ict applications in school management and record keeping: prospects and challenges k.o.oloruntegbe...
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ICT APPLICATIONS IN SCHOOL MANAGEMENT AND RECORD KEEPING:
PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGESK.O.Oloruntegbe (Ph D, FSTAN)
Science and Technical Education,
Adekunle Ajasin University,
Akungba-Akoko
Working Objectives
At the end of this discussion participant would be able to:
Explain the various viewpoints on school management;
Discuss the different modes of technology in management and
services, state the usefulness of virtual services over physical
services.
Explain the use of internet, e-mails, chat rooms, web sites and
mobile technologies in management;
Explain the creation, the management, and the characteristics of
good records, storage, retention and disposal.
Discuss safety of records and state the requirements of the 1998
Data Protection Act in relation to usage of personal data;
Discuss the prospect and challenges of adopting new technology in
service
THEORIES ON MANAGEMENT - CATEGORIZATION
As a starting point the various categorization of the
subject field need be considered. The following categories
are sourced from literature.
Educational change (here we can discuss the reasons for
educational change, and the effects and impacts resulting,
particularly at an individual teacher or manager level).
Management of change (this is concerned with the
conception of management of change principles,
approaches and methods adopted in order to bring about
change, and to consider attitudes to change).
Management approaches (this category covers
specifically the types of management approach
that lend themselves to particular purpose or
outcomes, and the implications).
Organizational impacts (this category covers
the impacts of change upon organizations, both
from an institutional and a systems viewpoint).
ICT management (this tells how ICT is managed
within organizations, and the concerns and issues
that face managers and others in respect of ICT).
Strategic and tactical approaches (these concern the types
of approach that are involved when change and ICT use is
introduced into organizations and systems, and the impacts
that this has upon support and personnel particularly).
Personnel management (how the introduction of ICT is
shifting the needs for personnel within organizations and
institutions, and the future implications that there might be
in these respects).
Resource and resource development management (this is
concerned with how resources that are ICT-based can both be
developed in a range of ways and by a variety of groups, and
how their uses are managed within educational situations).
Financial and procurement management (this is concerned with
aspects of finance and procurement that managers in educational
situations now need to consider).
Planning and project management (this category covers the
approaches and needs for planning and project management when
different ICT uses are being introduced into educational situations).
Managing sustainability (this category is concerned with the ways in
which managers in educational situations are now considering
maintainability and sustainability, and the implications that arise for
the future).
Monitoring and evaluation processes in management (this category
covers the methods and approaches which can be used within
educational situations to monitor, evaluate and reflect upon outcomes
of ICT uses for the variety of purposes originally intended).
EMERGING GROUPS
The areas which are general non-ICT specific:
Educational change.
Management of change.
Management approaches.
Organizational impacts.
The areas which are general and ICT-specific: ICT management.
Strategic and tactical approaches.
The areas where more ICT-specific
coverage is needed are:
Personnel management.
Resource use and resource development
management.
Financial and procurement management.
Planning and project management.
Managing sustainability.
Monitoring and evaluation processes in
management
Technology in Management and Service
Encounter
Advances in communications and
information technology are having
profound effect on ways we do services
in industry, in schools and other
important sectors. Online services have
replaced the trivial face-to-face
interaction of service providers and
customers. Five modes of technology in
service encounter is shown below:
The A mode is called technology-free service
encounter, where the customer is in physical proximity to
and interacts with a human service provider. This mode
represents the traditional high-touch service that we
experience at a screening service that the SUPEB and
TESCOM engage their teachers in most times. This is a very
old 19th century fashion where technology does not play a
direct role. Unfortunately, this is type we still engage in
leading to time lose and risk of lives on the death traps we
call roads. Most personal care services fall into this category,
along with some professional services such as law, consulting,
and psychiatry.
The B mode is called technology-assisted
service encounter, because only the service
provider has access to the technology to
facilitate the delivery of face-to-face service.
Many health care procedures fall in this category
such as an eye exam during the office visit to an
optometrist. Traditionally, airline representatives
used a computer terminal to check in passengers
are encouraged to use check-in kiosks
represented by mode E. This is the type used in
biometric data capture and analysis.
The C mode is called technology-
facilitated service encounter, because
both the customer and service provider have
access to the same technology. For example,
a financial planner in consultation with a
client can refer to a financial model on a
personal computer to illustrate projected
returns for different risk profiles.
