The document discusses how digital technology has impacted education. It begins by describing traditional education systems which centered around schools, teachers, and print media. The emergence of digital technologies has opened up new avenues for learning by making information more accessible online. Some key impacts highlighted include: 1) Education has reached more parts of the world through online learning. 2) Technologies like databases, document management systems, and networks help organize and share knowledge more effectively. 3) Multimedia tools like graphics, animation, sound and video make information more engaging when represented digitally. 4) The internet and intranets allow information to be accessed anywhere, while search engines aid information retrieval. 5) Knowledge sharing

1. Impact of Digital Technology on Education
G.N. Wikramanayake
University of Colombo School of Computing
E-mail: gnw@ucsc.cmb.ac.lk
ABSTRACT A teacher has to be well educated and
knowledgeable to be able to educate others.
Traditionally education is centred on sources Also they have to acquire the skills of retaining
such as schools, teachers and print media. The student’s attention and deliver content in an
learners reached the information sources by effective way. Thus teaching is an important
enrolling with schools, teachers and libraries. profession and people respected them as they
Prior to the digital era, information was not guided and assisted the learners to be useful
accessible by the majority of people, and even citizens of the country. Due to the respect
those accessed were unable to obtain current earned by the society teaching was one of the
information with respect to today’s context. social service activities. Also most activities
The modern society wants to know the people then used to do were centred at village
information as it happens and when it level and teaching too was carried out at
happens, and the world is moving from an villages where small populations used to live.
information society to a knowledge society.
Thus education is given the highest priority With emerge of industrial and commercial
and brainpower is becoming the most valuable cities people have moved out of villages to
asset of an organisation. these cities for various forms of employment.
When the population increased the demand for
Advances in digital technology have opened up learning also goes up and thus the traditional
many avenues of learning. Technology has schools or pirivenas could not cope with the
made information accessible / transmittable demand. Thus new schools had to be created
from anywhere and by / to all groups of and existing schools had to be expanded, and
people. Education has reached most parts of new teachers were required to deliver
the world and ICT has become an integral part education. To meet the demand inexperienced,
of human life. under qualified and under trained personnel
This paper describes the process of were used and thus the profession has changed
generation, creation and acquisition of from a social service to a commercial business.
knowledge through the technology. The use of Business is governed by remuneration and
ICT to manage and organise explicit when it is lower the capable people tends to
knowledge is highlighted. The paper also seek other employment offering higher
describes how technology is used to access remunerations. Past governments used this
and apply such knowledge. The paper relates sector as an employment creation section thus
how these technologies have been used in contributing towards the deterioration of the
education and its impact in general. Using sector.
examples the paper highlights some of the
changes that has taken placed in the Sri
Lankan education sector. 1.1 Electronic and Digital Era
Electronic era commenced with the use of
wireless electronic communication over 100
1. TRADITIONAL EDUCATION years ago. Transmitting telegraph messages
In Sri Lankan context, formal education was and the radio are among the important
traditionally centred on schools and pirivenas applications of this technology. The messages
at village level while non-formal education were passed through the air, invisibly, on radio
was centred in libraries at central places in the waves. Since then the technology use has
form of newspapers and books. Teachers moved from radio, to recordings, to movies, to
delivered the formal education either following television, to computers, to CDs, CD ROMs &
a textbook or notes prepared using books and the Internet [11].
their experiences. The learners enrolled and This technology was very useful to convey
visited the places that offered formal instant urgent messages and well as to make
education. The libraries offered supplementary people be aware current local and international
reading material to enhance their learning as news. This has become an informal but
well as reference facilities. effective form of education.

2. The transformation of analogue signals to Intranets are the backbones. They provide
digital emerged a new technology that was transparent speedy transfer of knowledge
capable of eliminating transmission errors and among people and applications. Internet
performing the same task some efficiently. applications built using software and tools
Digital technology has been around for over 50 allow collaborative intelligent access to
years with the wide use of the technology for knowledge. Appropriate access and
computers and other electronic equipment. authentication layers ensure the security aspect
Since early 1960s educators and computer of such systems. Data and document bases act
scientist began using computers for teaching as the repositories to generate the knowledge.
purposes. Initially it was used as reading and
typing text to provide instructions of how to
use the computer due to its low-level 2.1 Organisation of Explicit
interaction with users and later to solve some Knowledge
time consuming problems. However with the
invention of affordable microcomputers and Organisation and managing explicit knowledge
the integration of text, graphics and colour includes generation, creation or acquisition of
there was a rapid spread of computers in knowledge. Such activities could be performed
business, educational institutes and homes [1]. through tools such as RDBMS and EDMS.
