Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > English

STUDENTS' RESEARCH WORK-7, SUPERVISED BY MD. MUSTAFIZUR RAHMAN SAMEEN

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Mustafizur rRhman:
Research design and Methodology:
Subjects:
This study was conducted with 30 university teachers and 220 tertiary level students randomly selected from one public university- University of Dhaka and 6 private universities-Daffodil International University, Military Institution of Science and Technology (MIST), Brac University, Eastern University, World University of Bangladesh and  State University. The teacher had at least a post graduate degree and all the students had completed the secondary level and studying in tertiary level.

Instruments:
To address and explore the research question, a quantitative method including two questionnaires, one for the teachers (see Appendix-I) and the other for the students (see Appendix-II), was exploited. The present researcher designed the questionnaires to find out the benefit as well as the limitation of the using technologies in institutions of tertiary level in Bangladesh.
Each of the questionnaires consisted of nine items related to the research problems stated in the introduction.












Data collection and analysis:
The data for the study were collected from 30 teachers as well as from 220 students at the tertiary level. To tap the teachers’ response to the use of technology in the classes, the researcher personally contacted each of the teachers and requested them to respond to the items in the questionnaire. And to collect the students’ responses to the use of technology in their classes, the researcher received cooperation of the teachers who administered the questionnaire after an explanation of the purpose of the study and some preliminary instruction. The data collected from the teachers and students were then scored by hand.

Mustafizur rRhman:
Carey Jewitt proposed a multi model approach with technology, according to her, “In relation to technology-mediated learning speech and writing are clearly a part and often a small part of multi model ensemble” Cuban(1993) has highlighted three goals behind the introduction of computers in education-
•   To keep education system at the forefront of technology development and students’ skills up-to-date with those expected in the work force.
•   To increase efficiency and productivity in teaching and learning
•   To enable more self directed learning with students as active learners assisted by teachers to construct their own understanding.

New communication and information technologies have become major resources for teaching and learning in higher education (Chickering and Ehrmann, 1987). Technology can be used as a tool for second language teaching (Prof. Carol A. Chapelle, 2003) Educational technology is intended to improve education for the 21st century learner. Students today are considered "Digital Natives" who were born and raised in a digital environment and inherently think different because of this exposure to technology. (Gu, X., Zhu, Y. & Guo,2013) Instructors can post their course material or important information on a course website, which means students, can study at a time and location they prefer and can obtain the study material very quickly. According to James Kulik, who studies the effectiveness of computers used for instruction, students usually learn more in less time when receiving computer-based instruction and they like classes more and develop more positive attitudes toward computers in computer-based classes. Students are encouraged to use multimedia components and to incorporate the knowledge they gained in creative ways. (Smith, Grace and Stephanie Throne, 2004) Overall, the use of internet in education has had a positive impact on students, educators, as well as the educational system as a whole. It is important for teachers to embrace technology in order to gain these benefits so they can address the needs of their digital natives (Hicks, S.D.,2011) “Technology’s impact in schools has been significant, advancing how students learn, how teachers teach and how efficiently and effectively educational services can be delivered,” said Carolyn April, director, industry analysis, CompTIA.” With emerging technologies such as tablets and net books, interactive whiteboards and wireless solutions gaining ground in the classroom, the reliance on IT by the education market will only grow in the years ahead.” (D. Randy Garrison and Terry Anderson, 2003) Research has shown that there is a great deal of apprehension associated with assessing the effectiveness of technology in the classroom and its development of information-age skills. This is because information-age skills, also commonly referred to as twenty-first century illiteracies, are relatively new to the field of education. (Eisenberg, M., 2008)  Research from the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) indicates that inquiry and project-based approaches, combined with a focus on curriculum, effectively supports the infusion of educational technologies into the learning and teaching process.

