Information Communication Technologies (ICT) for Education Projects in ASEAN: Can We Close the Digital Divide?

Abstract

One of the main challenges facing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is to achieve sustainable development by bridging the digital divide throughout the region. During the past ten years, the member states of ASEAN have made significant investments in ICT infrastructure in order to increase ICT accessibility and adoption rates among the people residing in the ASEAN region. ASEAN, through the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), launched the ASEAN ICT Master Plan 2015 in 2011. The sixth strategy of this plan is “bridging the digital divide” in order to eliminate the ICT development gap across the ASEAN region and to increase ICT in education through various initiatives. This chapter synthesizes the qualitative and quantitative research articles published between 2005 and 2015 that focused on the implementation of ICT in the education programs in ASEAN. In light of Van Dijk’s (The deepening divide: Inequality in the information society. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, Van Dijk 2005) causal and sequential model of digital technology, the objectives of this chapter are to provide a comprehensive overview of the current situation regarding ICT for education programs in ASEAN countries, and to identify the barriers to ICT adoption and use in education. The results indicate that some ASEAN member states such as Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam began investing in ICT infrastructures and Internet connection only in the last few years. On the other hand, other member states such as Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore have further developed ICT projects in their schools. The teacher’s technical mastery of ICT skills in integrating ICT into student learning in Thailand is insufficient. Teachers have suggested that the ICT training courses should include creating educational media lessons in order to enhance teachers’ operational ICT skills. Accessing ICT in the Bruneian, Singaporean, and Malaysian schools is limited, despite much investment in ICT infrastructure, computers, and professional training. Barriers to such access still exist, and especially after receiving ICT training, teachers report lack of time to integrate ICT into their classes due to heavy workloads. The findings offer policy makers ideas concerning guidance in terms of strengthening the efficacy of ICT for education programs and achieving the ASEAN ICT master plan 2015 in closing the digital divide and reaching sustainable development goals in the ASEAN region.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Diagram Showing the Study Selection Procedure

