Both of them are important because without equipment, you can not train them but most important part is training because training will also encluse how to manage these equipments.

Your question attempts to compare roughly the hardware and software aspect of teacher training. In training scenario, it is true that hardware has its own role to impart training but more important I believe is the software aspect and herein we may consider teacher training to run the computers and other machines as the software. I will go a step further here that even after getting trained; the teacher may not give optimum results. Therefore, in this critical service sector, it is the attitude and will of the trained teacher to use the computers and equipments to impart training, and this attitude and will of the trained teacher need to be the habit of the teacher instead of using the computers and equipments on ceremonial basis.

Integrate ICT in education should be simultaneous with teacher training. This training should be develop from the teachers' practice and closely related with them. So, the ICT should be in the classrooms and a extended teacher training program should be placed in practice.

Hello Saleh,

From my perspective the most important issue is the human equation. 

First, why was the tech. not used, (it may be lack of training but I can think of many other reasons)

Second, what was the process used in the attempt to intergrate you may find issues you had not considered up to this point.

Third, What is the long range purpose of using ICT tech in education?

Last, while having great respect for the eirlier suggestions I have a great many reservations and concerns over how far and how fat technologies have already been intergraded into education. Just because we can do  X does not mean we should do X. Personally for me I think there are and have been many critical questions to be asked, unasked, and those that have beed asked and researched I find very limited and lacking vision.

I hope this helps and wish you and all who responde and read your question a great new year,

Douglas

Thanks All for your answers and sharing information 

The first thing that is necessary for the inclusion of ICT in education is to find out some meaningful applications. If ICT is intended to make education more entertaining using video tools then this effort will not survive. I feel ICT should not be used for primary and /or secondary education unless there exists a scarcity of teachers. Novel applications of ICT can be designed such that the academic content of the teaching material is increased.

You can look at integration of ICT in education from three perspectives all of which are equally important and complementary to one another, that is: Technological requirements, Organisational requirements; and Pedagogical requirements.

In my experience (teacher of computing in secondary school, England) I would argue that this simple classification of two factors is inadequate to express the complexities of technology (ICT) in education.  For example, to facilitate garden walling and advance the digital learning agenda the UK government told all schools and local education authorities that they must use virtual learning platforms (VLE).  However, this was without regard of other significant issues and concerns.

As secondary school teacher my average working day was about 11hrs for six days a week.  Less the five hours of teaching, means that I was spending six hours a day tracking, monitoring, planning, marking and other directed administration requirements. When the VLE was introduced into school I still have to produce all the original paper work and then upload it to the VLE. Thus increasing my working day. Even now, years later, all the student tracking and monitoring data is collated and analysed in separate software. So why did teachers fail to engage with the VLE, time. 

For those teachers who engaged with the VLE it was used as a webbased file server.  The only department who really used the VLE is the computing department as they have access to computers which allowed students access the VLE during any lesson.  However, it was my experience that this was about creating transparency for external exam moderators for vocational GCSE awards.  These exam boards now require the school to use their own bespoke student tracking platform.  

This is only viewing this issues from one direction.  Now multiply it by student related issues (physical and psychological health and safety), the teacher (physical and psychological health and safety), the schools level of technology (infrastructure and it (lack) maintenance), the safe use and transportation of equipment within school, the maintenance and updating of equipment, finally, the quality of experience. 

I firmly believe that technology has an important role to play within education but it more about using the right tool for the job; if it does not save you time or make your life easier, don't use it!

I share Anup's position reading the word "meaningful" in the sense of: pedagogically useful, aiming at a improvement of the students' learning process, making it more attractive and explorative for students to learn and cooperate with peer students. Indeed, it's not about entertainment but  interest and engagement.

I would suggest that there is an instructional design element to the implementation.  How, when and to what educational purpose these are integrated into each course of instruction should be planned in advance --  by or with input from the instructor.  Good instructional design would also answer the questions about which technology to use (including necessary infrastructure) and what prerequisite skills are needed by teacher and learner to implement.

Both are important but this two issues are not sufficient to integrate ICT in education. Before answer that question we need to know why we should integrating ICT in education. Results from research are contradictory about benefits of using ICT in education. Maybe because a key element is not ICT integration but what we do with ICT in education and which procedures we use to do that. Content is also important, integrating ICT in arts is probably different from integrating ICT in science and we can achieve different levels of integration dependent of methods we use.

