ICT integration in secondary school education

The use of Information and Communications Technology (Technologies) or ICT is fast gaining credence in all spheres of life. It is the use of technology based devices to access, retrieve, pass (transmit) or create information for various purposes. Today, ICT is one of the fastest evolving phenomena which no one and nothing can ignore. In the field of education for instance,the secondary school  curriculum may have subjects categorized as Science, Languages, Technicals and Humanities. In the latter group are History, Religious Education/Studies and Geography all of which are subjects that many curriculum planners do not ordinarily relate with technology. The following reasons make it necessary however to integrate ICT in the teaching and learning of these subjects:

1. School going children today are able to manipulate technology devices easily and therefore can participate better in the learning and teaching process through ICT devices.
2. Most families including school children themselves have access to cell phones some of which are latest in terms of technology.
3. The teaching and learning process  is more interactive today than it was ten or so years ago and ICT makes this interaction easier, more interesting and learner friendly.
4. Humanities subjects are lately being neglected by both teachers and learners in favour of science and technical ones due to the latter's closeness with technology but true knowledge has theoretical underpinnings which find their basis in some of the humanities.
5. ASEI-PDSI for example which is a strategy being used in Mathematics education is applicable in all subjects and with ICT, it would even make more sense in the learning/teaching process. In the strategy above, the learning activities are student centered with experiment/experience/discovery and improvisation and the same activities are planned and done through the students seeing and improvement being the ultimate goal.

 The philosophy behind education in nearly all the countries of the world is the same which is to make our world a better place to live in through nurturing posterity that has certain desirable values, creating a just human society that looks at development/progress in almost the same way and promoting independence through self actualization by those who are prepared by whatever education system. This be the case, then it is doubtless that ICT integration is central to the entire education spectrum irrespective of level of that education.