ICT and Changing Mindsets in Education

Justincox

Description

The debate is no longer whether to use information and communication technologies (ICT) in education in Africa but how to do so, and how to ensure equitable access for teachers and learners, whether in urban or rural settings. This is a book about how Africans adopt and adapt ICT. It is also about how ICT shape African schools and classrooms. Why do we use ICT, or not? Do girls and boys use them in the same ways? How are teachers and students in primary and secondary schools in Africa using ICT in teaching and learning? How does the process transform relations among learners, educators and knowledge construction? This collection by 19 researchers from Africa, Europe, and North America, explores these questions from a pedagogical perspective and specific socio-cultural contexts. Many of the contributors draw on learning theory and survey data from 36 schools, 66000 students and 3000 teachers. The book is rich in empirical detail on the perceived importance and appropriation of ICT in the development of education in Africa. It critically examines the potential for creative use of ICT to question habits, change mindsets, and deepen practice. The contributions are in both English and French.

Sujets

• Éducation
• Education

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 15 juillet 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9789956715084
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Francis B. Nyamnjoh Stories from Abakwa Mind Searching The Disillusioned African The Convert Souls Forgotten

Titles byLangaaRPCIG

Dibussi Tande No Turning Back. Poems of Freedom 1990-1993

Kangsen Feka Wakai Fragmented Melodies

Ntemfac Ofege Namondo. Child of the Water Spirits

Emmanuel Fru Doh Not Yet Damascus The Fire Within

Thomas Jing Tale of an African Woman

Peter Wuteh Vakunta Grassfields Stories from Cameroon Green Rape: Poems for the Environment Majunga Tok: Poems in Pidgin English Cry My Beloved Africa

Ba'bila Mutia Coils of Mortal Flesh

Kehbuma Langmia Titabet and the Takumbeng

Victor Elame Musinga & Roselyn M. Jua The Barn The Tragedy of Mr. No Balance

Ngessimo Mathe Mutaka Building Capacity: Using TEFL and African Languages as Development-oriented Literacy Tools

Milton Krieger Cameroon's Social Democratic Front: Its History and Prospects as an Opposition Political Party, 1990-2011

Sammy Oke Akombi The Raped Amulet The Woman Who Ate Python & Other Stories

Beware the Drives: Book of Verse

Susan Nkwentie Nde Precipice

Francis B. Nyamnjoh & Richard Fonteh Akum The Cameroon GCE Crisis: A Test of Anglophone Solidarity

Joyce Ashuntantang & Dibussi Tande Their Champagne Party Will End! Poems in Honor of Bate Besong

Rosemary Ekosso The House of Falling Women

Peterkins Manyong God the Politician

George Ngwane The Power in the Writer: Collected Essays on Culture, Democracy & Development in Africa

John Percival The 1961 Cameroon Plebiscite: Choice or Betrayal

Albert Azeyeh Réussite scolaire, faillite sociale : généalogie mentale de la crise de l’Afrique noire francophone

Aloysius Ajab Amin & Jean-Luc Dubois Croissance et développement au Cameroun : d`une croissance équilibrée à un développement équitable

Luke Enendu & Babson Ajibade Masquerade Traditions

Carlson Anyangwe Imperialistic Politics in Cameroun: Resistance & the Inception of the Restoration of the Statehood of Southern Cameroons

Bill F. Ndi K`Cracy, Trees in the Storm and Other Poems

Kathryn Toure, Therese Mungah Shalo Tchombe & Thierry Karsenti ICT and Changing Mindsets in Education

I C T

a n d

C h a n g i n g M i n d s e t s E d u c a t i o n

(Repenser l’éducation à l’aide des TIC)

Ed i t or s Kathryn Toure Therese Mungah Shalo Tchombe Thierry Karsenti

LangaaResearch & Publishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda

i n

Publisher: LangaaRPCIG (LangaaResearch & Publishing Common Initiative Group) P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Province Cameroon [e-mail]

Distributed outside N. America by African Books Collective [e-mail] www.africanbookscollective.com

Distributed in N. America by Michigan State University Press [e-mail] www.msupress.msu.edu

ISBN:9956-558-26-5

© ERNWACA / ROCARE 2008 First published 2008

DISCLAIMER All views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Langaa RPCIG.

Thanks / Remerciements

Thanks to all students, teachers, parents, school administrators, and others who took part in the studies that inform this book.

Thanks also to all policymakers and education practitioners who took part in national and regional workshops to develop the studies and follow their progress and in Ernwaca Cafés to discuss the research findings.