Computers first came to Sri Lanka in the late
1960’s and around the same time computing
2.1.1 RDBMS
was introduced to the curriculum of University
of Colombo. Learning about computers grew One of the most commonly used tools to
from understanding how computer works, to manage information is a relational database
programming it to perform specific tasks, to management system (RDBMS). RDBMS have
use of it to perform daily activities. been used by IT applications to manage
operational data. The same technology is now
Computers also evolved from manipulation of
been used for knowledge management.
text and numbers to interaction via text,
RDBMS traditionally managed text and
graphics, voice and pointing devices. The
primitive data types such as numbers and date.
ability to network many computers to share
Knowledge has to be represented using beyond
information and resources was another step
the traditional data types such as character
forward. With all these advances there has
strings and numbers. Thus other forms of
been a steady and dramatic decrease in cost of
representations such as images and videos are
a computer. Along with these courseware and
required. Multimedia databases have
better integration of text, graphics and colour
immerged to manage such data.
appeared making education material more
effective. Operational data of educational management
system are managed using this technology.
Graphical power and use of mouse on a par
Student registration data, evaluation results
with keyboard made the most impact with
and their performances are recorded using
respect to attracting laypeople to use
student information systems. In Sri Lanka use
computers. The growth of the Internet from a
of such systems is restricted to a handful and
small group of academics and government
they too do not fully exploit the facilities on
officials exchanging textual material into a
offer. In most cases only few ad hock activities
world wide resource, with millions of people
involving a handful of employees are
using it for diverse activities such as shopping,
performed using technology. Lack of capable
banking, researching, forums, exchanging and
and willingness employees at operational level
sharing information, access to digital libraries
have hampered the use of information systems
and of course e-learning have already made an
for daily activities. Also the inability to take
impact to the society. This has and will
necessary actions at the management level has
transform everything we do.
contributed towards this fallback.
2. SUPPORTING 2.1.2 EDMS
TECHNOLOGIES AND
Electronic Document Management System
APPLICATIONS (EDMS) is a rapidly developing technology
There are a number of technology components and is considered as the solution for
available to built knowledge management organizations that needs a way to manage the
systems [2]. Local area networks, Internet and information efficiently. EDMS applications
focus on the control of electronic documents

3. throughout their entire life cycle, from creation Bitmaps (paint) graphics and vector (draw)
to eventual archiving. Its functions include graphics are two basic forms of still graphics.
document creation, storage and retrieval, Each type has its own characteristics and
management, version control, workflow and satisfies different needs. Bitmaps stores the
multiple-delivery formats [7]. graphics as seen on screen while vector
graphics stores the instructions of how the
EDMS allows managing the documentation of
graphics is created.
an entire process. With respect to education
this task is achieved through an enhanced and Colour is an important component of a picture.
more effective process called e-learning. However when producing graphics colours
Although some organisation in Sri Lanka uses should be chosen carefully to ensure effective
systems for their daily activities, most are not and pleasing displays. Human eye react to light
looking at these possibilities. When intensity and to the three colours red, green
considering educational institutes in Sri Lanka and blue. Like in the case of fonts and sizes of
the use of e-learning has been around for the text, the choice of colour composition has
last two years. The BIT external degree immediate aesthetic impact.
programme of University of Colombo School
of Computing (UCSC) has allowed private
institutes to expose their students to e-learning. 2.2.3 Animation
Animation adds impact to a presentation.
Unlike text and graphics these are dynamic
2.2 Media for Explicit Knowledge time based media. The visual impact of
Explicit knowledge could be represented using animation is to harness the learning process.
different media. Text, graphics, animation, Animations usually take forms like moving an
sound and video are the media to represent object across the screen, user-controlled
them [3]. Unlike the traditional media in forms movement of an object, bitmap flipping and
of books information stored digitally can be full animation files. Authoring tools are used
preserved without any forms of distortion and to create such objects.
they can be accessed easily and quickly from
any part of the world.
2.2.4 Sound
All forms of verbal communication use sound.
