Application Of ICTs And TVET In Education

According to human development reports published by oxford university people are the real wealth of a nation and the motive of development is to generate an environment that provides a happy, healthy and a long life to people. Development of a country is dependent upon the availability of material and human resources and fortunately our country has both the resources but there is a need to properly utilize these resources for which vocational education plays an important role. It helps in acquiring expertness in technical-know-how. It prepares individuals for specific jobs.

Vocational Education is also known as technical and vocational education and training (TVET) or career and technical education (CTE). Vocational education mixed with general education is known as vocationalization of education. Globalization and the widespread use of ICTs are two major factors resulting in the change in economy where globalization has led to increased competition with a constant requirement for innovation and reduced product development lifecycles. In the recent past, there has been a tremendous growth in the use of computer and other computer based technologies, laying a great impact on the education system all throughout the world. This paper focuses on the importance of ICTs in TVET and how it can be used for communication, teaching and learning, curriculum development, assessment, job placement, etc.

Vocational Education

According to the population growth of India is 1. 8% per annum with more than 35% of citizens aged below 15 years and 700 million young people below the age of 35 years. Such large population can become a great source of skilled manpower for the world if provided with good quality vocational education and training. Vocational education and training (VET) focuses on the practical applications of the knowledge and skills learned or acquired to prepare individuals for specific trade or job. Vocationalization of education aims to provide training to individuals in some vocations at secondary, higher secondary levels of education. It lays more emphasis on economic productivity, majorly stressing on skill development in order prepare graduates for employability, thereby meeting the labour force requirements. It helps in reducing gap between the demand and supply of skilled workforce. It increases the productive potential of the country.

Existing Policies and Initiatives

Various policies and initiatives have been taken by government of India for vocationalization of education. Some of which are as follows:

• Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Vocationalization of Secondary Education.
• Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) introduced many vocational courses in class 11 like: Hospitality and Tourism, Geospatial Technology, Mass Media Studies & Media Production, Financial Market Management, etc.
• National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) NIOS offers vocational education courses through its accredited vocational Institutes.
• Directorate general of training conducts vocational training courses through ITIs/ITCs.
• National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF) launched by AICTE and Ministry of HRD mainly focuses on combination of general education and vocational education.
• Skill India aims to train over 40 crore people in India in different skills by 2022.

Information and Communication Technologies and its Use in Vocationalization of Education

Computer based technology has become an important part of our life. It is therefore necessary to be electronically educated. ICT skills are required because-

• They are useful in contemporary labour-market which is economic rationale.
• It makes students responsible and well-informed citizens which is social rationale.
• It supports and helps in improving the teaching and learning processes which is educational rationale.
• It contributes to the educational innovations which is catalytic rationale.
• ICT in combination with TVET helps in developing skills, knowledge.
• It enables simulation-based learning and hence can be effectively used for intertwining the theoretical and practical dimensions of educational contents. It also provides for development of practical skills through online learning and virtual reality.
• Since it includes the use of online media in every form like text, audio, video, it can accessed easily in classrooms, student’s or teacher’s home and hence vast quantities of knowledge can distributed and processed at a faster rate. Hence it supports workplace training and study at home TVET programmes.
• It is useful in designing, conducting, scoring, and evaluating the objective tests and helps the teachers in monitoring the progress of students.
• It is useful in providing virtual internship where ICT helps students to interact with each other, organisations, independent of time and geographical boundaries.
• It provides for placement of TVET graduates.
• It helps in searching quality information using internet and accessing the validity and authenticity of material.

Common Types ICTs for Teaching and Learning

• Audio-Cassette Tapes help in disseminating knowledge in the form of sound rather than through simple texts and diagrams.
• Radio is one of the oldest technologies which have been effectively used for distance education. Information sharing sessions through use of radio can be broadcasted or they can be interactive
• Videotapes attract many students as they can see what is being taught.
• CD-ROM and DVD CD-ROMs (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) are used for storing digital information
• Internet/Web-Based Training helps students to access information online through internet telephony, online whiteboards, discussion boards, chat, etc.
• Audio Conferencing/ Video Conferencing provides two-way and real-time communication between instructors and learners through audio.

Use of Ict for Vocational Education in Various Countries

Ramadan, Chen and Hudson (2018), conducted a research in Sudan to study the skills of teachers in combination with ICT in technical and vocational education and training sector and found that the younger teachers were digitally more advanced. The teachers used basic word functions, spreadsheets and database skills. Social media was used for searching information that was considered helpful in making lesson plans, courses design and syllabus.