Ict work program 2009-2010

Teacher quotes examples : " I often use visuals Teacher quotes examples : "Screening of the digital book and presenting the concepts and pictures in the book in front of all the students. Facilitating a discussion about the ideas the book raises. I present the learning material to the students on the Educational Technology Center website. After I teach the students about the tool Smart-Art I ask them to present information taught through an appropriate chart The most common tools were Google Docs, social networks, and forums.

Teacher quotes examples : "In the forum we give out feedback of the students' results following the presentation - the lectures that children give in class Then, during class, the students' explanations were gathered following a mathematical question regarding the need to impart the skill of writing mathematical explanations Teacher quotes examples : Management and registration - attendance, equipment, homework, behavior, participation, and more The main tools were e-mail and chat.

Teacher quotes examples : "I often carry out work through the forum, which allows 'Ping Pong' - sending papers between the teacher and student for improvement and notes The most frequently used tool was Google, a search engine. Following the annual lesson on leaders, children wrote questions and found answers using the references presented on the school portal Students in the class are creating joint presentations together During language class I created a comic illustrating a dialogue between characters Content analysis shows that technological tools used by teachers for teaching are diverse digital learning.

Categories of "Organizing information on Cloud" tools and "Game tools" had a comparably low level of use; therefore these categories were omitted from further analysis. Larger image png format. View current figure in a new window. Figure 1 shows that the use of visualizations is most often followed by the use of digital content. An interesting finding was obtained in the category of the most preferred tool.

In this category, it was found that about a third of the teachers prefer the use of visualization tools, about a fifth of the teachers prefer the use of digital content and only about a tenth of the teachers reported that the collaborative tools are their most preferred tools. With regard to the second research question "How do teachers perceive the changes they undergo following the entry of the ICT program into the school? Usually a teacher would indicate which change is the most significant one for them, within at least two categories.

The most common category is 'illustrative'. It was discovered that Another common category is 'motivation for learning'. It was found that According to them, the integration of technology in teaching and learning creates a stimulus and greater level of interest.

Teachers reported that the lessons are becoming more interactive, interesting and challenging, for example: " Children can learn visually and track what has been done in the class Categories that emerged and were noted as used rarely were 'improving the learning environment', 'thought development', 'sharing' and 'communications'.

It was found that between 2. This indicates that few teachers reported a change their work following the national ICT program with regard to improving the learning environment in the classroom, promoting development of higher-order thinking, cooperative learning development and creating a more continuous communication between all those involved. Figure 2 shows the frequency of the teachers' change characteristics following the entry of the ICT program in school.

View previous figure. With regard to the third research question concerning the relationship between the use of types of technology tools and the understanding of the influence the program has on their work, the initial matter to be tested was between the two variables defined as expressing the concept of the ICT program's effect: 1 implementation of technological-pedagogical innovations and 2 acquisition of technological-pedagogical knowledge.

This signifies that as much as the program contributes to the implementation of technological-pedagogical innovation in the classroom, the more it contributes to acquiring technological-pedagogical knowledge, and vice versa.

Figure 3 shows the Mean of each variable Comment: Details q1-q10 in Table 1. In order to determine whether differences exist between teachers who use the tools and the various technological tools with the highest priority collaborative tools and communication tools were joined and called collaboration and communication tools , on the level of the ICT program's influence on their work application of technological-pedagogical innovation and acquiring technological-pedagogical knowledge a One Way MANOVA analysis was conducted.

Further on, One Way ANOVA was conducted, which were designed to test the source of significance between teachers who use different technological tools. Results of the analysis are presented in Table 2. Table 2 shows statistically significant differences, which were found in a mean application of the technological-pedagogical innovation and mean acquisition of technological-pedagogical knowledge between teachers who use various technological tools. Further on, analyses were conducted of comparison between pairs according to Scheffe, in order to locate the source of the differences between the teachers.

These analysis results clearly showed that teachers who use collaboration and communication tools in their work report that the ICT program affects the implementation of the technological-pedagogical innovation in the classroom to a greater extent than the teachers who use production tools, visual illustrations, information retrieval and who are not using the tools at all.

However, no significant differences were found between teachers who use collaboration and communication tools and those who use digital content.