Although technology in the classroom does have many benefits, there are clear drawbacks as well. Limited access to sufficient quantities of a technology, lack of training, the extra time required for the implementations of technology, and the apprehension associated with assessing the effectiveness of technology in the classroom are just a few of the reasons that technology is often not used extensively in the classroom. Published in the Journal of Pediatrics, a 2007 University of Washington study on the vocabulary of babies surveyed over 1,000 parents in Washington and Minnesota. The study found that for every one hour that babies 8–16 months of age watched DVDs and Videos they knew 6-8 fewer of 90 common baby words than the babies that did not watch them. Andrew Meltzoff, PhD, a surveyor in this study states that the result makes sense, that if the baby's 'alert time' is spent in front of DVDs and TV, instead of with people speaking, the babies are not going to get the same linguistic experience.  It shows the result of lack of social interaction for technology. Michel Rich, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and executive director of the center on Media and Child Health in Boston, said of the digital generation, "Their brains are rewarded not for staying on task, but for jumping to the next thing, and the side effects could linger: the worry is we're raising a generation of kids in front of screens whose brains are going to be wired differently." "Students have always faced distractions and time-wasters. But computers and cell phones, and they offer, pose a profound new challenge to focusing and learning. Researchers say the lure of these technologies, while it affects adults too, is particularly powerful for young people. The risk, they say, is that developing brains can become more easily habituated than adult brains to constantly switching tasks — and less able to sustain attention."( Lowenthal, P. R., & Wilson, B. G., 2010) But, we can say students who really want to learn and exhibit their talents; technology helps them to ensure their learning. When technology integration in the classroom is seamless and thoughtful, students not only become more engaged, they begin to take more control over their own learning, too. Effective technology integration changes classroom dynamics, encouraging student-centered project-based learning.

Mustafizur rRhman:
Introduction:
This thesis of the paper is going to show the positive effects of using technologies in classes as well as to identify the problems regarding this issue. This report is designed to help educators more keenly understand technology’s potential to enhance student learning and also to detect the obstacles for students and teachers. But before that we need to define clearly that what we mean by technology in learning. Technology improves performance of the students by creating, using and managing appropriate technology processes and resources. Technology in education is most simply and comfortably defined as an array of tools that might helpful in advancing student learning. According to Herbert A.Simon (1987) from Carnegie Mellon University, “We must not use technology just because it is available. We must use it when, we can see how it will enable us to do the education job better”. The “International Society for Technology in Education” (ISTE) has established technology standards for students, teacher and administrators. The ISTE, a leader in helping teacher more effective users of technology, offers this definition of technology integration- “Curriculum integration with the use of technology involves the infusion of technology as a tool to enhance the learning in a content area or multidisciplinary setting… Effective integration of technology is advanced when students are able to select technology tools to help them obtain information in timely manner, analyze and synthesize the information and present it professionally. The technology should become an integral part of how the classroom functions-as accessible as all other classroom tools. The focus in each lesson or unit is the curriculum outcome, not the technology” The rapid and widespread adoption of these technological innovations has completely changed the way we conduct our daily lives. Technology is any tool that can be used to promote human learning, including-calculators, tablets, smart boards, video cameras, digital cameras, MP3 player, Portable Digital Assistants (PDAs) and of course the computers. According to Timothay Huneycutt (2013), “there are four specific benefits of using technology in the classrooms-
•   It can keep students focused for longer periods.
•   It makes students more excited to learn
•   It enables students to learn at their own pace
•   It prepares students for the future

Mustafizur rRhman:
Abstract:
 This article explores the effectiveness of using technology in learning and to identify generic problems of its use at the tertiary level in Bangladesh. Using measures of student performance we demonstrate that technology in learning can significantly improve student learning. This paper will give a guideline to improve our student’s ability, to find out the limitation and give an effective way to use technologies in classrooms. With reference to research evidence, the researchers have studied on the basis of questionnaire survey, both from the teachers’ and students’ point of view, this paper now focuses on the importance and limitations of using technologies in classrooms. The ability of students to use technology to repeatedly return to resources was a clear benefit, allowing students to take responsibility for their own study at a pace appropriate for learner.

Mustafizur rRhman:
Acknowledgement:
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Md. Mustafizur Rahman for the continuous support of our research, for his patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. His guidance helped us in all the time of research and writing of this thesis.
Besides my advisor, I would like to thank some of our friends who helped us during research.

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