By Zephania Ubwani, The Citizen Bureau Chief
Arusha: Wholesome application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in teaching programmes may lead to having students who do not want to listen but are keen on downloading materials from websites.
The warning was made here by some university lecturers during the recent Higher Education Forum 2012.
They contented that conventional teaching methods through the use of text books and writing notes should not be abandoned they enabled students to grasp lessons taught.
Prof Beda Mutagahywa from the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) said with the digital age some people were seeing the danger of students only interested in downloading the reading materials from networks instead of concentrating on lecture notes.
"They may not want to think and this is very dangerous. It is a big problem because they can download materials during examinations," he remarked in his presentation on the Role of ICTs in University Governance at a forum hosted by Mzumbe University (MU) in Arusha.
However, his remarks were challenged by other speakers who said it was high time universities and other institutions of higher learning fully embraced ICTs in their teaching and research programmes as well as management of their institutions.
For instance, Prof Elifas Bisanda of the Open University of Tanzania (OUT), said the use of computers, laptops and Internet has made teaching programmes cheaper compared to the traditional use of text books which were increasingly becoming expensive and hard to obtain.
He said universities can make huge savings in finance by switching to electronic handouts and on-line books which can be accessed by students on their laptops.
The engineering don cited cases where universities used to spend Sh200,000 to buy only ten text books for their students, whereas the same materials can now be obtained from a CD ROM costing only Sh500 each.
He said with the increasing number of students in universities and other institutions of higher learning, it was becoming very difficult to purchase bulky books, many from overseas.
"On-line books of PDF folders address the problem given the growing number of students. ICT is a solution to governance and can also arrest plagiarism," Prof Bisanda stated.
However, the OUT don said although ICT had a bad side, this can be well addressed by existing regulatory frameworks.
An MU student leader, Mr Amon Chakushemeire said he supported ICT in university teaching programmes since there was no likelihood of a U-turn from the digital age.
However, he cautioned that there was a danger of students using the social media and mobile phones to coordinate strikes and riots, sometimes at the behest of foreign forces.
The MU vice chancellor, Prof Joseph Kuzilwa, defended Information Technology, saying its application would contribute to improvement of the quality of education in educational institutions.
"ICT is not only necessary for teaching, but also for the management and running of universities," he explained. He added that it should be integrated in university governance and academic delivery to enhance quality and efficiency.
Source:The Citizen
This post was written by: Author Name
Your description comes here!
Get Free Email Updates to your Inbox!
Post a Comment