In addition, the analysis results clearly demonstrated that teachers who use collaboration and communication tools in their work, report that the ICT program affects the acquisition of technological-pedagogical knowledge to a greater extent than teachers who use digital content, information retrieval and who do not use it at all. Furthermore, the Scheffe analysis results clearly showed that teachers who use digital content and visual illustrations report that the ICT program affects the implementation of the technological-pedagogical innovation to a greater extent than teachers who do not use technological tools Figure 4.

Since the Israeli educational system has implemented an ICT program "Adaptation of the Educational System to the 21st Century" in order to achieve pedagogical change which will promote significant learning and acquisition of 21st century skills. In this research multiple indicators of combination digital teaching-learning were examined.

The synergy from the merged results of these indicators is clearly demonstrated through changes in the schools. At first, the technology tools were examined, as they were used by teachers for the purpose of teaching-learning, followed by an examination of their perceptions regarding the changes they underwent following the entry of the ICT program into the school system.

The last section examined attitudes about the impact of the ICT program on their work in the context of implementation of technological-pedagogical innovation and acquisition of technological-pedagogical knowledge.

Research findings show that following the entry of the ICT program into the school, significant change occurred in teachers' perceptions regarding understanding the additional value of integrating technology into teaching.

Most teachers indicate that ICT helps them illustrate complex content and creates motivation for learning among students. Some refer to the professional empowerment they experience as teachers following the acquisition of technology skills, allows them to open up to a world of teaching and learning beyond what they knew previously. For example, teachers wrote that "the combination of internet study materials varies learning methods and helps the students understand the lessons.

This learning is experiential. It allows exposure to new and extensive information, The main change is the experience that was created for me and the students. ICT encourages them to know and search for themselves and that is why the lesson becomes more interesting for the students and for me The research reveals the technological tools used by teachers in their work and the additional value they attribute to the use of these tools for teaching.

Tools which were found as particularly prominent were the visualization illustration and digital content tools. Teachers reported that "presentation of the materials in different ways and in more ways than of those in the past, i. I have added another tool to my teaching, which allows me to illustrate abstract concepts in various ways that until now were difficult to illustrate.

Pupils can continue to use illustrations at home through the link I attach and use them in their homework preparation.. These findings reinforce previous studies which have found that initial application of the digital teaching-learning is basic and integrated into current learning activity [ 22 ] , and more importantly, the way it is integrated preserves existing traditional pedagogy [ 10 ]. That is, teachers' perceptions regarding the implementation of digital teaching-learning focus on technology as a means to diversify existing teaching methods [ 14 ] as well in terms of access to information and educational materials on the web [ 7 ] and less as promoters of technological-pedagogical innovation.

The use of production and collaboration tools in this research was of mean prevalence, following the use of visual illustration and digital content tools, which many teachers use and consider being most meaningful in terms of integrating technology into teaching. The teachers use the collaboration tools as tools which encourage the creation of shared information and its presentation to groups or individuals. Sometimes collaboration occurs between the teacher and student, but in most cases the work is shared among all students in the class.

Such tasks enable online sharing in an efficient and comfortable way between students from other schools, as was reported by two teachers: "Online work is done in groups so that each child has a role and each feels equal, as they have contributed their part according to their skills Collaborative learning is enabled thanks to the variety of tools that we have acquired.

They allow us to use numerous new tools for presenting information and creating new knowledge for the teacher and students … ". More can be learned from the teachers' reports that the production and collaboration tools allow them to promote open and creative work more than just using visualization tools and digital content. These open, collaborative tools allow the teacher to create their own teaching activities according to their pedagogical needs and to enrich and diversify their work.

The student is given the opportunity to learn actively, to create information and to share it with his colleagues and teachers. For example, teachers reported that: "Students are more active during lessons and in the computer tasks they receive for homework I encourage students to use various network applications that help create new information I have created my own presentation showing works of artists.

The students produce presentations inspired by what I have presented Teachers who use collaboration and communication tools in their classroom are considerably advanced in their expertise of current technological-pedagogical thinking in the classroom when compared to teachers who do not use these tools. We believe this finding is the most significant indicator in this research. According to this, promoting significant digital teaching and learning is possible only when teachers encourage learners to act in a collaborative manner and to learn while interacting and socializing [ TechKnowLogia, 5 1.

That is, cooperative learning is the key to quality learning in the digital age [ 21 ]. Therefore, to enable teachers to adopt such approaches, it is desirable to adapt the curriculum and methods of assessment in a way which promotes collaborative learning, encourages teachers to use these tools and enables the creation of meaningful social relationships, which assist the students in constructing new personal knowledge [ 23 ].

