The Impact Of ICT In Education

1.0 Introduction

The National Knowledge Commission has emphasized the importance of a knowledge society and has given importance to English language, not only as a medium of instruction or a means of communication, but also as a determinant of access, access to higher education, social opportunities. There is an irony in the present situation, English has been part of our education system for more than a century, yet English is beyond the reach of most our young people, which makes for highly unequal access (Thirumalai, M.S. 2007).

Today’s world is known for technological advancement. These technologies are used to make the life of techno savvy people more easy and comfortable. ICT involves the use of different types of hardware and software

The National Academy of Sciences suggests that new and emerging technologies have the potential to enhance learning and the development of new knowledge in many exciting ways by providing access to a vast array of information and connections to other people—for information, feedback, and inspiration (National Research Council, 1999).

Technology is an integral part of our educational system and it is a daunting task to separate the effects of technology from the effects of other factors that influence teaching and learning (as cited in Thompson, Schmidt, Walker, O’Connell, Bergland, Bengfort, & Linduska, 2000).

When we glance at the present scenario, it becomes clear that ICT has become very popular and plays a vital role in our academic field. Use of ICT in higher education in the field of technology, medicine and business can be easily thought of, so why not in the field of ELT ? If so the use of ICT in ELT lends itself more student-centered learning settings. In order to achieve the objectives and goals of ELT the use of ICT is becoming indispensable and it is assumed that it will be beneficial to both the teacher and the

Gradually, a large number of English medium schools grew to cater to the demand of the society. At the threshold of the 21st century in the year 2004, the Gujarat government introduced Functional syllabus and new textbooks of English at Secondary and Higher Secondary level (at 8th & 11th – 2004, 9th & 12th - 2005, 10th -2006). This was followed by large scale in-service teachers’ training programs throughout the state. Subsequently, the English textbooks for primary level underwent a change and the same approach was followed in preparing the new textbooks which focus more on oral practice and activities (Chauhan, K. 2013).

In the year 2007, English was made a compulsory subject to pass the standard X (Board Exam) by the government if the student wishes to pursue studies in Higher Secondary. Hence, the governmental policy initiatives seem to reinforce aspirations of Gujarati parents who perceive that competence in English will give their children a comparative advantage when it comes to further education and employment (Chauhan, K. 2013).

1.2 Use of Technology in M.A. (ELT) at H.M. Patel