I believe that Media and Information Literacy Instruction Programs (MILIP) created in collaboration between academic/school librarians and teachers should be a good method to integrate Media and Information Literacy and ICT in education. I'm trying to create and test a MILIP in this way using Information Seek Process method from Carol Kuhlthau (1991; 2004) and Guided Inquiry (Kuhlthau, Maniotes, Caspari, 2007; 2012) in science at middle and high school. If we are interest to answer the question "how deep we want to go to integrate ICT in education?" then we should read about tree models of Ton Mooij (2014).

Refrences:

Kuhlthau, C.C., Maniotes, L.K., & Caspari, A.K. (2007). Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century. Wetsport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Kuhlthau, C.C., Maniotes, L.K., & Caspari, A.K. (2012). Guided Inquiry Design: a framework for inquiry in your school. Wetsport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Kuhlthau, C. C. (1991). Inside the Search Process: Information Seeking from the User's Perspective. Journal Of The American Society For Information Science, 42(5), 361-71.

Kuhlthau, C. C. (2004). Seeking Meaning: a process approach to library and information services (2nd ed.). Libraries Unlimited.

Conference Paper ICTs to Improve Learning and Research

Article Towards optimal education including self-regulated learning ...

Conference Paper Information Literacy Instruction Program: creation, applying...

I agree with fellows here, and beleive both go hand in hand. In order to integrate ICT in the classrooms, the physical resources (ICT equipment, broadband etc) need to be in place and work. Secondly the teachers need to learn how to operate the technology, and further to use it in a pedagogical way for enhancing learning. Many studies has shown that teachers are not hesitant towards use of ICT in class, and they highly perceive it as useful. But often they have not learned how to use ICT in a pedagogical way, which makes it hard for them to integrate it. Also not many teachers have the background to solve technical problems. I believe after making the ICT resources available it is important to offer the teachers courses and some ICT-personnel for a period to help them see the value of using ICT for teaching and learning.

Lots of interesting feedback here and it's no surprise really that the devices were dumped two years down the line. Most of points mentioned here address your question and I'd just like to add that you can take a look at some resources (if you haven't come across them yet):

- Larry Cuban's 2001 book titled 'Oversold and Underused' to gain some more insights.

- Another helpful resource would be this article by Seymour Papert -http://www.papert.org/articles/ACritiqueofTechnocentrism.html

Hope this helps. Cheers!

Something else. First of all, a vision: why, when, where.

I think part of the discussion also includes, why do you need it?  Its not sufficient just to ask 

• if you know about the technology and tools
• how to use it to pedagogically increase the learning in your rooms

You just simply need to also have the why answered because not all solution, based on environments and audiences require a technology solution to be implemented.

Let’s start with the famous quotation “Our goal is to transform how children learn, what they learn, who they learn from. Mitchel Resnick, A Media Lab for Kids (from Resnick, M. A Media Lab for Kids: $27 Million from Isao Okawa Creates Center for Future Children at MIT, MIT News, November 18, 1998).”

Therefore, the goal, of all us (teachers, professors, lecturers, educators and researchers), have to be to transform how children learn, what they learn, who they learn from, to reach the Utopian Summerville way of learning and teaching, by PROPERLY using ICT… Yes we need the changes in all kind of educational institutions!

Let me add something. Imagine that your Learning/Teaching system guides (and/or allow) you through the design of such example for learning division. Simply because a lot of teacher do not understand what is constructivist approach. Help teacher (or eLearning lesson designer) with some advice, like “Why do not use nice lady who is giving 16 apples to 4 kids”. The lady gives them one apple, then another one, etc. Then you repeat simulation with some breaks, and ask your students after “first round”: “How many apples left our lady?”, “How did you come to that?” etc.

My "new" question is: Why is Objectivism used in Blended Learning, instead of Constructivist approaches? And: Is Teaching an Art?

I mean, do we all forgot teachers and teaching, and concentrate to learners (students) and learning?

Saleh what you told is a recurring fact in many countries. A political intention of wanting to improve education and a belief that the technologies available to provoke the expected learning, but after a while some of the equipment were damaged, some of the equipment were lost, some of the equipment used in other various educational activities. Although this issue is not the center of the discussion if it is part of the problem.