Thanks also to ERNWACA national coordinators and scientific committee members, especially Naïm Salami of ERNWACA-Benin, Pierre Founkoua of ERNWACA-Cameroon, Joshua Baku of ERNWACA-Ghana, Urbain Dembélé of ERNWACA-Mali, and Ousmane Gueye of ERNWACA Senegal, ERNWACA regional coordination staff persons in Bamako, especially Nina Coulibaly and Dramane Darave, and University of Montreal graduate students in Montreal, especially Gabriel Dumouchel and Toby Harper.

Thanks to George Fonkeng and Carole Joubert for contributions to editing and copyediting.

Thanks finally to Abdelkader Galy,Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie(AUF), for scientific and moral support, and Alioune Camara of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Dakar.

Research for most of the papers in this edited collection was conducted in 2003-2005 by ERNWACA, in collaboration with the University of Montr eal, on “ICT Integration in West and Central African Education: Case Studies of Pioneer Schools,” financed by grant no. 101978-002 from the West Africa Regional Office of theInternational Development Research Centre (IDRC).

TheEducational Research Network for West and Central Africa/ (ERNWACA ROCARE) is a professional association of 400 researchers in 14 member countries with a regional coordination office in Bamako, Mali. The NGO and non-profit status of ERNWACA is officially recognized by the government of the Republic of Mali, see document no. 513/MATS-DNAT from September 1995.

Table of Contents / Table de matières

1. 1 Introduction: ICT and Changing Mindsets in Education Kathryn Toure 2. 7 Reflections on Cultural Imperialism and Pedagogical Possibilities Emerging from Youth Encounters with Internet in Africa Kathryn Toure, Mamadou Lamine Diarra, Thierry Karsenti, Salomon Tchaméni-Ngamo 3. 25 Réflexions sur l’impérialisme culturel et les possibilités pédagogiques, émergeantes des rencontres des jeunes en Afrique avec internet Kathryn Toure, Mamadou Lamine Diarra, Thierry Karsenti, Salomon Tchaméni-Ngamo 4. 45 Gender and Psycho-pedagogical Implications for Cognitive Growth through Access to Information and Communication Technologies Therese Mungah Shalo Tchombe 5. 65 Comment intégrer les TIC dans les écoles béninoises si les enseignants restent en marge ? Thierry Azonhe, Aristide Adjibodou, Florentine Akouété-Hounsinou 6. 76 Quelle durabilité pour les TIC dans l’éducation au Bénin ? Aristide Adjibodou, Alexandre Biaou, Toussaint Noudogbessi 7. 86 L’usage pédagogique des TIC et les enseignants des écoles fondamentales privées au Mali Mamadou Lamine Diarra 8. 99 Usages et représentations sociales du courriel dans les cybercafés de Bamako Béatrice Steiner 9. 113 Introduction of ICT in Schools and Classrooms in Cameroon Moses Atezah Mbangwana

10. 125 Evaluation de la pratique des enseignants en matière de TIC dans les écoles au Sénégal Papa Amadou Sène 11. 137 Teacher ICT Readiness in Ghana Kofi B. Boakye, Dzigbodi Ama Banini 12. 145 L’intégration des TIC dans l’enseignement : quelles perspectives pour l’école béninoise ? Pascal Codjo Dakpo, Florentine Akouété-Hounsinou, Thierry Azonhe 13. 157 Quel avenir pour l’usage pédagogique des TIC en Afrique subsaharienne ? Cas de cinq pays membres du ROCARE Djénéba Traoré 14. 169 Les TIC, l’apprentissage et la motivation des filles et des garçons au secondaire au Cameroun Brigitte Matchinda 15. 179 Les TIC : instruments de médiation socioconstructiviste Daouda Dougoumalé Cissé 185 Authors / Auteurs

See ERNWACA Virtual Library, www.ernwaca.org, for bibliographic references including hyperlinks.

Voir la Bibliothèque virtuelle ROCARE, www.rocare.org, pour les références bibliographiques.

Preface

Information and communication technologies (ICT) constitute an assembly of facilities used for the treatment, modification and exchange of information. Their application and areas of implantation are diverse and present in almost all spheres of human activity. Among the different technologies for information and communication, the computer and the internet represent privileged means of learning and teaching as they permit wide and rapid exposure to the world as well as enhanced pedagogical practices. These technologies are believed to contribute to the amelioration of the quality of education because they are not only used as tools for the facilitation of cognitive development of learners but also as a means for exposure by their users. This collection of papers focuses on practical examples in the integration of ICT in education in developing countries with data from a transnational study on the integration of ICT in West and Central Africa. The main objective of the study was to better understand within the context of African countries the conditions which favour the integration of ICT in schools and their impact on the quality and development of education. In spite of recognized advantages of using ICT in education, pedagogues still have questions such as how we can best introduce ICT in schools, what conditions favour their integration, and what are the pedagogical and psychological consequences? 1 Claire IsaBelle (2002), states that teachers do not adhere to innovation except when they see the benefit for their pupils and themselves. The use of innovation will progress if teachers receive the necessary information and assistance which they consider useful and important. The behaviourist theory considers learning as change of behaviour and learning takes place when an individual produces a correct response or manifests an expected response to a given stimulus. Behaviour is determined by environmental conditions because according to the behaviourists the human being is passive and it suffices to manipulate environmental conditions to obtain required behaviour. The cognitivists look at a new approach to explain learning through the treatment of information. Cognition can

