Difference between ICT and Educational Technology

Use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Education

1. Modern developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) provide exciting possibilities to enhance the quality of education. Interactive education software, open access digital libraries, and cheaper and more intuitive technology may facilitate new forms of interaction between students, teachers, education employees and the community and enhance the quality of education by making it more accessible.
2. Education may be enriched by integrating such technologies into traditional educational activities. However, it must be recognised that ITC may never displace the relationship between teacher and learner which is crucial to the learning and development process.
3. ICT has the capacity to enhance the learning process and facilitate communications within education institutions and between educators and learners but it must be used in education institutions under the supervision of qualified well-trained professionals with the expertise in pedagogy and in education to ensure that its impact does not damage or undermine the learning process or the development of learners.
4. Education unions should

• (i) support the use of ICT as an integral part of the provision of quality education for all. They should advocate for the use of ICT in education as a key modern aid to teaching and learning;
• (ii) advocate for free access for all teachers and learners, support professionals and administrators in education, to high quality dedicated ICT;
• (iii) insist that ICT in education is appropriate to the learning requirements in the curriculum in each subject, is supportive of the work of teachers and learners, and of administrative and professional staff in education;
• (iv) insist that educators are consulted about the introduction of ICT into education institutions and involved in the design and development of appropriate ICT for education purposes;
• (v) monitor the implementation of any agreements entered into by governments, national education or school authorities for the provision of ICT by commercial companies.

But this doesn’t mean that educational technology is same as ICT. It is different from each other by following reasons:

• Educational technology(also called learning technology) is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.  educational technology includes other systems used in the process of developing human capability. Educational Technology includes, but is not limited to, software, hardware, as well as Internet applications and activities. Whereas ICT are only a part of a continuum of technologies, starting with chalk and books, all of which can support and enrich learning. ICT, as any tools, must be considered as such, and used and adapted to serve educational goals.The purpose of ICT in education is generally to familiarise students with the use and workings of computers and softwares.
• Educational technology can be considered either as a design science or as a collection of different research interests addressing fundamental issues of learning, teaching and social organization. it only aims at increased efficiency or effectiveness of current practise, but frequently it aims at pedagogical change. Whereas ICT in education can be broadly categorized in the following ways
• ICT as a subject (i.e., computer studies)
• ICT as a tool to support traditional subjects (i.e., computer-based learning, presentation, research)
• ICT as an administrative tool (i.e., education management information systems/EMIS)