Technology is Your Teacher
Management Strategy and Technology Implementation Strategy
The development of Information and Communication Technology is so fast and its rapid progress is inevitable. Technological devices like computers, mobile gadgets, and internet are essential in everyday life and using that technology is no longer a luxury item for us, but a must. The rapid development of ICT has a major influence on all areas of human life, including in the field of education. With the innovation in ICT, people can quickly learn, and the delivery of information becomes easier. The ICT function is more than just transferring learning materials to a digital environment as they are expected to provide communication, cooperation and meta-cognition.
In connection with that, it is very important for teachers to master and utilize ICT in learning. In addition, mastering and utilizing ICT in learning is the demand for teacher competence as stipulated in the Regulation of the Minister of National Education Number 16 of 2007 on Teacher Qualification and Competence, that teachers must have professional competence, namely, pedagogics, personality and social. On professional competence it is explained that at least a teacher should, among others, master and utilize ICT in learning. It is said in the principle of curriculum learning 2013 that the use of ICT to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of learning.
ICT is one of the driving forces in creating high-quality education. ICTs can improve the quality of teaching, learning and management in schools and thus help raise standards. Today, along with its development and progress, ICT is able to provide new solutions and services for educational activities. ICTs can offer new tools to enhance knowledge. The use of ICT in education has increased the interest of learners. Although ICT tools are gaining in popularity, many teachers still have the challenge of integrating ICT tools into learning activities.
While ICT is now a useful tool in the classroom, many teachers still struggle to integrate technology into their teaching practices. The question is, what are the main challenges of ICT utilization in learning? How to overcome obstacles in the use of ICT in classroom learning?
ICT Utilization Constraints
The main obstacle in the use of ICT in learning faced by teachers in schools is limited supporting facilities and infrastructure. Means and infrastructure in question is a computer, laptop, and infocus. The next obstacle that is high enough to affect teachers utilizing ICT in learning is the availability of internet networks and signals. Next up is the availability of electricity. The teacher's technical knowledge of information and communication technology is limited to be the next obstacle in the use of ICT for classroom learning. Then, fear and consideration of the negative impact of the use of tools in the form of HP and laptops in schools become an obstacle for teachers to utilize ICT in classroom learning. In consideration of the fear of misuse of ICT tools, the school issued a policy prohibiting teachers from bringing HP to school. The smallest obstacle in preventing teachers from utilizing ICT is related to data management. In addition to these measures, there are still other types of deficiencies raised by some researchers before, such as lack of time, lack of ICT training, lack of opportunity to inflate themselves and so forth. The most common challenges are reported by teachers, for example, the lack of time they have. They simply do not have enough time to plan out a great technology lesson plan, or explore different aspects of the world wide web (www) or software. Some teachers commented that it takes more time to design projects that include the use of new technologies than preparing lessons to teach in the traditional way with books and worksheets.
Grouping the challenges of using ICT in the learning process from three aspects, namely: lack of support (lack of support), lack of trust (lack of confidence), and lack of equipment (lack of equipment).
Lack of Support
Meanwhile, related to the lack of availability of networks, electricity and other supporting facilities, which include the availability of computers, laptops and infocus, become an obstacle to lack of equipment (lack of equipment). Actually network problems can be included in the category of lack of support from school management. The school should provide a budget to hold internet facilities in the school. When associated with the school literacy movement program, an indicator that the school has run a digital literacy program is the availability of internet facilities in the school.
Lack of Trust
Teachers face many challenges when trying to integrate ICT in their teaching and some of them are their knowledge, skills, beliefs, and attitudes, trust and attitude are important factors in how teachers use ICT in teaching activities. Thus, the attitude of teachers towards ICT is an important factor when applying ICT in teaching. Empirical evidence to claim that teachers' beliefs about teaching practice are important in explaining why teachers are adopting digital technologies for teaching. Demonstrate that teachers who understand the benefits of using digital technology for teaching and learning are more likely to use digital technology in schools. There is one attitude that teachers must have, at all levels, is a lack of confidence to use ICT in their teaching. Many teachers are afraid to use ICT in their teaching and become anxious when it comes to using their ICT knowledge. In addition, many teachers also lack knowledge about the benefits of ICT in education. If they do not have a good understanding of the potential benefits of using ICT in teaching, they may not have the motivation to integrate ICT with teaching activities.
Lack of Equipment
It was found that most institutions had computers. But computers are very few and most of the time they are being used by students offering computer science and information technology (IT) leaving the rest of the students and teachers in a dilemma. Various studies have shown several reasons for lack of access to technology. In the Sicilian study, teachers complained about how difficult it is to have access to a computer. Teachers identified a shortage of insufficient number of computers, insufficient peripherals, and the number of copies of software, and a lack of simultaneous internet access as the main obstacles to the implementation of ICT in Indonesian educational institutions, the accessibility of ICT resources does not guarantee successful implementation in teaching, and this is not only due to the lack of ICT facilities and infrastructure but also due to other issues such as the lack of high-quality hardware, appropriate education of software, and access to ICT resources.
ICT Utilization Strategy
Of the many obstacles faced by teachers in the use of ICT in classroom learning, of course, they must find a solution. One alternative solution to overcome the barriers to ICT utilization is to apply the BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) model. Why BYOD? Readers may be interested to know why an organization such as a school needs to implement the BYOD framework. BYOD has many advantages, such as reducing school costs and increasing teacher or student productivity, saving budgets in procuring hardware, software, licenses, service agreements, and additional insurance, as well as increasing mobility, and, flexibility, productivity and satisfaction of teachers and students in learning. BYOD is a phenomenon that is starting to develop and can be utilized in the world of education, where teachers or students bring their own electronic devices (such as laptops, tablets, and other electronic devices, USB flash drives and other similar devices) for Information and Communication Technology-based teaching and learning activities. As is known, technological advances have entered all levels of society. Even technological advances in households are much faster than the technological advances of most schools. Mobile technology has penetrated into every aspect of human life and greatly influenced the way education is delivered. Smartphones and tablet devices have revolutionized the entire education system, and promoted a clear methodology for students to access and understand their academic content. Many academic institutions have allowed students to bring their mobile devices to improve the learning system. In Indonesia, there are still many schools that do not have ICT-based learning facilities. With the limitations of technology devices owned by schools, teachers can carry out ICT-based learning by asking students to bring laptops/smartphones to school. These tools can be used for the implementation of information and communication technology-based learning. Through the use of the internet, the reference material is being studied more and more widely. Teachers will be easier to carry out learner-centered learning. In short, utilizing ICT in learning is the mandate of the 2013 curriculum, where learning is carried out based on various learning resources. Teachers are no longer the only source of learning. In addition, based on the principles of curriculum learning 2013 ICT utilization can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of learning. Therefore, it is very important for teachers to use ICT in learning, starting from the planning, implementation and assessment stages of learning outcomes. Finally, we hope that this article is useful and provides alternative information for teachers to implement ICT-based learning
