Applications of ICTs
In
Acquisition of 21st Century Skills
DR. ARSHAD BASHIR
Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership,
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology,
Islamabad
AGENDA OF MY TALK
Introduction of my doctoral work and its connection with ICTs
What are 21st century skills?
Applications of ICTs in acquisition of 21st century skills
COMSATS Virtual Campus-A practical example of ICTs Applications in developing
21st century skills among VCOMSATS students
MY DOCTORAL WORK
Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Appalachian State University, North Carolina, USA
Dissertation title: “Acquisition of 21st century skills through Educational Exchange Program”
Online educational exchange program between high schools in the US and Pakistan
The US Department of State provides a funding of about one million dollars to transform
online collaboration into face-to-face interaction
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Online Exchange Program
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US-Pakistan Educational and Cultural Exchange Program
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My Fulbright exchange experience and its impact
ASU-Global Outreach Speaker
Online collaboration among educators and students in HITEC, Pakistan and Boone, NC
Exchange of cultural and educational ideas
Curriculum-based projects
Blogging, Digital stories, photo and video sharing
OUTCOMES OF MY DOCTORAL RESEARCH
Acquisition of 21st century skills such as global awareness, collaboration, technology
IMPACT ON INSTITUTIONS & PARTICIPANTS
HITEC (Heavy Industries Taxila Education City) and Watauga County Schools, USA
completed 30 academic projects in last three years using online platform of NING
and Moodle.
HITEC has invested more than 10 million PKR for up-gradation of technology
infrastructure at their facility.
Educators and students at HITEC integrated technology in teaching-learning process
resulted in improvement in their academic and professional profiles.
By using informal medium such as facebook and other communication tools,
educators and students in the US and Pakistan established deep personal and
professional relations.
VCOMSATS-A A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF ICTS APPLICATIONS
VIRTUAL CAMPUS
WHAT<>WHY
INTERNATIONAL TRENDS
In 1998, 83% of governors identified “allowing students to obtain
education anytime and anyplace via technology” as a critical
characteristic of universities in the twenty-first century (de Alva, 2000 pp.
34, 38).
Online students are becoming an entirely new subpopulation of highereducation learners. They are “generally older, have completed more
college credit hours and more degree programs, and have a higher allcollege GPA than their traditional counterparts” (Diaz, 2002, pp. 1-2).
Approximately “42 percent of all students at both private and public
institutions are age 25 or older” (Aslanian, 2001, p. 4). Not only are they
numerous, adult learners are the fastest-growing population in higher
education.
INTERNATIONAL TRENDS
More women than men now enroll in college (57% of students are
women), a trend supported by the fact that more women are entering the
workforce (“Lifelong,” 2002).
Despite some resistance, the results of a four-year study by McGraw-Hill
showed a strong increase in overall faculty support for technology in
education, with only 22% viewing it as important in 1999 and 57% in
2003. Instructors feel that Web-based technology is helping them achieve
their teaching objectives (McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2003).
Rubin (2003) has noted that “traditional universities are becoming more
like distance learning universities and not the opposite” (p. 59).
UNIVERSITY INTAKE VS. HSC PASSED STUDENTS
LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The software system for the e-learning program.
VCOMSATS LMS provides the student to visit the course website
FAQs, glossary, web links, related downloads, scheme of study and course contents. Quizzes, submit assignments and
participate in discussion boards with tutor or students from LMS.
WHAT VCOMSATS IS CONTRIBUTING ?
Students learn basic and advance computing and communication skills
Students learn to collaborate
Students learn to work online such as exams and quizzes
Students learn to access resources such as digital libraries
Students learn to use video conferencing and online interaction