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Name of School: Centre Number: Candidate Name: Selah Lewis Candidate Number: Territory: Trinidad & Tobago Subject: Communication Studies Unit: 1 Theme: “The ffect of the !ntegration of !CT on ducation in the Caribbean" Teacher: #ear: $%1
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Table of Contents 'eneral !ntroduction..............................................................................................4 (reface...............................................................................................................5 )eflection...........................................................................................................7 *nalysis...........................................................................................................11 +ibliogra,hy......................................................................................................12
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'eneral !ntroduction !n $%1%- the then go.ernment of Trinidad and Tobago distributed o.er 1%-%%% la,to,s to new /orm 1 ,u,ils0 This began an era of technological ad.ances in education for the country as a whole0 Since thenmany u,grades ha.e been im,lemented in schools at all le.els in this twin island state0 This ,ortfolio allows me to del.e into “The ffect of the !ntegration of !CT on ducation in the Caribbean"0 !n my e,osition- ! ,resented my research- including inter.iews- and statistical e.idence of the effect of !CT on education- to enlighten and inform those in authoritati.e ,ositions- so they may ta2e actions a,,ro,riate to address the lac2 of !CT integration in some ,ublic and ,ri.ate schools0 These effects are also highlighted in my narrati.e entitled “3hite +ougain.illea"- where a student is introduced to a different style of learning0 4y subjects also facilitate my choice0 !n !nformation Technology- we learn about the ad.ancements in technology o.er the years and the effect they ha.e had on the business and educational sectors0 'rowing u, in a low5income- single ,arent home- ! did not ha.e much encounters with modern technology0 +eing e,osed to this the moment ! entered secondary school o,ened my eyes to a whole other world0 ! ha.esince then- de.elo,ed a 2een interest in anything technology related- and ho,e to one day become a software engineer0 $$6 words
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(reface /or my reflection- ! ha.e written a narrati.e entitled “3hite +ougain.illea"0 ! ha.e chosen this genre because ! belie.e it is the most a,,ro,riate medium in which the main character7s feelings towards the e.ents which ta2e ,lace around her are best e,ressed0 The ,ur,ose of the ,iece is to further em,hasise the influence of technology on education- es,ecially in the Caribbean- and is meant to ,ut forward the different a,,roaches to teaching- com,aring the effect each has on the student0 4y target audiences are the teachers- ,rinci,als- and high5ran2ing officials wor2ing in educational facilities0 ! belie.e that these ,ersons ha.e an influence on the future of the children and ,eo,le under their tutelage- and may be unaware as to the im,act information technology can ha.e0 The narrati.e can be ,ublished as ,art of a collection of short stories and made a.ailable to those res,onsible for the education system in the region0 !t can also be made into a film scri,t- then into short mo.ie which would be able to use more .isual cues than the written counter,art0