1 IsaBelle, C. (2002).Regard critique et pédagogique sur les technologies de l’information et de la communication.Montréal : Éditions Chenelière / McGraw-Hill.

be considered as internal activities and processes inherent to the acquisition of knowledge, information, memory, thinking, creativity, perception as well as understanding and problem solving. Thanks to the internet, television, CD ROMs, and other media, children today know many things that their parents did not know at their age. The world has been reduced considerably and children are impregnated with all kinds of cultures which tend to affect positively the perspectives of today’s youths if responsibly used. In matters of education, the constraints in terms of time and money, motivation, technical and pedagogical training as well as accessibility to the computer, equipment and the need for a pertinent content are constantly at the centre of the debate. As a matter of fact, for ICT to be productive in teaching and learning processes it is not enough to put one or many computers at the disposal of pupils. The introduction of ICT in schools necessitates a profound reflection on the part of teachers and decision makers in terms of the pedagogical conditions to be put in place and their implication on the quality of education. That is exactly what is contained in this ERNWACA collection of papers. It discusses teachers’ and students’ readiness for the integration of ICT in the school system, the impact of ICT as innovation in education, the management of the integration process including gender differentials in the use of ICT in school from cognitive perspectives. The authors of the various papers bring into this new pedagogical tool their wealth of experience as researchers, teachers and users of ICT in education. The findings and discussions contained in the various papers are comprehensive with innovative, scientific and pedagogical insights. It is important for all who read this book – teachers, students, administrators and organisers of educational systems – to perceive the importance of ICT in quality education. The papers are well researched, pedagogically innovative and intellectually stimulating and the book will no doubt act as a reference document for the integration of ICT in the educational process.

Professor Therese Mungah Shalo Tchombe, Faculty of Education, University of Buea, Cameroon, and ERNWACA national and regional scientific committee member

1 . Introduction: ICT and Changing Mindsets in Education Kathryn Toure

In using ICT in education, as long as the focus is technology we will fail. As long as the process is overly extraverted with little endogenous say-so and do-so, we will fail. This introduction toICT and Changing Mindsets in Educationwill briefly develop these arguments as a way of introducing the edited papers collected in this book. Information and communication technologies (ICT) on their own will not bring about improvements in educational quality, but when we change our mindsets to use them reflectively and strategically, teaching and learning processes can be deepened. This includes leaving behind paradigms of teacher as master. Creative and contextualized appropriation of new technologies contributes to more active and interactive pedagogies, increased motivation, updated teaching materials, discovery of self and others, and changed roles and relationships among teachers and students and with knowledge. Learning can become more dynamic as teachers and students become partners in accessing information, constructing relevant knowledge, and representing self and others. However, new technologies such as internet and computers are often introduced and sometimes even parachuted into schools in ways that do not enhance teaching and learning, that promote automated thinking instead of critical thinking, that encourage dependency rather than autonomy and interdependence, and that reinforce existing patterns of exclusion. Too often the emphasis is on equipment, on making profits from schools, or on promises of modernity than on opportunities for teachers to learn and experiment effective uses of technologies to enhance teaching and learning processes. Ministries of education have been all too eager to import computers into schools, without putting in place a policy environment and curriculum that supports the integration of technology into teaching and in ways that ensure equitable access. The focus seems to be on technology rather than on learning objectives and contexts, as if we were slaves to computers rather than champions of education. According to Rieber and Welliver (1980, cited in Newhouse, 2002: 16), with no systemic plan for incorporating technology into schools, efforts fail. Appropriate policy frameworks must guide ICT initiatives to promote quality of education. Teacher training and new skills in partnership management are essential. In Africa, we need local, national and regional efforts that facilitate development by educators of appropriate digital resources created by and for Africans and others, otherwise we may see ourselves as mere consumers for example of Wikipedia and Microsoft encyclopaedia Encarta Africana. It will not be easy to create the right conditions for meaningful appropriation of ICT in educational settings in a world where the state is increasingly withdrawing from social sector responsibilities, where over 50% of schools in some countries do not even have electricity, and where we witness a convergence not only of computing and telecommunications industries but also of these sectors with education. Businessmen and women, supranational companies, and developers could control our palettes and dictate usage patterns if educators and researchers do not play a

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