Barriers to the effective use of technology in education

Whilst driving to a teaching session I reflected on the above question.  I had my lesson prepared and I felt confident. I had been to the training venue previously.  On arrival, it soon became apparent what the ‘barriers’ to the effective use of technology would be in relation to this particular teaching session.   An electrical fault had affected the building and had resulted in a complete loss of power. I was unable to use the laptop or projector and, with no access to the internet for the assessment section, it was necessary to completely re think the approach to the teaching session.

As a consequence, I had many negative thoughts about my reliance on technology, to help present a teaching session.  Both  Ager, R (2000) and Edwards, A(2012) considered the early concerns around  ICT in teaching and learning and asserted that early  ‘‘technologies were not universally welcomed’’ (Edwards, A 2012 page 54) with Ager, R (2000) going further  ‘‘there was a view that eventually computers would replace teachers’’ (Ager, R  200 page 3).   There was no possibility during the session in question, of the teacher being replaced and my ‘enthusiasm ‘  for new technologies ended rather abruptly.

However, I undertook the teaching session and set the learners the task of completing the online question and answer assessment at home.  I instructed them to forward to me electronically the end-of-session certificate once they had completed the task, and within a couple of days all the learners had done.  Thus all the aims and objectives of the teaching session were achieved.

In summary, despite having been confronted with some very practical barriers to the use of technology, these had been overcome.

References

Ager, R (2000) The Art of Information and communications Technology for Teachers

London: David Fulton Publishers

Edwards, A (2012) New Technology and Education

London: Continuum International Publishing