11-27.

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Wu, H. K., Lee, S. W. Y., Chang, H. Y., & Liang, J. C. (2013). Current status, opportunities and
challenges of augmented reality in education. Computers & education, 62, 41-49.