From my educational experience in the use of educational technologies I found that to integrate technology as an educational resource we first need a basic condition which focuses on the attitude of the teacher, the specific intention of wanting students to learn and learn in that capacity building and skills.

This intentionality of the teacher is the first engine of integration of technology in education. The attitude of teachers must be associated with a spontaneous engagement thereof. In this type of educational technologies will be added by the teachers with independent learning of them and to the extent that teachers dominate over each of the resources they used to facilitate learning.

Teachers identify with these qualities allow us to have the team to initially advance the strategy of integrating technology in education.

This team of teachers should be granted for training, equipment, connectivity that allows for growth in their not only technological but educational skills. This may not be just for a moment of time but sustained over time to achieve concrete and evidenciable of achievements that will impact positively feeding back the process.

I made a short sketch of the idea that what I have asked.

I share the following:

"A Critique of Technocentrism in Thinking About the School of the Future" By Seymour Papert

http://www.papert.org/articles/ACritiqueofTechnocentrism.html

You can check my paper on preconditions for implementation of e-learning in EJISDC journal, it may help: http://www.ejisdc.org/ojs2/index.php/ejisdc/article/view/1320/

The most important is the willingness of teachers to accept the use of ICT. Individual characteristics of teachers have a great impact on acceptance of the use of ICT in education.

I have done a study around this topic ( you can look at it in my profile ) .. I found that positive attitude towards the use of computers in the classroom is very important. Training and experience in using Computers was mentioned as a vital issue in this study .. Good luck 

For those with resistance to using technology strategy is to expose the processes and results of the integration of technology in education and for the experience of exposing such persons should encourage them to find that technology is not the center of the process but are always learning processes and the ability to achieve better results.

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Para quienes tienen resistencia a utilizar tecnologías una estrategia es exponerlos a los procesos y resultados de la integración de tecnologías en la educación y durante la experiencia de exponer a dichas personas se debe propiciar que ellos encuentren que la tecnología no es el centro del proceso sino que siempre son los procesos del aprendizaje y la posibilidad de lograrlos con resultados mejores.

I agree with Gloria in the mindsets are an essential element on which it should work. It is important to have the "tool" but more important is what you want to accomplish.

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Concuerdo con Gloria en que las formas de pensar son un elemento primordial sobre el que se debe trabajar. Es importante tener la "herramienta" pero más importante es lo que se quiere lograr con ella.

I commend the contribution of Gloria because it is short but accurate. The designs of course should be made for the integration of technology resources to fulfill their role of facilitating autonomous, cooperative learning, going at the pace of the student, which allows alternative and generally to develop students' skills. The more experienced teachers should help initially to those who are novices

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Yo felicito la contribución de Gloria porque es corta pero precisa. Los diseños de curso deben ser realizados para que la integración de los recursos tecnológicos cumplan su función de facilitar el aprendizaje autónomo, cooperativo, que vaya al ritmo del estudiante, que le permita recursos alternativos y en general que desarrolle habilidades de los estudiantes. Los docentes más expertos deben ayudar en un inicio a quienes son novatos

Posing forced choice questions are mostly misleading. Teachers and equipment do not alternate but complement each other.In making educational decisions we must use the systems thinking as a design paradigm. A modest attempt to do so is as follows:

https://www.academia.edu/3780955/Use_of_ICTs_in_Education_and_Human_Development_in_Turkey

The most important is to ensure teachers or trainers having the capabilities to design and develop their own learning objects for the benefits of students. Having the ICT equipment and teacher training is not enough. The output must be secured in the end, which is teachers' readiness to develop their own learning objects.

You can't just provide the equipment with the training.   If teachers are not comfortable using the equipment then they are not going to attempt to do so. So the equipment is a very great idea but teachers must be trained and at some point it has to be mandatory to use after the  training has been done.   Some teachers will never use technology (even with the training)  but if it is mandatory then and only then will some comply.  Technology can enhance education so this must also be sold ot the teachers so they can be 100% on board.

The question reads “what is most important to integrate ICT in Education? Is it the ICT equipment or the teachers training?” My answer is none of them. I would like to put a new question that “why we want to integrate ICT in education?” is it because the technology is available and it is necessary to support this technology for its survival or is it because we need this technology to make education more meaningful? Unless this issue is settled the effort to integrate ICT in education will not succeed.

