Computer Based Functional Literacy in ICT among Teachers and their Epistemological Understanding

The rapid growth of ICT enables the teachers more affordable in learning that satisfies their professional growth. The implementation of ICT in schools by teachers is in the forefront of education reforms locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. The development of economy and education at global level is based on the education system of that nation, where ICT plays very important role. U.S.A., Japan, Finland and other countries believe that the development of education system is based on ICT. Currently, the development of ICT has led to a widespread attention of using ICT to advance the educational goals. This is in part driven by the belief that ICT can play an important role in adapting the approaches from traditional to constructive and the shaping of education. Recent developments across the world have moved from the mind set of using ICT as a teaching and learning aid, but of shaping the delivery of contents and bringing about the changes in education from education in the industrial society to education in the information society. The effective use of ICT may be the key reason in the intellectual growth of teachers along with schools. Teachers, using ICT in teaching make their class more constructive and learners’ learning-oriented. In the age of digitalization, most of the teachers remain untouched from the ICT devices in the Indian context. Despite having 6.5% computer literacy, India is the second largest internet user. Besides these the computer based functional literacy rate among teachers is very low. There are not only several possibilities in improving the quality of education by the use of ICT but also many challenges in achieving the goal of the education in Indian education system. For making the education more innovative and more constructive, the understanding about the implementation of ICT devices is very essential. To support traditional teaching method there are several ICT based pedagogical tools. What are the beliefs (personal conception), regarding the use of those ICT based pedagogical tools? The personal conception about the use of ICT is the personal epistemology (Epistemological Understanding) of the teachers. Teaching with ICT, teachers’ beliefs about knowledge and knowing (epistemic beliefs or personal epistemology) for ICT use may play an important role in the classrooms, which is the part of computer based functional literacy. Several variables affect ICT understanding among teachers. The scrappy growth of information and communication technology (ICT) has created a huge challenge for education. Like other developing countries India is also facing some challenges regarding the use of ICT by teachers. Several teaching ads make the classroom very effective and productive but the success of ICT implementation depends on related challenges. Identification of the challenges can help in improving the teaching and learning outcomes. This paper made a sincere effort to comprehend the epistemological understanding (epistemic beliefs) of ICT among teachers. This paper also throws the light upon the possibilities and challenges regarding the use of ICT in Indian education system.