Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Education

From APEC HRDWG Wiki

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have become an integral part of the way modern communities behave and conduct business.  If we are to attain societies equipped with 21st Century Competencies, ICT must also be utilized in classroom instruction and pedagogical assessment.  Moreover, ICT has been recognized as a cross-cutting priority area that will benefit the many various goals of EDNET and the Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG).

The Summit on Education Reform, held in Beijing in 2004, considered this tool to be fundamental to future success in the APEC region.  In a paper delivered at that meeting, "A Striking Balance of Shared Perspectives," Ricki Goldman of the New Jersey Institute of Technology addressed the need for cooperation in education and the role that technologies may play in such collaboration.  A report by Korea and Singapore was also given recommending the use of ICT to found communities of shared practice and to better collaborate on research and development of improved education techniques.  After the summit, the APEC Learning Community Builders (ALCoB) project was launched to help bridge knowledge divide, enhance knowledge capacity, and to promote human exchange and a learning community.  The issue of ICT was again picked up in Xi'an, China at the 2008 Education Reform Symposium and then again at the 4th Annual Education Ministerial Meeting in Lima, Peru.  There, the ministers addressed ICT in improving teacher quality and instruction as well as policies and research.  Presentations that included information on ICT in education were given by representatives from Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.