Barriers to ICT

Barriers to the effective use of technology in education.

Rely too heavily on technology in classroom

To integrate technology into the classroom the teacher must first have the skills and resources AKA owning an iPad.

E-safety and cyber-bullying barriers:

The digital world can sometimes be unkind. Coursework could be stolen online or social dilemmas may arise.

With the increase of someone’s ‘digital footprint’ comes increased risk. There will always be a chance that passwords are discovered, date of birth and similar information used to impersonate someone and so on (Petty, 2014).

With the increased use in social media such as Facebook and Twitter, there has been an increase in ‘cyber bullying’. Cyber bullying can take the form of direct or audience based messages to harass, embarrass or threaten people, normally peers in the same class or educational setting.

As a teacher, it is our moral responsibility to educate our students on what is and is not acceptable behaviour in all walks of life. In terms of cyber bullying, it is extremely hard to diagnose a problem, however if a teacher was ever to overhear something in class they should then take the appropriate steps as set out by the education organisation. A way of educating students could be to use the ‘Internet Detective’ website that is a free online tool that gives a virtual lesson on internet trustworthiness. Click here to go directly to the website.

Indeed, Edwards (2012) suggests that there are many issues in the use of virtual worlds because they can create digital divides, new moral principles and new forms of identity. These issues, not so long ago, were feared to depersonalise and dehumanise the learning environment (Gerard, 1965). In agreement, Loop (2006) believed that the bond between the teacher and the pupil is compromised when technology interrupt the relationship between the learner and teacher. 

Resource barriers:

Technology is great but it comes at a price. If the teacher or the organisation does not have the tools or ‘budget’ for technological equipment, then the students will clearly be unable to experience their learning through digital media.

Organisations rely heavily on Government and local authority funding. If places of education are given low amounts of investment, then they will simply not be able to purchase state of the art modern technology AKA a classroom full of Apple or Windows computers.

Teachers usually do not need to worry about fundamentals such as computers etc. but there is room for investment in certain gadgets such as ‘iPads’ and ‘Smartphones’. Peer pressure in the staffroom is also growing, because if a staff member knows of a new ‘app’, or purchases an iPad which they are utilising in class, there will be jealously and feeling a lack of imagination.

Technical barriers:

Not at all places of education have the same software or operating systems. Also, the student may use a different type computer with a platform such as ‘Apple Macintosh’ but the school/college/university may use ‘Microsoft Windows Operating’ system. As the years pass, problems are detected and resolved such as program ‘crash’ or ‘freeze’ whereby work is lost! However, there are still some compatibility issues especially with specialist education software (Gillespie, 2006). The 19^th Century gave calls for the more computers to be used in education due to its ability to be more efficient and up to date than teachers ever could be (Edwards, 2012). In fact, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) between 1987 and 1993 showed an increased desire to use technology in schools.