Technology plays a key role in every field. It becomes an essential thing for every organization. Especially educational institutions are more interested in adapting technology to withstand the present cut-through competition. Educational Technologies help institutions in creating the best learning environment for students, saving teachers’ time and effort and enhancing student performance.
Even in the 21st century, some schools and colleges fail to adopt new technologies and are still confined to black boards and notebooks. Through our research, we have found these common factors which are restricting decision makers (Principals & Administrators) in integration of technology in their educational institutions.
Lack of Knowledge & Skills:
This is one of the main factors restricting the implementation of educational technology. In many organizations, teachers and students don’t have the knowledge of educational technologies. If they don’t know their effective usage, there is no use of implementing such technologies. This barrier can be overcome by providing proper training to teachers of the respective institutions. If teachers are capable of using these technologies, they can also influence students and result in improvements in their learning outcomes. Teachers can join several communities of edtechand collaborate with other teachers and tech developers to find best solutions for tackling educational obstacles. So the administrators and principals make sure that their teachers have been provided proper training.
Lack of infrastructure:
An important prospect for many educational institutions today is renovation. They need to be restored and refurbished. Many schools and colleges face difficulty in updating and upgrading their tech resources. This problem can be resolved by seeking loans or funds from government. Dealing with government organizations requires permissions and efforts by principals and decision makers of the organization.
Low Budget:
This is the major barrier for many educational organizations failing to withstand the present competitive world. Having low budget and investments can’t stop such organizations if they have good leaders. There are many organizations funding schools, providing tech tools and ensuring them to be up to date with latest edtechs. BYOD, “Bring your own device” is a very good approach to overcome this problem. You may refer to our previous article “[Tips for Educators] BYOD Practices to Enhance Learning within Budget”.
Lack of Association with EdTech Companies:
There are many EdTech companies (including startups) helping schools in implementing Educational Technologies. Principals and Administrators who have no association with such companies are less likely to know about educational technologies alone. They need to hire both IT and edtech staff and need to be associated with edtech organizations depending on their needs
We’ve already provided the list of best edtech resources in our previous article.
Lack of Vision:
Many decision makers fail to look into the future. Foreign institutions have already implemented many tech tools and enhanced their student learning, But many institutions in developing countries fail to have an effective motive and supporting infrastructure. There is a lack of vision and accountability for the results. The administrators must compare their past data with the present data, set standards, implement respective plans and technologies to reach their goals, and even collaborate with those institutions who have successfully implemented technology to improve results. This is how we can overcome this barrier.
Hesitant Teachers:
Many educational institutes have teachers who are hesitant and resistant to adopt new technologies. They are mostly well qualified and efficient teachers so administrators can’t dare to replace such experienced faculties with new ones. Replacing such teachers may not always be beneficial, so gradually principals make them use educational technologies. Providing them with time and easily accessible tech tools can be a good solution.
Lack of Leadership:
As a decision maker, one should have a mission statement clear to all students, staff and teachers for the implementation of technology in classrooms. Providing investments and getting funds on time is the next task. Finding the best technological approaches to implement in your classroom is the next. Another task is to make sure all your teachers are trained effectively in using such technologies. Like these there are many more tasks you should focus to make your organizations well equipped with the latest educational technology. As a leader, you should never give up till the end and aim to make the classroom as dynamic as the world around us.
These are the barriers and obstacles which restrict educational institutions for integration of technology. Decision makers should overcome these problems in order to match the pace of technology and then only a school or college can prepare students better. Share your views on implementation of technology in developing countries like India. The comment box is awaiting.
