Thanks Maya, I have already finished collecting data through two surveys

one for teachers one for students. The findings show that for teachers the y need more training and better infrastructure which means more funding. Students said they need more training and more time. I wanted to have a quick overview about the opinion of ICT experts .

Thanks indeed your answer helped !

1. Unwilling to adopt new technology

2. Lack innovation in thinking

In your opinion as an expert in ICT in Higher Ed., what are the barriers towards ICT integration In developing countries?

Dear Sihem,

Some of the barriers may be:

High investment,

lack of availability and affordability of the necessay equipments,

faster changes and upgradation of technology leading to obsolescence of hardware,

need for training ,

availability of information,

initial resistance and unwillingness of people involved for adoption of change.

Regards

Ashok Pundir

many thanks for your valuable answers according to my findings teachers lack of motivation and willingness to change is an obstacles in country like Tunisia or other MENA region countries the reason behind this resistance is either the lack of confidence or fear of fail.

More training will be helpful and coordination with other colleagues from other institutions or neighborhood countries.

These papers maybe helpful.

Lack of training is what I've discovered to be the major barrier to ICT integration in developing countries. Most teachers are not competent enough in using these ICTs. "you can't give what you don't have".

Provision of unfettered access to ICTs can influence its integration among teachers and students

ICT in Higher education is very crucial for giving more knowledge to the students about all latest developments in the subject including global happenings.

Students and faculty can save the time and focus of analysis and application of all theories with real time cases and developments.

Students’ evaluation can be made faster and transparent, which is mutually convenient in Teaching-Learning process.

ICT creates more rapid prospects for the development of advanced research and inventions and innovations.

However in developing Economies, the expansion and usage of ICT in higher education has many restrictions as listed below.

· Higher education may become very expensive therefore only Private/Deemed Universities are focusing on ICT in higher education, but state universities are not able to adopt them due to resources constraints. However the impact and usage of ICT is very significant irrespective of the professional courses and all educational programs both at under graduation and post-graduation levels

· Infrastructural facilities like computers, laptops, smart phones, supply of electricity , Broad band connection etc. are very much inadequate and not affordable to the middle class and people under below poverty line.

· Computer literacy is not assessable to all programs unless they are taken as specialization courses, thus there is a need to make the usage of ICT mandatory in all programs of higher education. But computer literacy should be stated from the elementary level as a focussed subject.

Dr.L.Krishna Veni

Professor

Siva Sivani Institute of Management

The Role of Government

One crucial stakeholder in making any ICT effort successful is the effectiveness of Public sector. That is the role of governments. the success of any ICT development effort is determined by the extent of and commitment of the government.

The digital divide has often been attributed to these disparities between the efforts of governments on ICT policies, ICT infrastructure and services ranging from telecommunications such as internet connectivity, Mobile Network Operators, fibre optic backbone, voice, data, and media services, to the availability and use of specific applications, such as banking, education, or health, to the implementation of electronic government (e-government). Each of these types has its own trends that vary across countries and regions.

Example

An example can be said of the Philippines, they started with the Philippine Digital Strategy 2011-2016 That is geared towards is continuously boosting ICT in sectors like education, agriculture, livelihood and even disaster preparedness. the government and the private sector have been harnessing ICT to achieve development agenda.

The Philippine's Commission of Information and Communications Technology (CICT) drafted a Philippine ICT-Roadmap in 2006 to "establish new policy directions for CICT as the lead government agency for ICT development in the country". This roadmap is governed by seven guiding principles that centers on the role of government in ICT development as an enabling policy, legal and regulatory environment.

CICT also advocates for a "multi-stakeholder approach" which involves the private sector, civil society, civic organizations, international organizations and other partners to have an important role and responsibility in the development of Philippine Information Society.

You may read more on ICT4AD

Yes I totally agree but I still believe that there are also barriers related to individuals: teachers, students faculty members engagement and motivation which is related also to other logistic and pedagogic factors.

The example of philliine is very interesting .

Many thanks Adasa.

Sihem

In Mexico, there have been many public and governmental initiatives to promote ICT in the public sector, unfortunately it is the teachers who lack the interest in using ICT, even in Higher Education. Most teacher use ICT for administrative purposes, it is perhaps the lack of interest on the side of the teachers and the fear of the new things that prevent them from using them in more effective ways. see http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/ijpr/v6n2/v6n2a07.pdf

Dear all,

thank you for your answers and collaborations, actually apart from the main question about the barriers towards ICT integration in higher education, the aim of this question was to show how can research networks like research gate can be interesting and helping for researchers allover the world . How can a researchers reach and connect experts from different locations easily and get such valuable information and reactions. ( as a part of my recommendation chapter)

If you do not mind I will introduce some of your comments in my research If any one of you has objection please let me know.

Bests

Sihem

Dear Sihem.

You can make use of my views if you feel the relevance.

With best wishes

Dr.L.Krishna Veni

Dear Sihem,

No objection

Kind Regards

please have a look

Article Cyber Learning From Reality Through Virtuality To Holoportat...

For me, the main reason for that is the lack of real semantic interoperability. This kind of interoperability is allowed by the systems having an explicit ontology describing its data structure. Such ontology will be used as basis for the system's integration. And for defining such explicit ontology, you definitely need the support of a formal (foundational) ontology.

I would say primarily the lack of funding or lack of interest in funding these initiatives.

- Unavailability of the required ICT infrastructure for Higher Ed.(e.g. internet connection).

- High cost of ICT solutions.

Lack of person’ awareness and acceptance of receiving Higher Ed. services via ICT networks and applications (Security, safety and privacy of data exchange).

ICT in developing countries is still facing many challenges especially in rural areas.

Low internet speed

Good question.. Please share me the best answer might you get...