Conceptual modeling for employing information and communication technology (ICT) in classroom teaching

The use of ICT in teaching has been questioned on its effectiveness and appropriateness due to the inability to convince how its incorporation into teaching is based on sound educational theories. No matter how hard the advocates try to put forward the merits of the use of ICT in teaching, there is no systematic means to demonstrate the educational relevancy of ICT. Hence, ICT was just seen as a tool to assist teaching rather than part of the curriculum. This situation would hinder the future development and application of ICT in teaching. Conceptual modeling which is used to capture the semantic of the physical and social world around us for information systems development is a powerful tool to help abstract a complex process. Conceptual modeling is extensively used in information technology community. It helps improve understanding of sophisticated situation and provides a precise vehicle for communication among parties concerned. We attempt to borrow conceptual modeling from Information Systems Development for better understanding the use of ICT in classroom teaching. The major tasks addressed by this paper are to discuss what types of information should be expressed in the models and to determine how to best represent that information.