2.2.1 Text Technology has been used to transmit sound
across the universe. Teacher’s voice has been
Text is one of the most effective components the primary focus in delivering knowledge.
of representing knowledge. The words Sound could be represented using computers,
embodied as text, convey a powerful message and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital
and this has been widely used in handwritten Interface) and digital audio are the two basic
and print media. Most data and information is file types used in multimedia systems. A
represented through this medium. It is multimedia system requires the use of speech,
impossible to convey an unambiguous music or special sound effects. When used for
message without text. To convey a message education, speech should be short, manageable
effectively the message should be specific, and integrated with other media. It should be
definite, concrete and precise. Selection of used as a complementary to text.
suitable fonts and size is important for
legibility and aesthetic effects.
Learning is concerned, summarised text is 2.2.5 Video
used to identify the important points and Video occupies the most disk space and
detailed descriptions are for explanations and
bandwidth when used over the network. Hence
subsequent supplementary reading.
video can be integrated with other media only
through use of edited segmented video clips
each conveying a specific message.
2.2.2 Graphics
Text and graphics are the basic components of
multimedia systems. Text without graphics 2.3 Accessing Explicit Knowledge
will fail to retain person’s attention as well as
long-term retention. RDBMS and EDMS manage the explicit
knowledge. They are accessed using various

4. technologies such as Internet, Intranet, Search Workflow Tools allow documents and other
Engines and workflow tools [2]. forms of information to be routed among
individuals and applications according to
predefined processes. Workflow tools allow
2.3.1 Internet setting up the workflow environment in terms
of users, types of information, processes,
Internet provides a cost effective global timing constraints and alternatives. These tools
network backbone. It connects users from are used in some organizations, but not yet
anywhere, as long as they have access to the
exploited by the education sector. Teachers
web. This has allowed users to host could use these tools to effectively
information on their computers and make them communicate with their students. We see e-
available for others. Such computers need to learning systems gradually incorporating some
be dedicated for that purpose as users will be
of these characteristics.
searching for information at different times.
These sites are called web sites and they are
connected to the web on 7x24. This technology
intends to provide unrestricted access to 2.4 Using Explicit Knowledge
information. An educational institute will The explicit knowledge that was accessed
publish all information relevant to the public should be able to use effectively. For this it is
through their web sites. This technology has necessary to ensure that the information
made information accessible as it happens and gathered is presented in a useful manner. Tools
people access them at any time they want to do such as Decision Support Systems (DSS), data
so. mining and data warehousing are available for
such purposes. These tools are just lying
around for use by most users and education
2.3.2 Intranet sector is no exception.
Intranet is used only within an organisation,
thus restrict access to information from outside
the organisation. The appropriate security 2.4.1 Decision Support System (DSS)
measures (e.g. firewalls) implements such DSS are software products that transform
requirements. These web sites allow operational data into useful information such
employees and authorised users to access as statistical models and trend analysis for
information while protecting the same from used by the management for decision-making.
others. This technology is used to share They summarise internal and external data into
confidential information within an graphs, charts and simple reports.
organisation. Teachers and administrators
could monitor the overall status of a student
and hence take appropriate actions promptly.
2.4.2 Data Mining
Teachers can also make their learning material
and exercises available through them. Some e- Data mining is a process to discover new
learning systems runs on these networks with knowledge from existing databases. Here,
login accounts created for its users. sophisticated data searching techniques and
statistical algorithms are used to discover
patterns and correlations in vast quantities of
2.3.3 Search Engines data.
Search Engines are very effective powerful
tools that allow text based information
retrieval. Web based search engines deploy 2.4.4 Data Warehousing
different types of navigation strategies. Meta Many organisations have several databases
searching, hierarchical searching, attribute existing within their organisation. A data
searching and content searching are among warehouse attempts to unify all these
them. This facility is now widely used by most databases. The technology aggregates the data
users of the Internet. This has helped from different databases and cleans the data in
researchers, teachers and students to reach the the process of attempting to increase the
required information and acquire the quantity of the data. Effective data mining
knowledge. could then be performed. The paper in [5]
described one such an attempt with respect to
the education sector in Sri Lanka.
2.3.4 Workflow

5. 2.5 Sharing Knowledge events involving these universities and well as
some local and overseas institutions have
Knowledge sharing is done among a network already made use of this facility. Video
of people. Communication among people conferencing facilities are also available in
could be done through paper mail, fax and other places such as distant learning centre.
telephone. However these techniques are
synchronous and less effective across
geographical boundaries. IT provides more 2.5.3 Virtual Meeting
effective solutions through the use of e-mail,
video conferencing, virtual meeting, and Virtual meetings allow people from different
document collaboration [1, 2]. locations connect with each other to conduct
meetings and share knowledge as if everyone
Combined use of knowledge sharing were in the same room. Applications such as
techniques will allow reaching them beyond presentation graphics, spreadsheets and word
geographical boundaries and performing processing can be shared in real time. Such
businesses and services more effectively. activities are being used in Sri Lanka and the
extent of it varies among users.
