Changes

===Shift in perspective from existing curriculum===

===Shift in perspective from existing curriculum===

This course is new. It has not been offered by the D.El.Ed. programme prior to the syllabus revision.

We saw earlier in Year 1 that this course has adopted a new approach to ICT curriculum, focusing on the possibilities ICT provide for self learning and teaching learning. In year 1, this course had concerned itself with methods of self learning and through professional learning communities. In the second year, the focus will be on an evaluation of digital tools and methods for integration in subject learning and a critical appreciation of technology in society and education.

To allow for different ways of creating learning experiences, the curriculum envisages the use of different educational software applications to create educational resources and integrate these in teaching-learning, to enrich classroom pedagogy.

Traditionally, technology tools have been used in education to mirror existing methods and digitize content.  This is certainly useful and a critical evaluation of such digital resources is essential and th; creation and use of digital resources will be governed by similar pedagogic principles as non-digital resources.  This course makes an important shift however in terms of understanding of use of ICT for teaching learning. The course will demonstrate that ICT can alter what content is to be learned and how technology can create and alter the content knowledge in the teacher. Technology can also allow new pedagogies and teaching learning processes to emerge.  The course will provide a point of departure from the existing thinking of technology as an add-on for a practising teacher.  Instead it seeks to introduce ideas and resources that demonstrate how technological knowledge, pedagogical and content knowledge must intersect to create an effective, reflective teacher.  For example, a digital story telling exercise can alter knowledge narratives and thus introduce new curricular resources or a video recording of a classroom process can allow an objective, non-critical, non-threatening method of teacher and class observation.  Specific educational applications could allow for more pegs for learning and evaluation than was possible before.  ICT could also allow for interdisciplinary learning and demonstrate pedagogic principles across subjects.

This requires a technology environment that is free and open; this has also been recommended in the National ICT Policy and in the NCERT curriculum. The textbook has therefore introduced different digital processes predominantly through a wide variety of free and open source applications, (whereas ICT education has often been limited to the study of few proprietary software applications). Thus ability to work in the ICT environment, creating content, sharing and learning and focusing on educational and learning processes, are the key principles of this syllabus design, rather than on just learning specific applications.

The second aspect that this course differs from traditional ICT courses is in the development of critical discourse around technology.  ICT are altering society in ways that impact the way we live, we relate to one another, the work we do and of course, the way we learn. ICT are powerful in creating opportunities as well as exclusions.  As practitioners of education, it is important that teachers (and teacher educators) must engage themselves with the larger issues of technology in society - in terms of accessible technology architecture and platforms, availability of digital tools that allow for equitable participation by all and ethical and privacy concerns around participating in an increasingly networked world.

 

The source book has been developed based on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework where technology is not seen as a stand-alone, set of ICT applications but integrated within core academic processes relevant to school learning. Hence, the learning activities have been consciously described in terms of processes of learning, rather than as steps of using an application.

 

Collaborating and learning is another important aspect of ICT. The activities in the source book have been designed to allow for group work and adequate opportunities for peer learning. It is intended that different activities be taken up by different student groups to allow for a wide variety of creations; thus allowing for peer learning and sharing. Students would also present their digital portfolios / resources created, to the class, this would also support feedback and peer learning.