D mode, called technology-mediated service
encounter, the customer and human service
provider are not physically co-located and thus the
service encounter no longer is the traditional “face-to-
face” contact. Communication is usually enabled by a
voice telephone call to access services such as making a
restaurant or hostel reservation or getting technical
help from a distant call center. Consider, also, how
General Motors has bundled a remote monitoring
service in its automobiles called “OnStar” that use GPS
(global positioning satellite) to reassure stranded
motorists that assistance is just a call away.
In mode E, called technology-generated service
encounter, the human service provider is replaced entirely
with technology that allows the customer to self-serve (i.e
outsourcing the job to their customers). This mode is becoming
more common as firms attempt to reduce the cost of providing
service. Examples are ubiquitous –bank ATMS, check-out
scanning, airport check-in-kiosks, online reservations, and
interactive voice response (IVR) technology in call centers. This
is the type I used to secure appointment (sabbatical) as a
Visiting Senior Lecturer to University of Malaysia. The table
below serves to illustrate a few of the above.
VIRTUAL VERSUS PHYSICAL SERVICES
A comparison of virtual (electronic) and physical
services is shown in Table 2. The features represent
general characteristics that vividly differentiate the
alternative delivery system. Table 3 displays the
advantages and disadvantages of online and traditional
grocery shopping, an activity in which almost everyone
participates.
Table 2. Comparison of Virtual and Physical
Services
INTERNET AS A SERVICE ENABLER IN
MANAGEMENTThe internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible network of
interconnected computer networks that transmits data
using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a “network of
networks” that consists of millions of smaller academic
(.edu), business (.com), non-profit (.org), and government
(.gov) networks, which together carry various information
and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file
transfer, streaming media, voice-over-IP (VoIP), and access
to the World Wide Web (www).
EmailEmail can be a useful tool in the development of communication
skills and extending the learning process. Students of foreign
languages use email to correspond with native speakers abroad, for
example, or to send and receive weather data across the world and
pupils with special needs find email a valuable tool where letter
writing or using the telephone would be impossible. However, there
are a number of management implications of implementing email in
school, and acceptable use of email by staff and pupils. Should all
staff and pupils have their own mailbox, should staff email
addresses be available to everyone, pupils and parents alike? Should
pupils be able to send homework by email? Schools should have a
policy in place that specifically addresses these, and related, issues.
Chat rooms
Chat is a way of communicating with others in real time over the
internet in virtual meeting places called ‘chat rooms’. Although mainly
regarded as a leisure activity, chat rooms can also provide educational
benefits. Pupils are able to chat with peers anywhere in the world,
sharing experiences, comparing lifestyles or working collaboratively.
Within school, pupils should only be given access to educational chat
rooms. They should be moderated to ensure that discussions are kept
on topic and that there is no bad language or inappropriate behaviour.
Good chat rooms should have clear policies and privacy statements
setting out acceptable behaviour, and these should be upheld and
enforced. Guidelines for using chat in school should be included in an
acceptable use policy.
School websites
Many schools now have their own website,
providing excellent opportunities for showing the
range and breadth of work the school does,
providing a source of information to parents, and
developing links with the wider community. There
are, however, certain safety issues that need to be
considered:
A school website should take care to protect the
identity of pupils: where a child’s image appears,
the name should not, and vice versa
Mobile technologiesThe developments of mobile technologies such as phones
(including camera phones) and PDAs have many benefits for the
individual and to education. In addition to the standard services
of voice calls and text messaging, the more advanced networks
such as 2.5G and 3G provide:
video messaging
mobile access to the internet
entertainment services (e.g. video streaming of sporting
events)
Information-based services. Increasingly, schools need to
include these devices in acceptable use policies.
RECORD KEEPING
Records creation
The prime objective of records creation is to ensure that
only records needed by the system are created and enter
the system. The implication of this is that not only
might unnecessary records be created, but that some
important activities could be overlooked in the creation
of records. The generation of records needs to be
managed because this is where the records enter the
records system
Management of Records
The management of the records after their
creation is just as important as ensuring that
the right records are captured. The basic
premise of records management, which is to
'manage organizational information so that it
is timely, accurate, complete, cost-effective,
accessible and usable' (Robek et al. 1995:7)
must be adhered to
Characteristics of good record keeping. From the submission of Robek et al, 1995 above the
following characteristics of good record keeping must be
upheld. These are: it must be
(i). Timely, (ii). Accurate,
(iii). Complete,
(iv). Cost effective,
(v).. Accessible and
(vi). Usable.
