2.5 Use of ICT to simplify record keeping, information management in educat

2.4 Use of ICT to Simplify Record Keeping, Information Management in Education Administration in Special and Inclusive Settings

Use of ICT on Records Management
Change has been happening at an uneven pace in any growth-oriented industry, and the education sector is no exception. Rapid growth in the field of education has made governance in the academic sector a very complex task. The 21st century has witnessed tremendous advancements in technology, which have led to far-reaching developments in the administrative system. Cost-effective technology combined with flexibility in learning and administrative activities is essential to enhance efficiency.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays a vital role in supporting powerful, efficient management and administration in the education sector. It is specified that technology can be used right from student administration to various resource administration in an educational institution.

School records are books, documents, files, and CD-ROMs in which information on what goes on in school (e.g., scholastic, co-scholastic, non-scholastic activities, and important events) is embodied, as well as information focusing on the growth and development of the school.

The school records are official transcripts or copies of proceedings of actions, events, and other matters kept by the school administrator. School records could be viewed as authentic registers or instruments or documents of official accounts of transactions or occurrences that are preserved in the school’s office. Therefore, every school must keep certain specified records.

Importance of School Records:
School records keeping includes the fact that school records tell the history of the school and are useful historical sources.

• Tell the history of the school and are useful historical sources.

• Facilitate continuity in the administration and management of a school.

• Facilitate and enhance the provision of effective guidance and counseling services for students in the social, academic, and career domains.

• Provide information needed on ex-students by higher and other related institutions and employers of labor for admission or placement.

• Facilitate the supply of information to parents and guardians for the effective monitoring of the progress of their children/wards in schooling or performance.

• Provide data needed for planning and decision-making by school heads, ministries of education, and related educational authorities.

• Provide a basis for the objective assessment of the state of teaching and learning in a school, including staff and student performance by supervisors and inspectors.

• Provide information for the school community, the general public, employers, as well as educational and social science researchers for the advancement of knowledge.

• Enable school heads to collate information on pupils and staff for decision-making by higher authorities, law courts, security agencies, and other related government agencies when occasion demands.

• Provide a mechanism, such as the school timetable, for the productive management of time and coordination of school work and activities.

• Serve as a data bank on which both the school head and staff, as well as students, can draw.

Potential of ICT in Record Keeping
The usefulness of keeping school records with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is for the following reasons:

• Administrative Efficiency: One major setback in achieving the educational objectives of secondary education is the inefficiency of the principal in keeping some records. With the introduction of information and communication technologies such as computers, digital libraries, e-mail, and the internet, where information is stored and disseminated, principals can improve record keeping and become effective and efficient in performing their prescribed roles as administrators.

• Availability of Information: Information and Communication Technologies will help maintain adequate and accurate records in our schools and make them available with ease.

• Easy Retrieval: ICT also leads to easy accessibility and dissemination of information on school records, which will become available for national planning, financial budgeting, and effective implementation of educational programs and policies.

School record keeping is all about information collection, storage, retrieval, use, transmission, manipulation, and dissemination for the purpose of enriching communication, decision-making, and problem-solving ability in the school system. It is, therefore, necessary that this process be as accurate and accessible as possible. Using ICT in keeping school records will help to facilitate and enhance the administration of the school toward achieving the goals of secondary education.

Scope of ICT in Bringing Inclusion in Classrooms
A teacher must strive to bring inclusion inside the classrooms, as he is the one who directly deals with the diversities inside classrooms. In an attempt to attain this goal, ICT should be adopted in teacher education programs. This can be done to meet the following purposes:

• For imparting basic skills in computers.

• For enhancing communication in learning.

• For fostering self-learning.

• For helping working teachers update their knowledge base with respect to trending and new technologies from time to time.

• For removing communication, cultural, and geographical barriers.

• For assisting and enhancing the evaluation, assessment, and feedback mechanism.

• To foster cooperative learning and team teaching by collaborating teachers together.

• For making the interactive phase of teaching more interesting and aiding teachers in their pre-active phase of teaching.

• For providing accessibility in distance learning.

Any tool or service that is helpful in advancing student learning can be considered evidence-based applied science derived from basic educational and psychological research that enhances capabilities for exploring ideas, innovations, and communication.

Examples of some Assistive Technology (AT) to help Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Education include:

• Braille duplicators and writers

• Group hearing aids for classrooms

• Alternative and augmentative communication software/devices

• Multi-sensory systems

• Tactile mathematical devices

• Tactile geography devices

• Tactile science devices

• Screen readers and magnifiers

• Assessment and evaluation tools

• Models

• Multimedia content

• Content development software

• Word bank and prediction systems

• Text-to-speech engines and speech recognition

• Special access switches and mechanisms

• Sign language and Braille learning software

• Web portal

• Edusat

• M-learning

• Webcast

• Online learning

• On-demand examination

Benefits of ICT
Some of the claimed benefits of ICT for education are:

• Easy-to-Access Course Material: Multimedia/easy-to-understand course material can be posted on the web, which learners can access at a time and location they prefer.

• Motivation: Computer-based instruction can give instant feedback to students and explain correct answers. Moreover, a computer is patient and non-judgmental, which can give the student motivation to continue learning.

• Wide Participation: Learning material can be used for long-distance learning and is accessible to a wider audience.

• Improved Student Writing: It is convenient for students to edit their written work, which can, in turn, improve the quality of their writing.

• Subjects Made Easier to Learn: Many different types of educational software are designed and developed to help.

It is imperative for a teacher to have the necessary knowledge and skills required for the removal of common learning barriers that arise due to individual differences of cultural, social, physical, psychological, and economic nature in classrooms, to ensure that the classroom is truly inclusive in nature. The paper has attempted to acquaint teacher educators with the tools of ICT along with their benefits and applications in Indian classrooms so that they can train pre-service teachers and in-service teachers to use them and apply them for the effective learning of students.