Memorias y Boletines de la Universidad del Azuay

ICT in schools and intercultural education in Bolivia. Challenges of digital inclusion

Vladimir Costas — 2020-07-16

This document attempts to get the challenges and opportunities in the use of ICT and inclusion in the educational process in Bolivia. The analysis is the application of a structured questionnaire to interview under qualitative research. The interview collects perceptions and perspectives from two teachers, who work with ICT and inclusion in the education field. The interviewees have long experience introducing ICT in education. The results can aim in the reflection and contrast the evolution of ICT in education towards improvements by interested stakeholders.

Keywords: digital inclusion, digital literacy, special education, postgraduate education, information society.

ICT in schools in Brazil: Challenges of implementation, modernization and inclusion of education system through digital media from the perspective of experts from inclusion, education and human rights sectors

Cibelle A de-la-Higuera-Amato — 2020-07-16

This paper aims to discuss some issues about ICT used in the teaching, learning and inclusion process: implementation, odernization, barriers and challenges. Therefore, three experts with extensive experience in three different areas were interviewed: an inclusion specialist, one in computers in education and one in human rights. The data were analyzed using the interpretative paradigm of qualitative research, and presented respondents’ experiences of implementing ICT in education.

Keywords: inclusion, ICT in education, learning, people with disabilities.

The role of ICT and its pedagogical contributions to education in the Dominican Republic: Advances in educational innovation for inclusion and technological literacy from the perspective of higher education institutes, policymakers, and ministries

Hugo Parada — 2020-07-16

Information and Communication Technologies offer innovative tools for inclusion and education. In the following paper, it was investigated questions related to the implementation of Information and Communication Technologies in education for the construction of knowledge and digital inclusion of populations with diverse characteristics, capacities, and disabilities in the different educational levels in the Dominican Republic. The strengths and weaknesses of the educational system was the approach of this investigation, describing the participation of private and governmental institutions in the development of educational technology.
The qualitative method was used for data collection. To respond to the nature of the problem, the study used the interview as a data collection technique and as an instrument the interview script (questionnaire). The research aimed to a sample with expertise in Information and Communication Technologies as a means of learning in the Dominican Republic and then carrying out the analysis of the data through the interpretative model of qualitative research.

Keywords: Information and Communication Technologies, Dominican Republic, pedagogy, innovation, Education

ICT in Teaching, Learning, and Inclusion: Benefits and Difficulties in Ecuador

Magali Arteaga — 2020-07-16

This investigation aims at shedding some light on the benefits that the application of ICTs has brought to education. As the use of digital tools has represented many challenges for the country, this research also pretends to uncover the difficulties that professors, teachers, pre-service teachers, and students may face. The approach used was qualitative and the instrument was a structured survey that sought to identify the perspectives of professionals with a wide range of experience in the field of ICTs and education in Ecuador. The research could evidence that there is a law that promotes the inclusion of ICTs in teacher´s daily practice; however, teachers lack continuity in their use. Professionals identified some positive impact of ICTs in the students´ learning process. Additionally, technological tools open space for the inclusion of students to education. On the other hand, connectivity still stagnates the process of
ampler use of ICTs in education and the lack of appropriate training and hardware still represents a problem in the use of ICTs in regular classes.

Keywords: ICT, teaching and learning,

The role of ICT and its pedagogical contributions in Finnish education: Advances in educational innovation for inclusion and technological literacy from the perspective of stakeholders

Tapani Toivonen — 2020-07-16

This chapter investigates the role of ICT (by which we refer to technologies such as software and hardware solution in general) as a pedagogical support tool in the Finnish education sphere. Qualitative research method based on interview was conducted with four (4) experts whose background varied from education to ICT. The result of the content analysis indicated that the use of ICT in Finnish education is widely spread and some of the respondents have cautious attitudes in adapting ICT as a part of their profession. Besides, this study identifies that the greatest barrier to implement ICT based solutions in schools are the funds. Based on the interviews and researches presented previously we conclude that digital literacy among the teachers in Finland is high as in many knowledge societies in general. Based on the interviews, also the use of ICT based innovations in schools in increasing in Finland.

Keyword: ICT, Finnish education, Inclusion.

ICT in schools and non-formal education in Poland. Challenges of digital literacy development, modernisation of education system and digital inclusion through new media from the perspective of experts from business, education and NGO sectors

Lukasz Tomczyk — 2020-07-16

The text is an attempt to answer the question of how ICTs are used in the process of learning, teaching and digital inclusion in Poland. The study presents both, advantages and disadvantages of ICT implementation into Polish formal and non-formal education. Based on the data collected, the issue has been characterized from three perspectives: business, education and the third sector. The nature of the complex research problems motivated researchers to sue the qualitative study methods, expert interview technique and structured survey questionnaire as the tool. The data were analyzed using the interpretative paradigm of qualitative research, and presented respondents’ experiences of implementing ICT in education. The interviewees had accumulated years of experience in introducing pedagogical innovations in Poland.

Keywords: digital inclusion, digital literacy, school, NGO, business,
non-formal education, information society

Exploring needs of ICT for Enhancing Inclusive Education in Turkey: Challenges of ICT Integration in education through the views of experts from business, government and university sectors

Özgür Yaşar-Akyar — 2020-07-16

The purpose of the study is to determine the needs of using ICT in Turkey as part of international cooperation called “Smart Ecosystem for Learning and Inclusion (SELI)” which seeks to support inclusive education. Accordingly, the case study model, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the analysis of the SELI Learning Platform within the framework of ‘Information and Communication Technologies’, ‘Digital Storytelling’ and ‘Inclusive Education’. Case study, is one of the research methods used in the field of educational technologies. The most important feature of this research model is the situation in the research that is chosen by the characteristics of the individual or the community, handled within each counterpart context. Due to this feature; a case study is described as a qualitative research method such as ethnographic research, phenomenology and embedded theory research (Johnson & Christensen, 2004). Since the same research questions were answered in different situations, multiple case studies were used to determine the needs of the SELI Learning Platform. Multi-case study is a research model that provides strengthening and diversifying results by addressing a few similar situations. Within the scope of the research, the data obtained from the research questions created for three cases are an important source in determining the needs.

Challenges of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education from the perspective of experts in Uruguay

Mariana Porta — 2020-06-17

This study addresses the topic of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education, in Uruguay, from the perspective of three experts from teacher education and training centers, University of the Republic and Plan Ceibal. This investigation is part of a research agenda of the Smart Ecosystems for Learning and Inclusion (SELI) project (ERANet17/ICT-0076 SELI. http://project-seli.herokuapp.com/). Respondents were selected based on the following sampling criteria: they hold positions in the Uruguayan educational system, in educational management, program implementation, teacher education and/or research. They are recognized in the Uruguayan context for their knowledge or achievements in these areas, and they are currently part of the institutional display
of public formal education. A qualitative approach with structured questionnaires was applied. Interviews focused on challenges of digital literacy, integration of ICT to the educational system and digital inclusion. Three dimensions are addressed in content analysis: ICT availability, implementation strategies and policies developed. Respondents seem to agree on some opinions: great achievements in terms of overcoming digital exclusion are acknowledged, although all respondents agree that there is still room for further improvement. They believe that effectiveness in technology integration is tied to teacher involvement, collaborative work, sharing and building community. Another core shared idea is that innovation resides in what people do as they appropriate technology and not in the technology itself.