It is a sad thing to always find no reliable data or no
data in front of our country Nigeria in record kept by
international agencies like the World Bank, UNESCO,
and World Statistics or even in African. It is either the
record is foolishly and dangerously inflated that little
children are not convinced. Examples are education
expenditure per GDP, education expenditure per child
in primary schools, per student in secondary schools
(Oloruntegbe, 2012). It is a common knowledge that
primary school teachers are forced to inflate primary
school enrolment for heaven knows what reason. This
is clear contradiction to quality of good records being
accurate, complete and usable.
Records storage
Records storage is largely concerned with the
storage of records that are no longer constantly
referred to but are occasionally needed for
business. These are semi-active and inactive
records. These records often safeguard 'crucial
organizational interests hence the need to keep
them for as long as they may be needed' (Penn et
al. 1994:208). Keeping these records implies
identifying them so that they can be separated
from active records and then storing them away
from expensive office space
Records storage
Records storage is largely concerned with the
storage of records that are no longer constantly
referred to but are occasionally needed for
business. These are semi-active and inactive
records. These records often safeguard 'crucial
organizational interests hence the need to keep
them for as long as they may be needed' (Penn et
al. 1994:208). Keeping these records implies
identifying them so that they can be separated
from active records and then storing them away
from expensive office space
Records retention and dispositionA records retention and disposal programme is crucial to the
management of the records of the organization. The benefits of a
retention and disposition programme are aptly summarized by Ricks et
al. (1992:75–76) as follows: 'A records retention programme provides a
timetable and consistent procedures for maintaining the organization’s
records, moving the records to inactive storage when appropriate and
destroying records when they are no longer valuable to the organization.'
The absence of record retention schedules will mean that some of the
records that are no longer needed by the system might still be kept, and
those that are still needed by the system may be destroyed. Another
implication is that an institution may lose valuable evidence and vital
memory as records disposition had not been developed systematically
Management of electronic recordsThere is no doubt that record keeping is increasingly becoming
digital (Edith Cowan University 2002). The presence of personal
computers in every office and a local area network shows that the
institutions (must make use) are increasingly making use of
digital records; they are continually being generated in
electronic format and may exist only in that format.
Research revealed that the application of ICT in record keeping
in Nigeria is near zero (Aduwa-Ogiegbaen & Iyanmu, 2005) and
the management of electronic records was unsatisfactory. The
same can be said of many institutions in Africa (Ngulube 2004b).
KEEPING PERSONAL DATA SECUREAll personal data needs to be kept safe and made available only to those
who are authorized to access it, and this raises a number of issues:
The first is compliance with the Data Protection Act (DPA) which requires
annual registration by schools and LEAs regarding the data they collect and
keep and how they use it.
Secondly, information is passed to third parties who are contracted to
provide services for schools. The DPA requires those who own the data and
pass it to others to ensure that measures are in place for its safety and
integrity and that it is not used for any purpose other than that for which it
was collected, as well as how it will be destroyed when it is no longer
required.
What information should be passed on, what information should be held by
whom and where it will be held so that individual pupils are not identified is
the one of the goals of DPA.
Safe disposalAn aspect of data security that can be overlooked relates to the disposal
of computing equipment. Schools have legal responsibilities for the
personal data which will be on hard disks (including things like email and
passwords). Just deleting files or even formatting the disk is not sufficient
since widely available software programs can recover some or all of the
information.
Schools are advised to check that the organization to which any
equipment may be given will provide a warranty that they also securely
erase all disks. It is advisable to consult your local technical support for
advice in these areas.
If the disks contain particularly sensitive information, then the industry
recommendation is that they should be physically destroyed by fire or
smashing them.
GLOBALIZATION, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
AND VISIONS (2020)
You cannot run away from your shadow was a sub topic in
my lecture presentation to school administrators in this
state last year (Oloruntegbe, 2011). The time has come
that we cannot do but join the whole world (globalization)
and do things the right way it should be done without
cutting corners. We are known to always cut corners and
day dream. By now we should be well grounded in accurate
information generation and dissemination – knowledge
economy – making use and sharing information with other
nations.
PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES.