2.5.1 E-mail Stock exchange has reached beyond Colombo
due to use of technology and the same is
E-mail allows sharing knowledge required for education. We see many students
asynchronously. An individual could share from Galle, Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunegala,
knowledge with a community by sending a Ratnapura districts coming to Colombo on
message to a group of people. Distribution list daily basis in search of good education. Such
eliminate the need for everyone to remember needs could be reduced if similar facilities
the names of the community and also ensure could be made available in these districts.
everyone gets the message. Good resource personnel are reluctant to travel
Creating student groups, teachers and well as out of Colombo due to the long travel hours.
students share knowledge and this is practised However if through Vishwa Grame Kendra
to some extent in Sri Lanka as well. At UCSC project [4] access to technology is made
we use distribution lists to communicate with available people from Colombo could reach
current and past students. them remotely and country will benefit in the
long run. Officials from public services
including education, travel to Colombo for
2.5.2 Video Conferencing regular meetings. Planned organised virtual
meetings could save time and effort of these
Telephone allowed voice communication people.
among distant personnel. This has evolved not
only to view a live video of the person but also Educational Institutions created to deliver
to connect to a number of people. Although the knowledge have yet to adopt technology for
technology is costly it is been used for this purpose. Universities, technical education
scheduled meetings involving people centres should use them on regular basis. In
internationally. Universities having campuses developed countries computers has become a
spread over a larger geographical locations day-to-day tool like a radio and a television.
have their staff meetings through such However developing countries such as Sri
technology. This saves travel time of Lanka are way behind in order to provide the
individual. If the time saved and it is used required technology, as the infrastructure does
effectively the organisation and society will not support an affordable solution beyond the
benefit in the long run. city of Colombo.
Some universities use this technology for
teaching as well. Students ask questions by 2.5.4 Document Collaboration
posting them to the teacher using the
technology. Such systems require each student Document collaboration lets team members’
to have their individual computer with the work together with many other participants
ability receive and interact with the system. with documents or information in real time.
We witnessed use of such technology at the Everyone can manage and use information in
Multimedia University in Malaysia. Although real time.
the facility to use video conferencing is Documents in digitised form can be
available among universities such as Colombo, transmitted to a remote place in the exact form
Moratuwa, Peradeniya and Ruhuna it is yet to and reproduced any number of times. Digital
be used on regular basis. However, many

6. information leads to tremendous saving of invention of projection through a computer, a
space, time and maintenance, while providing teacher can easily update his material as well.
easy access, storage, management and retrieval The same material can also be printed and the
of information. Chances of non-availability, students are able to obtain it without having to
losing or misplacing of documents is rare and copy them. This technology has now evolved
documents that fall under this category are not only to project text and figures, but also
accessible even after many years of isolation. animations, video clips etc.. Thus the teachers
are now equipped with tools to teach
Those who use technology have been able to
effectively. Figure 1 summarises these options.
reduce their printing and postal cost
dramatically. At UCSC we no longer post
notices and application forms to our external
students. They access / download them at any Method Teacher Student
time they want. Verbal Dictate Listen and
explanations copy
3. CHANGES TAKEN PLACED Writing Blackboard / Copy notes
during class whiteboard &
Availability of vast amount of information on Chalk / Pen
the web has provided access to all types of
learning material. The teacher’s lecture notes Pre-written Overhead Copy notes
are no longer the primary focus of a learning transparencies Projector
process, and the teacher’s role and the Pre-prepared Multimedia Printed
student’s learning process is changing [10]. slides projector & material
computer
3.1 Paradigm Shift e-learning Provide Learn
learning through
Paradigm shifts in today’s world have material participation
identified the Machine / Industrial era being
replaced by Technology / Information era. Figure 1: Classroom Facilities
Similarly production process has moved from
Products to Knowledge, Workplace has moved
from Physical to Virtual and its focus has 3.2.1 Teacher’s Role
changed from Worker to Customer [8]. In the modern global learning environment
In terms of education this means we should teacher’s role shifts from "dispenser of
create Knowledge that is accessible virtually information" to "facilitator of learning" as he
with the focus on the student. Virtual access is has only to guide the active students who are
achieved through Internet / Intranets. involved in using the e-learning material.