Appendix 2: Lists of Included Studies

No	Author/year	Country	Educational level	ICT tools	Methodology	Participant characteristics	Findings
1	Salleh and Kumar (2014)	Brunei Darussalam	Primary school level	ICT for learning programs	Quantitative	66 government primary schools 66 school principals, and 1138 teachers who were at that time working in government primary schools	47 % of school principles that placed emphasis on the integration of ICT in the teaching and learning process
2	Seyal (2012)	Brunei Darussalam	Primary school level	Computer, software, and Internet	Quantitative	122 Bruneian primary school principals	79 % of the principals prioritize the integration of computer technology in the classroom 69 % of the principals assist teachers in integrating ICT into the classroom 28 % of the principals offer teachers time to use ICT devices
3	Richardson et al. (2014)	Cambodia	Secondary school level	Computer and Internet	Quantitative	1137 students enrolled in three urban upper-secondary schools in Cambodia	Scarcity of computers, low accessibility, and computer anxiety
4	Dionys (2012)	Cambodia	NA	Desktop computers, DVD player, TV, projector, and netbook	Qualitative	Document	Teacher trainers have experienced computer anxiety
5	Shin et al. (2014)	Cambodia	Secondary level	Internet and computers	Quantitative	121 secondary school teachers in Cambodia	Limited ICT usage due to low ICT infrastructure and insufficient teacher training programs
6	Jayson (2011)	Cambodia	Preschool level Primary school level and secondary school level	Computer hardware and software, printers, scanners, digital cameras, digital recorders, and Internet	Mixed methods	379 Cambodian teachers were given the questionnaires and 17 Cambodian teacher trainers	Low ICT infrastructures and Internet connection
7	Rye (2009)	Indonesia	Higher education level	E-learning programs and Internet connection	Qualitative case study	Documents, observation and interviews with key informants including the students, the dean, the vice-dean, members of the research and development department, heads of the computer department and the regional office, the UT academic staff, and external lecturers and tutors of the Universitas Terbuka	Poor ICT infrastructure, resource management, and ICT plan in the rural areas of Indonesia
8	Safitry et al. (2015)	Indonesia	Not identified	Computer hardware, and software	Quantitative	30 elementary school teachers in Cipayung, Depok, West Java, Indonesia	Low competency level in using Microsoft Office, search engines, and e-mail Only 30 % of the teachers always use computers in the classroom
9	Copriady (2014)	Indonesia	Secondary school level	CD-ROM, computers, Internet, e-mail	Quantitative	874 Indonesian high school teachers	Motivation plays a crucial role in enhancing the use of ICT in the classroom.
10	Arokiasamy et al. (2015)	Malaysia	Secondary school level	Computers	Quantitative	520 secondary school principals in the state of Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia	Low ICT skills including database use, spreadsheets, presentation/multimedia software, and the Internet
11	Aziz and Shah (2015)	Malaysia	Secondary school level	ICT learning tools	Qualitative	12 English teachers from an independent Chinese secondary school in Malaysia	Teachers have a heavy workload, lack of time. and low ICT skills Negative attitude toward using ICT in the classroom
12	Abdullah et al. (2009)	Malaysia	University level	Electronic distance learning and computer	Quantitative	500 students enrolled in undergraduate degrees at the University Technology Mara in Malaysia	Adult students experienced computer anxiety
13	Chan Yuen et al. (2011)	Malaysia	Undergraduate education level	Computer and Internet	Quantitative	70 pre-service teaching English as a second language (TESL) teachers in the Faculty of Education from a public university in Malaysia	Poor ICT facility and ICT technical service in schools
14	Hamzah et al. (2009)	Malaysia	Primary and secondary levels	Computer hardware and software and Internet	Qualitative	Seven focus group interviews were held in four schools Participants included ten teachers and seventeen students in two states, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan	An insufficient number of computers prevents teachers from integrating ICT in the learning and teaching process
15	Kaur and Sidhu (2010)	Malaysia	Undergraduate level	Computer, e-mail and Internet	Qualitative	30 part-time first-year students who enrolled in education course at the Faculty of Education in a private university located in the state of Selangor, Malaysia	Low computer and Internet accessibility
16	Yieng and Saat (2013)	Malaysia	Primary school and secondary school levels	Computer	Qualitative	Using data from Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)	Low computer usage rate
17	Wan Zah Wan et al. (2009)	Malaysia	Secondary school level	Computers and Internet	Qualitative	Document analysis, interviews, and observations were conducted in three technology-rich Malaysian secondary schools	Teachers have heavy workload and lack of time to integrate ICT into the learning process
18	Gardner and Yaacob (2009)	Malaysia	Primary school level	CD-ROM	Qualitative	Observation and in-depth interviews with four or five teachers and students from four classes in four primary schools from two districts in Kedah Malaysia	Teachers report a lack of time to integrate the CD-ROM into English language lessons
19	Masagca and Londerio (2008)	The Philippines	Primary level	Computers, e-mail, and Internet	Qualitative	20 teachers who enrolled in the master’s program of colleges and universities and employed by public and private schools in Luzon, the Philippines	Teachers with economic disadvantage and low digital skill have limited access to the Internet
20	Rodrigo (2005)	The Philippines	Primary and secondary school levels	Software, Internet, CD-ROM, and computer	Quantitative	79 public schools 74 private schools	High student-to-computer ratios Limited ICT infrastructure
21	Lim (2015)	Singapore	Secondary school level	ICT learning tools	Qualitative	21 teachers that teach subjects in areas such as language, humanities, mathematics, and the sciences	ICT is a time-consuming task Heavy workload prevents the integration of ICT in the classroom Teachers not only reported that ICT
22	Lim (2007)	Singapore	Primary school level Secondary school level Junior college level	ICT learning tools	Qualitative	Teachers and students in five primary schools, three secondary schools, and two junior colleges in Singapore	Teachers and students in Singapore place more emphasis on “improving examination results” or “making the grade” rather than integrating ICT in classroom
23	Choy et al. (2009)	Singapore	Higher education level	Computer hardware and software and Internet	Mixed methods	Questionnaires were distributed to 118 students enrolled in postgraduate teacher education programs in Singapore and in-depth interviews were conducted among 10 students	Out-of-date software and low-speed Internet
24	Pruet et al. (2014)	Thailand	Undergraduate and graduate levels	Tablet computer	Quantitative	213 grade two students in economically underprivileged regions of North Thailand	high learning competitiveness and high levels of anxiety toward tablet use among rural students
25	Tongkaw (2013)	Thailand	Undergraduate and graduate levels	ICT resources	Qualitative	Five stakeholders including higher education leaders, policy makers, technicians, lecturers, policy makers, and students that were at that time implementing ICT in local universities located in 41 provinces across Thailand	Low availability of ICT materials Poor management of ICT infrastructure in terms of plans and resource management Limited ICT technical support in classrooms
26	Akarawang et al. (2015)	Thailand	Primary school and secondary school levels	Computer hardware and software, and Internet	Mixed method	Questionnaires were distributed to 377 teachers from 35 schools in the northeastern part of Thailand In-depth interviews were conducted among 12 key informants, including 4 school directors and 8 teachers	Teachers reported a lack of the teachers’ technical mastery of ICT skills in integrating ICT in the student learning process
27	Peeraer and Van Petegem (2011)	Vietnam	Preschool, and primary and secondary school level	Computers and Internet	Quantitative	783 teachers that were at that time working in five Vietnamese teacher education institutions	Lack of computer confidence and low basic computer, Internet, and maintenance and security skills