Essay Draft 1

Introduction
In this so-called “digital age”, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which is defined as “technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications”, has shown increasing importance in various aspects of human lives, including the education field. Recognizing the paramount importance of ICT in the process of learning and teaching, Malaysia has launched several initiatives such as Smart Schools, SchoolNet, Computer Lab and Educational web TV to integrate the use of ICT in teaching and learning processes in primary and secondary schools. The outcomes of these initiatives were indicated in the “Impact Assessment Studies on the Smart School Integrated Solution (SSIS) and other ICT initiatives”(Frost and Sullivan, 2006), in which 73% of the teachers identified themselves as “upper intermediate users” and 10% of the teachers identified themselves as “advanced users” of ICT literacy. Also shown in the studies were the opinions of students regarding the use of ICT in their learning processes. A vast majority of the students surveyed (97.7 percent) stated that their interest in learning was improved due to the use of computer (Frost and Sullivan, 2006).

Problem identified
Despite the large number of teachers who reported themselves as “upper intermediate” or “advanced” users of ICT skills, a “divide” was still found to exist between younger teachers and senior teachers in primary and secondary schools in the frequency of ICT use for “teaching and learning, searching educational resources, and creating presentation/delivery materials”(Umar and Yusoff, 2014). According to the study done by Umar and Yusoff (2014), senior teachers use ICT significantly less than junior teachers in their teaching and learning processes. This could be caused by the attitudes of senior teachers towards ICT use in education. For example, some of the senior teachers believe that their age is an obstacle for them to adapt to the modern teaching styles and that traditional teaching methods would suffice in educating their students (Raman and Yamat, 2014).

Thesis
Due to the less frequent use of ICT in the learning and teaching process of primary and secondary schools among the senior teachers as compared to junior teachers in Malaysia, the Ministry of Education (MOE) Malaysia should conduct more ICT workshops for senior teachers to encourage senior teachers to incorporate ICT in their classrooms more often.

Solution
To ensure the effectiveness of ICT workshops on the ICT use of senior teachers in classrooms, these workshops should be held with the vision that they will result in an improvement in senior teachers’ ICT skills. The ICT workshops should also raise awareness in senior teachers about the benefits of using ICT in their learning and teaching processes. Thus, experts in ICT should be involved in teaching senior teachers ICT skills such as Powerpoint presentation. Besides, these workshops should also include experience sharing sessions in which junior teachers who have experienced the positive results of ICT utilization in teaching can share their experiences with senior teachers.

Evaluation

Conclusion

References (Not organized yet)
Impact Assessment Studies on the Smart School Integrated Solution (SSIS) and other ICT Initiatives (http://www.mscmalaysia.my/sites/default/files/pdf/publications_references/ImpactStudy.pdf)
A study on Malaysian teachers’ level of ICT skills and practices,
and its impact on teaching and learning (http://ac.els-cdn.com/S1877042814003486/1-s2.0-S1877042814003486-main.pdf?_tid=837931e8-486f-11e4-a30c-00000aab0f27&acdnat=1412060631_54a5d3abab515d456ae4a53ca90f1306)
The Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Technology (http://www.mojet.net/articles/pdf/v02i03/v02-i03-02.pdf)