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)eflection 9n the corner of ar.ard and /orde- there was a hedge of bougain.illea bushes0 !t stood in front of an old school building- and the ,eo,le who wal2ed ,ast would say- “Loo2 fuh ah white one- an if yuh see it- dat mean yuh real bless- good days fuh yuh ahead"0 !t became a tradition among the students of the school to g o loo2ing for the white flowers before eams- but ;emalia /orthros always loo2ed for them0 .ery day she wal2ed ,ast- and sto,,ed to search its thorny branches for e.en a glim,se of that fabled snow white0 ;emma- as she was called- wasn7t a ,erfect student0 She had a.erage grades- and des,ite being a relati.ely well5beha.ed child- some teachers seemed to mista2e her shyness for disres,ectful silence0 !t7s not that she didn7t try- but she didn7t understand the wor2 sometimes- e.en though she would reach to class early- sit near the front- and listen attenti.ely to her teachers0 !t suc2ed0 Some days- she would try to listen- but then realise that she7s trying so hard- that she7s not listening at all0 She just couldn7t gras, some of the conce,ts- and no matter how it was ,hrasedshe only understood the bare basics of the subject matter0 The absolute worst- howe.er- was when teachers would say“;emalia- would you ,lease come u, and summarise what we did today<" She didn7t e.en 2now how to start- because she didn7t really 2now what was taught0 !t was at this ,oint ;emalia would just stare at the teacher silently- mortified0 *nd teachers would then mouth her ear off about how she should ,ay better attention in class0 .entually- she had had enough0 9ne day- she stormed home angrily0 “*h done= *h done=" she cried- “*h fed u, tryin tuh learn dese tings an not get it= Christ on a bicycle- ah so .e- and ah tryin yuh 2now- ah real doin ma bess- buh li2e it eh good at all- at all=" She breathed dee,ly- “See me- ah go jus sell nuts on de highway0" /or the net two wee2s- ;emma7s wor2 began to sli,0 She felt demoti.ated- and ga.e u, trying to ,ay attention in class0 !t ha,,ened on one of those de,ressing days0 *s usual- ;emma sto,,ed to loo2 at the bougain.illea0 *nd as usual- the bright ,in2 an d ,ur,le flowers were in full bloom0 ce,t for the small green bud growing near the bac2 of the crisscrossing thorns0 ;emma too2 note of this strange occurrence and begrudgingly went off to class0
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The net day- a new teacher a,,eared in ;emma7s biology class0
er sugar brown s2in
was stretched o.er a thin frame- and she wore a sim,le blue shirt and blac2 slac2s0 +ut what caught ;emma7s attention were her eyes0 They were bright- shar,0 They ,ierced ;emma7s soul0 “'ood morning students=" she chirru,ed cheerfully- “4y name is 4iss 3armington- and from today- !7ll be your new biology teacher0 4rs0 *lgid- as you 2now- retired early0 ! shall be ta2ing o.er her teaching duties0" *fter settling the eru,tion of whis,ers and whim,ers- 4iss 3armington started class0 “Stand u,-" she ordered- “! want you to 2now something0 ! am not going to stand in front of here and just teach0 #ou ha.e to ,artici,ate0 !t is mandatory0" “4iss<" as2ed Toriel- the class monitor- “3hy7d you ma2e us stand u,<" 4iss 3armington smiled brightly- showing off her dee, dim,les and white teeth0 “To get your attention0" ;emma li2ed 4iss 3armington a lot0 She didn7t call on ;emma constantly li2e 4rs0 *lgid had- and too2 the time to e,lain things to her0 +ut ;emma still had difficulties understanding the wor2 being gi.en0 9ne wee2 after 4iss 3armington too2 o.er- she wal2ed into class rolling a large- strange- white board- behind her0 “92ay-" she breathed- “!7.e come to realise that some of you do n7t li2e to ,artici,ate- or at least are too shy to-" she glanced at ;emma- and ga.e her a small smile0 “So- !7m going to ma2e class so fun that not ,artici,ating becomes socially unacce,table0" She ta,,ed the board with her inde finger- and the area she ta,,ed began to glow0 Then with a ri,,le of light- the board came to life0 (ictures of cells- ,lants- and a little boy- all came flooding onscreen0 The class gas,ed in astonishment0 “4iss dah real dred=" called a student from the bac2 somewhere0 “These are the to,ics we need to co.er this term-" she said- “Now- we need to start with microbiology-" She ta,,ed the ,icture of a bean sha,ed cell- and the screen went blan2- then a series of icons ,o,,ed u,0 /or the rest of the class- 4iss 3armington taught using the smart5 board0 She called u, a few students to use the board at random inter.als to com,lete little acti.ities she would ,ut u,0 The students sat- listening and watching attenti.ely- eagerly raising