So much have been mentioned about the prospects of ICT
in school management and record keeping. It is an under
statement to state that it makes
work faster,
more efficient,
more effective,
more accurate,
more rewarding,
more secured using surveillance cameras in hot spots
like banks
It helps managers to make more efficient decision from up-to-
date information (Demir, 2006). It is the in thing in the whole
world;
e-administration,
e-finance,
e- government,
e-assessment,
e-attendance,
e-food,
e-everything, as the world moves on in this 21st century
(Oloruntegbe, 2011). We not do things as if we are still in the
20th C
CHALLENGES,
For the challenges, it must be said that any innovation is a
destroyer of tradition: thus, it requires careful planning to
ensure success. By necessity, the productivity benefits of new
technology will change the nature of work. Any introduction of
new technology should include employee familiarization to
prepare workers for new tasks and to provide input into the
technology interface design (e.g., will typing skills be required,
or will employees just point and click?). There are no longer
typing position in offices in most nations of the world where
workers are computer literate and internet compliant. See table
4 for our position in computer availability and usage among
selected African nations.
Typing position will go. Not to worry the money expended on
wages can be used to provide employment in another sector.
All managers and administrators have to prepared and to be
computer literate and internet compliant in line with global
standard..
Office operations will be less of print media but more of
electronic thereby greening the environment also along global
standard. Memos, minutes of meetings, announcement etc can
go from sender to destination through e-mail, management
portal on website etc.
The configuration of the office will change in conformity with
the current standard; more computers, internet facilities, even
recreation will be in compliant.
Most transactions will be done online, the purchase of virtually
everything starting from the smallest sim card, recharged cards to
bigger office equipment. This will block channels of wastage and of
siphoning fund.
Staff will need to update knowledge regularly sharing and
comparing notes, with international bodies, learning and getting to
knowhow things are done with better results elsewhere.
The big picture is that you can afford to be obsolete, monotonous
and static workers of the 19th century but innovative, initiative and
dynamic worker of he 21st century. Information leads to better
knowledge acquisition, knowledge is wealth. This is to corroborate
the France Prime minister’s (2007) position that source of wealth is
no longer natural resources but science and technology, knowledge
economy.
For services, the impact of new technology might
not be limited to the back office. It could require
a change in the role that managers and clients
play in the service delivery process. Customer
reaction to the new technology, determined
through focus groups or interviews, also provide
input into the design to avoid future problems of
acceptance (e.g., consider the need for
surveillance cameras at automated teller
machines).
Country Computers per 1000people Internet Users per 1000 peopleBotswana 40.7 29.7Burkina Faso 1.6 2.1Ghana 3.8 2.3Namibia 70.9 26.7Nigeria 7.1 1.7Senegal 20.4 10.7South Africa 72.6 68.2Tanzania 4.2 2.3Uganda 3.3 2.8Zimbabwe 51.6 42.9
Table 4. Computer and internet usage in selected African nationsSource: World Bank Working Paper No 101 – Developing Science, mathematics and ICT Education in Sub-Saharan Africa
For us in this part of the globe we need to ask how many
are computer literate. How many are internet compliant?
How many are prepared to accept the innovations that
come with ICT as a big innovation? What about the
problems posed by inadequate power supply, inadequate
funding and the absence of political will in pulling the
bull by the horn? It seems we have not started the journey
to relevance. Until we imbibe the right attitudes to doing
things we may never be on the mark to start the race but
remain spectators in the global relevance and economic
development. May God help us.
WHAT TO DO
The computer in your school and office is not for
decoration. Learn and get to use them. Encourage
yourself and staff to take computer literacy quite
seriously. Order for more to complement or go over all
intending users. Get assistance to train your staff and
students from government and other agencies. There are
several non-governmental organizations, UNESCO,
UNICEF willing to help if you seek assistance. To do all
these by the way you need to be computer literate and
internet compliant.
BIBLIOGRAPHYAduwa-Ogiegbaen, S.E. & Iyanmu, E.O.S. (2005). Using Information and communications
technology in secondary Schools in Nigeria: Problems and Prospeects. Educational
Technology and Society, 8, 1, 104-112
Demir, K. (2006). School management information systems in primary schools. The
Turkish online Journal of Educational Technology, 5, 2, Article 6.
Fitzsimmons, J.A. & Fitzsimmons, M.j. (2011). Service Management: Operations,
Strategy, Information Technology. New York; Mc GRaw-Hill Companies, Seventh Edition.
Oloruntegbe, K.O. (2012). Quality and Inequality in Education and Government
Expenditure among Nations: Where do Developing Nations Stand? A Paper presented at
the 6th Annual Conference on Canada International Conference on Education held in
Ontario, June 2012.
Oloruntegbe, K.O. (2011). Information management in Secondary School Administration.
A Paper presented at a Seminar 2011 for Principals and Vice-Principals on Management
Strategies in the Re-articulated Secondary Schools in Ondo State, Nigeria held in Akungba
in September, 2011.
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