If there is one fundamental about successful teaching that all teachers must adhere to is this simple maxim, “There is no teaching if there is no learning.” This maxim shows that teaching and learning are simply two sides of the same coin and one cannot exist without the other.

If only teachers remember this simple yet powerful maxim, no teacher will simply rush through lessons with the goal of “covering” the syllabus for the academic year. The maxim means that the teacher must always pause to check if the learning that the teacher hopes to have taken place among the students, has actually taken place.  It means that the teacher would be making continuous assessment of the learning that is taking place. The teacher does not even wait till the end of the lesson  to check for learning. Assessment is done as regularly as the teacher’s heartbeat during the lesson. At every stage of the lesson the teaches assess if the students are still “with” the lesson and does not proceed any further until what needs to be learned first, is learned. This may seem commonsensical but alas in the factory-like assembly line system that most schools adopt, common sense is often sacrificed for speed and administrative efficiency.

The maxim also calls for teachers to take even greater care in the preparation of their lessons. They would have to be clear about the objectives that they have set out for the lesson because the assessment of the learning that has taken place is dependent on these objectives. Key to the planning of the lessons would be knowing where the assessment of the learning is to be done and also the awareness of how the assessment is to be done.

In the planning of the lesson, the teacher also takes into account the prior knowledge that the student has, to make the learning a naturally smooth process rather than an intellectually and emotionally jarring experience. The teacher would ensure that the learning is constructed and properly scaffolded so the transition from one learning stage to another is not only smooth but also naturally progressive cognitively.

In the planning also, all learning and teaching aids used must also be geared towards making learning as easy as possible. These teaching aids may be traditional ones or more modern ones like the use of ICT tools. Teaching aids, including all teaching technologies, are never to be used for their own sake. They are to be used only if it helps in a smooth learning process.

In the effort to ensure a smooth progression of the lesson, the teacher must also anticipate potential problems that students are likely to face during the course of the lesson. This may include problems with understanding concepts or confusion in the mental operation of routine tasks or skills. This will make the teaching and learning experience a more pleasant intellectually and be an even emotionally stimulating one for both teachers and students.

The goal in every classroom is for the learning experience to be as intellectually and emotionally liberating as possible. By upholding the maxim, “There is no teaching if there is no learning,” teachers will avoid the common pitfalls of poor teaching. Most of all, students will know that their teachers really care about their learning and the former will make that extra effort to be successful in their learning.

When integrating ICT into the curriculum,  special attention must be given to the teachers in the school. There are those who will be early adopters, those who are fairly conversant with ICT use but choose a wait-and-see approach, and those who are not familiar with ICT and are probably worried about its use in the classroom.It the second and the third categories of teachers that we mus be more mindful of. They can make or break any ICT implementation program in a school.

For the second category, the wait-and-see group, they must be convinced about the importance and the usefulness of ICT use. Teachers are in general a fairly pragmatic group of people. They have been inundated with all kinds of fads that has been introduced into the teaching profession. They have seen fads come and go. A (un?)healthy scepticism becomes part of the outlook of such teachers. To convince them, they must not only be told of the importance of ICT use, they must also be convinced that the school is serious in believing that ICT use is important to achieve the curricular goals set for the school; and very importantly, that ICT really works for their students and the teachers.

Such teachers will watch to see if the school is serious about ICT implementation. By “serious” here, I do not mean that, for example, that the school makes it compulsory for teachers to have a certain minimal percentage of their lessons with an ICT element in them. By “serious”, I mean that the school would actually take into consideration, for example, the kind of assessment that the students would undergoing. If the only assessment that matters are the high stakes examinations where students can be drilled to do well in the traditional way, teachers will see little point doing “extra” since no measurable value is attached to the use of ICT in the classroom. In the face of a heavy work load and responsibilities and the perceived lack of time to “cover” the syllabus, ICT use in the classroom will not be given any importance by these teachers. This is made worse if teachers know that the appraisal of their performance is heavily weighted towards how well their students perform in the pen and paper examinations. A whole lot of serious convincing is needed.

For the non-ICT savvy teachers, not only they must be convinced but additional assistance is required if they are going to adapt successfully to using ICT in the classroom. Some of these additional assistance may include even bringing them to an acceptable level of basic ICT skills. It may mean for them to just learn to use word processing or spread sheet software for their own personal use. The training should be of the just-in-time nature.

Getting them to use ICT in the classroom would require a gradual process beginning with the familiar software they already know. Here again school administrators must not set unrealistic expectations of these teachers. I have already mentioned in a previous posting how some school principals banned the use of PowerPoint. For the new users of ICT among teachers, asking them to try something beyond PowerPoint may be asking too much in too little time. Better for them to learn the finer points of using PowerPoint and other simple ICT tools then be stressed out by unrealistic expectations.

The stress of learning to use ICT for these teachers can also be reduced if they are given adequate demonstrations and also a lot of hand holding by more ICT-savvy teachers. This is to give them confidence that someone is helping them and ready to assist. All they need to do is to try and master the simpler ICT tools.

Perhaps, the last important thing is that ICT tools take time to learn and master. Time is needed for teachers to feel confident to use them in front of an audience of usually ICT comepetent students. Rushing it will only lead to unsuccessful lessons in the classrooms.

In short, an ICT integration programme must be people friendly. It is about people first and technology second. The gates to ICT integration will not open unless we do imitate Gandalf at Moria and “Speak Friend, and enter”

In the Lord of the Rings, the band accompanying the Ring-bearer led by Gandalf approached the entrance of the home of the dwarfs at Misty Mountains and was barred by the Moria Gate bearing the ancient inscriptions, “Speak, Friend and enter.” Gandalf spent quite a bit of time trying to decipher the password that would magically open the gate. After a long time pondering upon it, he realized that the magical word was “friend”!

Similarly, if a teaching faculty in a school intends to move into the magical realm of integrating ICT in the curriculum, the approach to doing so should be based on that word “friend”. For ICT integration to succeed it must be people-friendly. Although the process of ICT integration seems to be about technology, in reality it is about people, especially the teachers and the students.

It is about people because it is these two groups that I mentioned above are the ones who are going to be most affected by the whole process and they are the ones who will decide on the outcome of the whole process. In an earlier posting, I described teachers as the “gatekeepers to ICT integration” in the classrooms. The success of an ICT integration program is dependent on the willingness of the teachers to introduce them in their classrooms. Therefore it becomes imperative that in any attempt to introduce ICT into the classroom on a regular basis, great thought must be given about:

• teachers’ perceptions or beliefs about the usefulness of ICT in education;
• teachers’ attitudes towards learning and adding another dimension to their already vast teaching repertoire and responsibilities;
• the kind of training and other forms of assistance that they would require to be using ICT successfully and regularly in the classroom; and
• the motivations for the teachers to use ICT in the classroom.

It is only when these considerations are taken into account before and during the implementation of an ICT integration program, that ICT integration can be a more friendly process for all, especially the teachers. This is vital not only as a PR excercise but for the successful implementation and continuity of the program. It is people first, and technology, second. It is only then we can “Speak, Friend and enter.”