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.