From the research, it is indicated that the effect of the program on the implementation of digital teaching-learning is already evident on the national level. That is, the educational system is presently at a point where most of the teachers are involved in the change process.

According to Rogers model "Diffusion of Innovation" [ 18 ] the critical mass of teachers, called the early and late majority, is already involved in implementing a change. We believe that this is the time to promote the level of the implementation process and to encourage the necessary pedagogical attitude. The education system must continue to move beyond the first step of the implementation process into phase two. The system must continue to support the empowerment of teachers' professional development, support the classroom application process and set clear requirements regarding how the application is required and its quality in practice.

Such clear requirements for such a trend may promote the expansion of its widespread change in additional groups of teachers, including new teachers entering the system [ 22 ]. The recommended pedagogical sphere is based on the assumption that teachers' professional knowledge is one which combines the best pedagogy, technological information and knowledge in the field of discipline [ Handbook of technological pedagogical content knowledge TPCK pp.

Can social workers effectively function in a technology-free environment? This paper attempts to discuss these and other relevant questions. Specifically, the paper tries to enumerate and discuss what the literature contains regarding standards and principles social workers can observe, uphold, and apply as they adapt and deploy technologies in social work.

This scenario, arguably, can be likened to social work practice and education today and for the future. Can social workers, like other practitioners in other disciplines, effectively provide services in a technology-free environment?

The answer to this question is an obvious No. The Council on Social Work Education recognizes the importance of technology to social work practice and education and explicitly acknowledges this in its Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards Policy 1. This paper enumerates and discusses what the literature presents regarding standards and principles social workers can observe, uphold, and apply relative to the use of digital and Web-based technologies to foster and ensure ethical and competent practice in the 21st century and beyond.

The paper also highlights concerns regarding implications of the use of these technologies on the future of social work practice. Equally, the paper underscores some crucial insights from the literature.

Before proceeding with this discussion, it will be helpful to briefly review the ICT literature. Review of the Literature Like in other disciplines, the use of technologies in social work is not a new phenomenon. They report about how audio-visual and other forms of technologies are facilitating contemporary social work practice.

Rocha notes how technology has changed the face of policy practice in recent years as well as the ease with which practitioners use the computer to create professionally-looking brochures, flyers, newsletters, memos, business cards, reports, etc. Without technology, one can argue that social work practice today would be ineffective. For social workers to effectively help service users, they need to manage data and information Parker-Oliver and Demiris, Mallon and Houtstra , for their part, discussed how landline telephones can be useful in group therapy for rural clients and families experiencing difficulties and who, because of distance, are unable to travel to service areas.

They underscored what facilitation skills workers need to have when conducting telephone- based group therapies. They, like many others, emphasized the skills needed for using technologies to effectuate practice.

For example, both the NASW and the ASWB observe that the challenges technology creates require a special set of skills and knowledge needed for ensuring effective practice. Tregeagle and Darcy acknowledge the importance of technology in social work; they, however, think the deployment of IT in modern child welfare practice predominantly serves the interests of social work managers and administrators more than the mission of the profession, especially and more importantly the interests of service users.

Other writers share this highly contestable view. Burton and van den Broek espouse similar argument. For them, technology has bureaucratized social work, thereby making it less accountable to service users. Others, including me, certainly hold a different view. For instance, Kaplan, Wade, Conteh, and Martz , while acknowledging legal and ethical challenges associated with technology use in social work, underscore the critical role technology plays in facilitating communications and interactions between the worker and the client.

Despite the large volume of enviable information on the effective use of technology in social work today, the literature reviewed contains no agreed-upon, definitive standards for practitioners to follow in ensuring ethical and competent practice, although the NASW and the ASWB have proposed some standards and principles that should constitute a uniform document to serve for reference purpose for practitioners as they adapt and incorporate technologies into practice.

Use of Technologies in Social Work The Concept of information and communications technology ICT Before itemizing technologies being used in social work, first it is helpful to understand the two key terminologies of technology and information technology. Generally speaking, the term technology refers to the practical application of scientific knowledge. The two terms, of course, are related in meaning and are usually used interchangeably. McCarty and Clancy observe that landline telephones have been the oldest form of technology being utilized by service providers to communicate with clients.

