Application of ICT in University Curriculum Development

Abstract

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are a diverse set of technological tools and resources used for creating, storing, managing and communicating information. For educational purposes, ICT can be used to support teaching and learning as well as research activities including collaborative learning and inquiry. One of the main applications of ICT in higher education is curriculum development based on these new technologies.This research is concentrated on the obstacles, facilitators, and the risks of using these technologies in curriculum development in higher education. The main purpose of this research is to answer to the question that in which fields and to what extent there are obstacles, facilitators and the risks in using ICT in curriculum development at university level? This research has been done at the National University of Iran, the second largest university in the country; the research population consists of university academics and students. A questionnaire has been administrated for gathering the data. The main results are reported based on the following: the possible domains of using ICT in curriculum decision making in higher education; Obstacles of using ICT in curriculum development at university level; Facilitating factors and essential supports needed for application of ICT in curriculum development of higher education; and Advantages and disadvantages of using ICT for curricular activities at university level.