Anup safely every time a question is no assumptions on which the question is based. And although your question is fair and open spaces for reflection for those who are in educational activdad we are interested in learning not only be significant but can really change your environment by improving the living conditions faced by people.

It is assumed that the question asked by Saleh goes in this direction.

Dear Alfredo,

I could not properly understand the last part of your answer. Could you please elaborate it.

Regards

Anup, which was trying to say is that Saleh has asked the question with the implicit assumption achieve significant learning.

best regards

Dear Saleh,

there was a similar governmental project in the Republik of Macedonia called "A computer for every child" (see Reference). Unfortunately, it turned out to be a cpmplete faliure. In the contrary of Anup's answer, I belive both are necesasry, of course, after a serious research study, especially from educational and other experts, is undertaken. Including technology in education is a serious and complex phenomenon which political and profitable organizations sometimes want to take advantage off. Therefore, research first, practical implementation second, and not vice versa!

Donevska-Todorova, A. (2010). Use of Technologies for Mathematics Education, Proceedings of the 15th Seminar MWG SEFI (European Society for Engineering Education) and 8th Workshop GFC Wismar, Germany.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281402094_Use_of_Technologies_for_Mathematics_Education

Best wishes!

Conference Paper Use of Technologies for Mathematics Education

I am sorry Anup. My answer again

Anup, Saleh has included in its question is to assume the achievement of significant learning.

 Ana not think there is a rule that should apply to everyone equally. But I understand the situation experienced by the population of Macedonia.

Saleh:

I think both factors are necessary as they are interdependent. We have evaluated the one-one laptop initiative from teachers' perceptions of their experiences in a Caribbean boys school which I hope is useful to your question. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Debra

Article Evaluation of a Government ICT Programme for Secondary Schoo...

I Think so that technology facilitates the most optimal acquisition of hard and soft skills if it is used well, but we must never forget that it is an instrument and not an end. This is a powerful instrument that can help us connect and personalize learning, but always from an initial pedagogical vision, that is, pedagogy with technology and not technology with pedagogy.

Therefore, I believe that the key to integrating technology in education is to change attitude management in teachers, otherwise train them and acquire high knowledge of didactics under the focus of teaching in another format, and must master the digital teaching skills so that with a pedagogical and technological vision they are capable of designing optimal learning and assestment models for their students

First, Training / Education to use

Constructivist approach in teaching (https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_is_Objectivism_used_in_eLearning_instead_of_Constructivist_approaches).

Then good preparation in Didactics and Methodics of their own field (https://www.researchgate.net/post/Lets_try_to_resolve_terminology_gap_what_is_difference_between_Education_Pedagogy_Didactics_and_Methodics)

And after that usage IT technology in teaching.

Both are interrelated. Having the knowledge to operate ICT without the equipment and the equipment without the knowledge to operate are pointless.

hi. the problem is related to teacher education programs. nowadays , being professional teachers is vital. how is it possible to be professional without training? is it sufficient to have ICT without the pre-requisite knowledge of operating . teacher education programs are traditional but we expect teachers to be professional. teacher education programs should be paperless courses using computer mediated language teaching and learning. best

This is the same thing that happened to Kenya.The government invested in tablet-like devices for the teaching of Class/Year/Grade 1 students and the project came to an halt as there were no technicians to carry out repairs,teacher training was never properly done and the students themselves were inadequately prepared.Now the gadgets sit in schools full of dust and no one wants to touch them....The 'indigenous learning' continues to happen.

Most important of all is the extent of the actual need for the use of technology in education and whether this is a requirement of the stage or not. If the answer is yes, the two tracks ICT equipment and teachers training are required to be achieved side by side at the same time

Hello

It must be a competence in all universities and high schools

Ingrid

The integration of ICT into education requres a lot of effort to achieve its successful kevel of implemintation.

Although the use of ICT has been widly adopted by educational sectors, there still lack of successfull implemintation. CSFs and barriers need to be carefully investigated and reported to fulfill learning and teaching process.

Best wishes to all...

Alhuseen

I think that first to train the teachers on new technologies and than the equipment's. Without proper training and use just the equipment's is of no use.

