Cause and Effect of using Digital Content in Biology Subject at Grade IX-X in Dhaka City

Information and communication technologies ICT have become everyday entities in all spheres of life ICT has fundamentally changed the pedagogy in education lend itself to more student-centred learning phenomena hereafter digital content an ubiquitous part of ICT is becoming more and more important The purpose of the present paper is to examine the relationship between the use of digital content and students performance and to give complementary explanations regarding causes and effects of using digital content in secondary education especially in biology subject This study followed mixed method design including qualitative and quantitative data The result of the study revealed that student s performance is mainly explained by student s characteristics educational environment and teachers characteristics and digital content have a concrete impact on these determining factors and consequently the outcome of education The adoption of ICT equipment and use rates is relatively slow and differs from one institution to another Henceforth use of computer supportive instructional material need a change in the organisation of secondary education Government or PPP or school authority can take benign initiative to provide low-cost laptop multimedia projector Furthermore continuous in-servicing training should be provided among teachers to ensure digitalized classroom and effective teaching-learning proces

Use of ICT by Biology Teachers in the Secondary Schools: Bangladesh Perspective

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have changed the pedagogy in education offering more student-centered learning incidents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of ICT by the biology teachers in teaching-learning process of secondary schools in Bangladesh. A total of 50 biology teachers from several secondary schools of Bangladesh participated in the study. It was found that teachers have better access to computer than the average populace of Bangladesh. They have working knowledge on Microsoft Office Word, Excel, Power Point, and different web browsers. A good number of the teachers use computer for preparing their lectures, use internet for accessing educational materials, takes classes with multimedia with the support of ICT. However, about 17% to 25% were found to be not using these ICT means. Many teachers opined that they have less number of computers in the school to prepare for class work. They also assessed that hardware troubleshooting, software malfunction and unexpected power failure as challenges for using ICT. This paper recommends to provide continuous in-servicing training on ICT, interest free loan to teachers for purchasing laptop computer and to ensure technical support to overcome software and hardware problems in the schools. Keywords: ICT in education, teaching learning process, biology teachers, secondary school. DOI: 10.7176/JCSD/45-0

Awareness and Effective use of ICT in Undergraduate Science Classroom Activities

Technology-dependency is increasing rapidly. People seek ways to apply technology to simplify complex tasks. Technology is the greatest platform for students to get ready for the world and become successful tech-oriented citizen. Knowledge acquisition needs to follow the current technological trends. Technology-dependency of our country increasing rapidly, students must learn to be tech-orianted. Integrating technology in education helps students to stay engaged. The purpose of the study is to identify the scenario of current trends, awareness and effective use of ICT and digital contents in science classroom of undergraduate students in Bangladesh. This study is focused on two central phenomena naming, ‘skills, capabilities and practices’ of teachers for appropriate and affordable digital content and ICT based learning’ and ‘use of digital contents to support collaboration, innovation and effectiveness’. The findings of the study represent that the concept of ICT based learning is not clear for both teachers and students so that classroom practice is not effective. Professional learning opportunities about ICT should be developed to meet the needs of teachers at various stages of knowledge, skills, understanding and practice. Keywords: ICT based learning, digital content, collaboration. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-20-03 Publication date:July 31st 202

Addressing Regional Inequality Issues in Bangladesh Public Expenditure

Traditionally development effort of Bangladesh government have aimed at achieving equitable economic growth. The concept is an overriding factor in formulating national policy strategies of poverty alleviation. In this context, the objectives of poverty alleviation are mostly designed with social development factors, particularly improvements in health and education indicators. One of the most important policy documents Unlocking the potential : National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction (the PRSP paper which was extended till June 2008), and other government documents embody such with great importance (Medium Term Budget Framework 2007- 2010 documents on website of the Ministry of Finance. Since returning to democracy in 1991, Bangladeshs economy has achieved a steady growth rate with concomitant fall of poverty incidences at an accelerated pace. In fact, the country experienced more than 10 percentage point fall in poverty rate between 2000 and 2005 (Table 1), which is indeed a commendable achievement aligned to other better performances that Bangladesh has been experiencing for the last three decades since independence. One feature of this development is, however, less assuring. Regional analysis of poverty incidences shows that reduction rate is not equal across the country, rather the situation is worsening in some cases. Such picture reflects an unequal progress in overall economic activity throughout the country.Bangladesh, Regional Inequality, public expenditure, Poverty Alleviation