Other forms of technologies include video-taping, web conferencing, and geographic information systems GIS. Digital and mobile or wireless devices are becoming popular Cellular-News, Examples of technologies being used in social work There are different forms of technologies that social workers adapt and deploy in practice. Rocha identifies brochures and fact sheets, newsletters, e-mails, websites, listservs, social networking sites SNSs , as well as cell phones as examples of some of the technologies being used in social work practice.

Each of these different technologies, she rightly observes, proves very effective in unique ways. For example, brochures and fact sheets facilitate the dissemination of information to the public, to agencies, to public officials, etc. Newsletters keep the membership of an organization as well as the general public informed about contemporary issues.

E-mails, which are considered the most widely used form of Internet technology today, keep people informed about issues and events. Listservs, social networking sites, and cell phones keep people connected. Cwikel and Cnaan categorized technologies used in social work into three, namely first-wave, second-wave, and new or modern technologies. First-wave technologies include those that were initially limited entirely to administration, evaluation, and research purposes.

Examples of these include simple databases, spreadsheet, and word processor. Typewriters, which have become virtually less useful nowadays, fall within this first-wave of technologies. These technologies are obviously expected to continue to change as we experience more ICT advances. For example, Microsoft applications are being continuously modified and replaced in the wake of advances in technologies.

Today we have Microsoft Windows with more sophisticated applications, including word processor, spreadsheet, and publisher. A few years back we had Windows 98 with less complex applications. The second-wave of technologies include computer-based expert systems, video games, therapeutic programs, telecommunications, and advanced decision-enhancing databases.

Brochures, fact sheets, and newsletters are considered second-wave technologies Rocha, From this category, the nature of telecommunications is expected to change over the years.

As a matter of fact, we have already experienced and continue to experience changes in these technologies.

For example, we have cell phones outpacing landline telephones. A few years ago, cell phones were very rare. Today we have iPhones or smart phones, which we did not have a few years ago. The International Telecommunications Union attests to this changing and promising trajectory in these second-wave or current technologies.

In its global ICT facts and figures report for , the ITU reports that mobile telephone subscriptions globally reached almost 6 billion people, of which 79 percent were in the developing countries. A large number of people worldwide, including the United States, are clearly turning to mobile telephones today, thereby leaving the fate of landline telephones hanging in the balance Cellular-News, ; Wahba, Besides the landline phones, traditional therapeutic programs are also changing as a result of computer-simulated and Web- based interventions.

Given the fact that most people now prefer the Internet as the major source of their news stories Morales, , reliance on desktop publishing for example, newsletters will change ultimately. The last category of technologies, which Tully , p. Listservs and emails are also considered new technologies Rocha, While it is true that I like the other forms of first- and second-wave technologies and that I feel pretty much comfortable using them, honestly, I do prefer the third category of technologies.

The reason is simple, and it has been underscored already. Nothing we can do today without the deployment of ICT. The future trajectory, of course, as the ITU rightly observes, is that most people in both the developed and the developing countries are turning to the Internet and mobile or digital technologies. For social service professionals to be effective in the 21st century and beyond, it behooves them to pay close attention to the Internet and to social media, including social networking sites and Web 2.

Ethical and competent practice in the 21st century will entail knowledge and effective usage of these new technologies. The Impact of Technology on Social Work Practice Technology has played and continues to play a significant role in social work.

Such interactions or Internet services may be question-and-answer chats, emails about appointments, or weekly group-counseling sessions, which may be very helpful to home-bound clients with small children, people with debilitating illnesses, or rural clients. They assert how technology has changed social work practice by engendering new, yet challenging ways of delivering services to clients as well as obtaining and processing information.

They acknowledge that technology has impacted every aspect of social work practice, ranging from direct practice to macro or community practice. At the agency or organizational level, technology has made strategic planning, case management, budgeting, supervision, etc. Examples include but not limited to Capella University and Walden University. This, obviously, will have a significant implication for our profession.

And, of course, it should justify our concern for the social work profession. What will this portend for the practice and nature of social work as a profession should be the question social workers should consider seriously. Among the positive impacts of technology use in social work include but not limited to the following: 1 technology helps social workers budget and manage their time and resources in face of multiple demands; 2 technology broadens the knowledge base of social workers; and 3 it has kept social workers abreast of and in line with practice, programs, etc.

Another positive impact of technology is the introduction of search engines, such as, for example, Google. Keep in mind that ICT supports solutions; it is not the solution ICT fails to live up to its promise when planners and policymakers focus on technology to the exclusion of more important contributors to eff ective education.

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