Techniques such as e-mail, web notices, Classrooms have been fully equipped with
discussion forums and video conferencing permanent multimedia projectors and
allow a student to access information without computers and the facilitator needs to access
visiting the physical location of delivery. A the e-learning system through the Intranet.
typical interactive e-learning system will have Teachers should not control the learning
these characteristics and thus demonstrates the process as well as they should allow students
paradigm shift. to perform collaborative work and make some
decisions on their own.
The changes that are happening in teaching
3.2 Classroom Level and learning were discussed in [10] with the
Use of technology at classroom level was not aid of two case studies. The key technologies
possible until the teachers delivery and practices of e-learning at University of
mechanisms were aided with technology. Western Sydney were highlighted there and it
Originally delivery mechanism was through was compared with the activities of the
verbal communication and then through the external degrees program at UCSC.
introduction of written media such as
blackboards. Later through overhead projectors
teachers were able to do the writing in advance 3.2.2 Student’s Role
and project them directly. Use of overhead Some classrooms are equipped with computer
transparencies allowed them to reuse written access to all students. In such cases students
material but without improving them. With the

7. interactively participate in the learning languages. This could be supported through
process. Now the student’s focus is totally on Unicode.
the learning process than on copying note as
Learning computing has now been introduced
the learning material can be accessed at a
at schools as well. Currently it is targeted only
future time.
at advanced level students. However with time
Teachers should ensure that knowledge and this facility should be available for students at
skills are not presented to students directly, but the ordinary level like in the western countries.
are constructed by them in response to
information and learning tasks. Teachers need
to consider how these learning experiences 3.4 Society
could be encouraging to students who are
performing this type of mental work. Using computers for public services is
gradually wide spreading. Although these
Thus student who used to learn facts and skills benefits are currently enjoyed by a small
by absorbing the content presented by teachers fraction of the population the availability will
and media resources should move towards encourage others to join and enjoy the benefits
creating personal knowledge by acting on of technology.
content provided by teachers, media resources,
and personal experiences. The focus should be For example, some banks have moved towards
on acquiring higher order skills like problem providing most of their services through the
solving and critical thinking. web. This includes managing their accounts,
placing standing orders and settlement of bills.
This allows the customer to make a virtual
visit to his bank at anytime he wish and obtain
3.2.3 Curriculum Characteristics
the required service. Other services such as
In order to change the teacher’s and student’s withdrawing cash, depositing cheques etc. can
role the curriculum also needs to be revised. be done through the teller machines which are
Traditional curriculum would focus on also accessible at anytime.
fragmented knowledge and disciplinary
Wireless local area networks allow users to
separation. However now we should focus on
access shared information without looking for
multidisciplinary themes as future generation
a place to plug in their laptops. This
will need the ability to move through several
technology is being made available in some
different jobs. Thus establishment of basic
public places and organisations. Educational
literacy and focusing heavily on job specific
centres such as Universities and Libraries
skills is pointless, as one has to change jobs or
should have such facilities, as future
manage many jobs by themselves. Therefore it
generation will be carrying mobile equipment
is important to emphasise on thinking skills,
to access facilities. Information users now
knowledge integration and application. Depth
carry their laptops, PDA, smart phones, CDs,
of understanding will be required than breath
thumb drives with them for fast and precise
of knowledge [6].
access to their day to day material.
A public library is a knowledge centre [9]. To
3.2.4 Assessments provide services through technology it should
not only allow members to view available
With changes to the learning process the
books, but should also allow viewing of
assessment methods should also change.
content pages and abstracts. In the case of
Instead of measuring a student on fact
research papers the facility to download
knowledge and discrete skills, assessments
papers, journals and thesis is provided. User
should focus on application of knowledge.
must also have a facility to interact with the
This will allow testing of problem solving
librarian, suggest procurements, interact with
skills of a student. Students should also be
publishers, receive alters on outstanding
given tasks to demonstrate understanding and
books, late fees and collection of books
creativity.
reserved.
3.3 Language Barriers 3.5 Infrastructure Facilities
Most Sri Lankan learner’s first language is not
Educators confront with the issue of equity
English. Hence some find it difficult grasp the
when they consider introducing technology to
concepts through reading. Hence there is a
learn. To develop a country and provide
need for supplementary material in native
everybody equal facilities is impossible with

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