bei for internationla education


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Management Tools for the Educational System

Educational systems are known as stable institutions, not prone to rapid changes and innovations. It is possible that a significant number of teachers and school administrators will resist the introduction of ICT in their schools. In this regard, a powerful modeling example is that of a Ministry of Education that introduces ICT to its management, gradually pressing all levels of administration -- central, regional, district and school -- to use technology for all their information processing needs, including information gathering and distribution. At the most important level -- the school -- the pressure to provide and receive information to and from the central system digitally is a powerful message and a driving force towards change. Centralized systems normally have a well-consolidated circuit of information flow to and from all levels of the system. A change in a general rule or ordinance generally moves gradually through the circuit until it eventually reaches the classroom teacher or the parents if it is relevant to them. It is an administrator’s responsibility at each level to decide when to move each piece of information and to whom. This reflects a power structure that imposes restrictions on the transparent and rapid flow of information. ICT can have a rapid and powerful impact on this structure by changing the rules of information flow. For example, all educational information can be placed for the teachers, administrators, parents and the community at large on a public web site. See for example, http://www.mineduc.cl.