Growing interest for tech in education

Added by saitadmin on March 11, 2011.
Saved under E-Government
Tags: Cisco

More than three-quarters of top education officials around the world believe technology can play a major role in how students learn and how teachers educate, says Cisco.

According to a global survey commissioned by Cisco, 89% of respondents in the Middle East and Africa region feel that technology will play a large role in improving how students learn in the future.

Countries surveyed include South Africa, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia and the United Kingdom.

The study also revealed that 69% of respondents in MEA believe that technology will have a role in improving how teachers teach as well as improving student engagement.

“Increasingly, we are seeing governments acknowledge the role that education plays in building healthy economies and societies, and within this vision, technology is quickly rising in impact.”

“I am gratified to see that new technologies such as collaboration and video are globally increasing in importance in education, as they can open the door to a world of opportunities for students, regardless of socio-economic status or geographical location,” said Frank Florence, global public sector senior director of education at Cisco.

While only 40% believe that technology will help reduce administrative costs, another 69% of respondents see increasing efficiency as the most important for new IT systems if they are going to upgrade their IT infrastructure.

When asked top technology-related issues that some schools and universities currently face in MEA, these were Internet abuse, help students and faculty work together, cyber security, reduce administrative expenses.

These survey results also pointed to a new connected learning networked economy, which calls for technology skills development to increase global competitiveness within education. Technology would help personalise teaching, provide innovative approaches to teaching while reducing costs; and increase productivity through the use of video and collaboration technologies.