I agree with Alhuseen Omar Alsayed

Which leg is more imortant for a bird to fly: Left or right?

If you want me to elaborate further please click the link below:

https://www.academia.edu/39864341/Delete_False_Dichotomies_Enter_Conjugate_Qualities

A very important thing for integrating ICT in education is teacher training.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1086419.pdf

I think that such technological supports are mostly used to increase students' susceptibility to technology. Already, technological tools become obsolete in 3-4 years and become unusable.

The ICT approach will require new paradigm that will incorporate the following basic requirements;

📷 Hypermedia Interactive Pedagogy

📷 Talking Books and Speech Synthesis

📷 DVD/CD-ROM Storybooks

📷 Video/Videodisc

📷 Computer Simulation

📷 Inspirational Demos -Visual thinker

📷 Graphic Organizers

The twenty first century digital world is constantly transforming, revolutionizing and ubiquitously evolving to potentially prepare the current digital natives for the opportunities in the new world educational management in the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic and in the next global bubonic plague(Azar et al., 2020).The educators (professors, lecturers, instructors and teachers) need to adjust the manners in which educational training are administered in what can be regarded as the paradigm shift. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is an eye opener that the current educational technology and innovation in Nigeria and Africa are far behind the reality of the twenty first century education model. In the 21st century education system , robots are part of modern classroom teaching , mobile computing technology and augmented reality technologies are essential tools for education, e-learning education , distance education, smart learning, blended learning and digital libraries are adapted to provide access to the curriculum of education that will help students connect with the world and understand issues that our world faces,(Bidarra, Rothschild, Squire, & Figueiredo, 2013). The Academic institutions in the 21st century will become a central connecting hubs, a center for educators and students to connect with those around them and their community,(Soulé & Warrick, 2015). The Educators in the emerging new environment will assume less instructorship roles and more of information designers, providing students with the capacity to transform knowledge into wisdom and creative ideas into commodity products. Telepresence robotic systems are empowered to provide audio and augmented reality video communication experiences, becoming more prevalent with the rise of video-capability for consumer electronics and affordable internet access for ubiquitous interactivity. The telepresence robots have great potential for deployment in the school environment as a means of addressing issues stemming from COVID-19 pandemic and effect it had produced on educational system and beyond. Uncountable explanations can prevent students from attending physical school, such as chronic health conditions, short term illness, COVID-19 global pandemic, anxiety and behavioral disorders or character tantrum. The innovative approach will require an updated pedagogical tools, competences, knowledge, skills and values that should be inherent in the technology schemes of the modern teachers for the twenty first century academic business(Xanthoudaki, 2015). Such technology schemes can be multicomponent and flexible for teachers’ adoption with automatic methodological competence as the teaching and learning aids.

E-Learning activities can be realized by using a range of communication tools – both synchronous and asynchronous. Some of these tools, such as wikis, blogs and chats, are called “social media” or “Web2” tools, because they have a strong social component and allow people to work together to create products, such as a project document. The most common tools are,(Ghirardini, 2011):  E-mail Based tools  Discussion Forums  Wikis and other shared writing/editing tools  Blogs  Webcasting  Chat and instant messaging (IM)  Polling  Whiteboard and screen-sharing tools  Application sharing  Audio and Video conferences”

Well Saleh Alresheed , and at the moment we can notice the lack of equipment in many schools and the lack of training of many teachers to provide a more meaningful training experience for students in the context we are in. I think that this kind of problem has already happened in many countries, some privileged only the infrastructure and equipped the schools and few changes happened, in others, they put the focus on teacher training but without conditions to develop practices, theoretical training without experience what it also does not solve the problem. In others with the availability of equipment and training to implement proposals already produced, which does not always help. But some providing the resources and providing training for the teacher to develop skills to find his way, the most suitable for certain contents, certain educational levels, and it seems that in this way, starting from immersive experiences with theoretical support, it has been possible the sustainability of such practices. And in situations like the one we are experiencing at the moment, such teachers are able to adapt to new demands and needs with less difficulty.

The need for an ICT strategy developed by all relevant role players giving an answer to the What, which, where, who, where and how

I think that teacher training is the most important because we in the Middle East suffer from the problem of weak teachers' skills