Teaching-Learning Practices of Information and Communication Technology in Secondary Schools of Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, secondary school curricula have made Information and Communication Technology (ICT) education compulsory considering the importance of technology and innovation. Students’ performance varies highly across schools compared to within school. This study is conducted in an effort to know what teachers accomplish in ICT classes. The study follows a qualitative research design. 5 ICT teachers and 250 students from 5 secondary schools of Dhaka city were chosen as sample. Data were collected from students and teachers through semi-structured questionnaire, interviews and classroom observations. The major findings of this study reveal that teachers practice mostly lecture, demonstration and book reading method in ICT classes to engage the students in teaching-learning process. Moreover, students are given feedback based on individual assessment. Furthermore, most of the schools have sufficient infrastructure to conduct laboratory work and sometimes practical classes are taken in ICT labs. It is asserted that ICT teachers are punctual to prepare lesson plans and use text books as well as e-learning resources for preparation. However, further study is suggested to explore the overall scenario of ICT teaching learning practices in secondary level education of Bangladesh by comparing rural and urban secondary schools in large scale. Keywords: teaching-learning, ICT, secondary schools DOI: 10.7176/IKM/9-8-04 Publication date:September 30th 201

Impacts of ICT Integration in the Higher Education Classrooms: Bangladesh Perspective

For the last few years, ICT integration in education has been the topic of discussion for researchers. Very few researches have been conducted on ICT integration in the context of higher education, especially in Bangladesh. The purpose of this study is to explore the ICT integration in higher education teaching - learning in Bangladesh. This study is qualitative in design. Data were collected from students and teachers in the University of Dhaka through semi-structured interview schedule, focused group discussion and classroom observation schedule. The major findings of this study reveal that ICT is not integrated effectively in higher education teaching-learning. Furthermore, several obstacles have been identified that impede the effective integration of ICT. The obstacles are teachers’ lack of knowledge and skills, teachers’ lack of time to take preparations for class, lack of adequate equipment and access to internet and inadequate technical support. It is asserted that proper teachers’ training about integrating ICT in education will be able to change the scenario to a great extent. This study has, therefore, implications for policy developers, teachers and students of various departments. Keywords: ICT, Pedagogy, Social Interaction, Technology, Teaching – learning

From Birnamwood to Bollywood: Maqbool and the Shakespearean Bandwagon

Volume 4, Issue 1, December 201

Exploring Perceptions and Experience of Educational Blogs in Higher Education of Bangladesh

The purpose of the research was to explore perceptions and experience of educational blogs of the students of higher education. The study followed a mixed method research approach. Supporting the research approach, the study followed both quantitative and qualitative instrument for better understanding of the research problem. First an open-ended questionnaire was supplied for 160 students from different institutes and departments of University of Dhaka, followed by six semi-structured interview with the teachers and finally a FGD was also conducted with students. The study reveals that most of the students and teachers are familiar with blogs. Both teachers and students expressed that they can perceive the intensifying role of blog in teaching –learning process. In addition to this, students find Blogs as a trendy digital platform to exchange views through collaboration with teachers. Teachers perceived a positive view on it pointing that genuine blogs can help to develop creative platform for transferring contemporary views although their use of blog is not satisfactory. Different factors like inauthenticity of sources, inaccessibility to internet, unpreparedness and unwillingness of senior teachers to use blogs have been identified as challenges of using blogs in education arena. Keywords: Educational Blogs, Digital platform, Challenges DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-14-07 Publication date:May 31st 202