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their hands to answer >uestions ,osed by 4iss0 Then- towards the end of class- she turned towards ;emma and said- “;emalia- would you ,lease come u, and summarise what we did today<" *nd she could0 Later that wee2 ;emma realised she hadn7t chec2ed on the green bud in a while0 So she sto,,ed and loo2ed0 The green bud was gone0 !n its ,lace was a single- white flower0
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*nalysis 4y reflection “3hite +ougain.illea"- tells the story of a student7s encounter with education- both with and without the use of information technologies0 To effecti.ely con.ey the ,lot- and to fully immerse the reader- communicati.e beha.iours and dialectal .ariation were used0 /irstly- the use of .ocalics is seen where ;emalia cries in frustration- which was used to hel, the reader .isualise her distress and em,athise with her0 *nother instance of .ocalics is where 4iss 3armington enters the class- she “chirru,s cheerfully" which immediately indicates her bright attitudeand signals a change from the ,re.iously somewhat de,ressing atmos,here0 /acial e,ressions are used es,ecially with 4iss 3armington? she is shown smiling brightly which hel,s create a 2ind ,ortrait of her ,ersonality0 er name- 4iss Warm ington- is a direct contrast to the ,re.ious teacher7s name @*lgidA which means cold0 She is again seen smiling at ;emalia- which em,hasises her role as a “candle in the dar2" for the ,rotagonist as the smile was meant to be an encouraging one0 /urthermore- the artefacts ,resented ,layed a major role in the reflection0 The smart board signified a change in ;emalia7s life0 !ts ,resence re,resented a ho,eful future for ;emalia0 The major artefact in the reflection? the hedge of bougain.illea flowers0 The ,in2 and ,ur,le flowers were a symbol of the o.erwhelming majority that did not understand what ;emalia7s ,roblem could ha.e been0 The growing green bud re,resented ;emalia in her “green" state- not yet blossoming- not yet at her ,otential0 3hen the bud blooms- ;emalia has already begun her journey to a brighter future- and the flower7s white ,etals symbolise ;emalia7s uni>ueness- and the idea that- in s,ite of the odds- as long as there is ho,ethings will e.entually wor2 out0 !n addition- the narration was written in Standard nglish to a,,eal to a wide audience0 Teachers and students also used Standard nglish in dialogue in the fairly formal classroom setting0 owe.er;emalia uses a mesolectal .ariety of Trinidadian nglish5based Creole @“ See me, ah go just sell nuts on de highway-"A in the emotionally tense scene where she cries out in frustration0 This aided in the contetualisation of the story- and gi.es it a realistic feel as ,ersons tend to re.ert to their nati.e tongue in times of great emotion0 !n brief- “3hite +ougain.illea" utilises communicati.e beha.iours such as .ocalics- and dialectal .ariation to e,ress its message0 B81 words
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+ibliogra,hy * Summary )e,ort- +ased on 1 Country Sur.eys SU).# 9f 000 @n0d0A0 )etrie.ed 9ctoberNo.ember- $%1D- from htt,:www0infode.0orginfode.5 filesresource!nfode.EocumentsF6610,df
CSC results: 9.er D%G of students continue to fail 4ath- nglish0 @$%16A0 )etrie.ed Eecember $- $%1D- from htt,:www0inewsguyana0comcsec5results5o.er5D%5of5students5continue5to5fail5 math5english
!ntroduction of !nformation Technology to Schools in ;amaica0 @n0d0A0 )etrie.ed 9ctober 1D$%1D- from htt,:www0mona0uwi0educo,libraryintroduction5information5technology5schools5 jamaica
La+erta- C0 @$%16A0 Com,uters are your future0 arlow- sse: (earson0
'0 N0 @n0d0A0 4inister on $%16 CHC results: +est results e.er0 )etrie.ed No.ember I- $%1D- from htt,:www0guardian0co0ttnews$%165%851Dminister5$%165cc5results5best5results5e.er
(eres- 30- & ilbert- 40 )0 @$%1%A0 !nformation societies in Latin *merica and the Caribbean: Ee.elo,ment of technologies and technologies for de.elo,ment0 Santiago- Chile: United Nations- CL*C0