Technological Adaptability in the Ethiopian Education System

Getnet Bitew (Goshen College, USA)
Copyright: © 2010 |Pages: 311
EISBN13: 9781609602345|DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61520-751-0.ch017
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Abstract

Ethiopia has been using live “plasma” TV as a major mode of instructional delivery in the government secondary schools since 2004/2005 academic year. Since then, some improvements have been observed in terms of students’ listening skill. However, many students, teachers and parents argued that students are becoming mere listeners of the TV. They were not active in the learning process due to the large amount of instructional time taken by the live transmission. The “plasma” TV was also too fast to understand, pre-programmed, non-rewindable, and non-repeatable in character. This mode of instructional delivery should be assessed in terms of, among other criteria, its appropriateness (benefit for students’ learning); level of sophistication for the students (with respect to their language skill, etc); cost effectiveness; and availability and technical quality. Unfortunately, the current “plasma” TV was not effective in light of the above criteria. This study indicates that the “plasma” TV lessons shall be distributed on CDs to every school and teacher, and used as a supplementary instructional aid. The current “plasma” mode of instruction shall not continue in the way it is if we are genuinely intending to help our students develop their creativity, problem solving and critical skills. Teachers and students should get enough instructional time in the classrooms for discussion.
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