Introduction
The influence of information technologies on the development of universities has long been discussed by scholars and people interested in education development. Though it is hard to disagree with the idea that once universities used to function perfectly even without the information technologies, it still can be stated that technologies are vital for their development. There is no doubt that without ICTs the students would still be able to study and obtain education of great quality, but it is the primary interest of the universities to improve this quality. Hussin & Ismail (2009, p. 83) keep to an idea that “the general goals of universities are to produce high-quality graduates for the job market, to continuously advance the frontier of knowledge in all the disciplines, and ultimately to advance human civilization.” To fulfill this goal, the universities should do their utmost to ensure the students with necessary means for obtaining a high-quality education. Information and communication technologies can be of great assistance in the attainment of these goals and their implementation is beneficial to the students of the 21st century (Hird, 2000). They find their application in numerous aspects of higher education, including the development of universities (Krutz, 2002). The use of information technologies is one of the most important factors for the development of the universities in the coming decade because it allows them to create information using research and practicing distance education; moreover, technologically developed universities attract a bigger number of students because of the opportunities they may offer them.
Facilitating and accelerating research
What should be mentioned above all is that information and communication technologies may help in the development of the universities through assisting them in research. Innovations that have appeared in information technologies in the past several decades have significantly changed universities (Gupta & Ansari, 2007) and these changes have been extremely beneficial. Information technologies present numerous opportunities for universities to work out new approaches to teaching, learning, and research (National Research Council, 2002). An increase in technology usage will develop the universities further because it will allow them fulfilling one of their primary purposes, namely creating and distributing information through carrying out research projects. It is common knowledge that any research entails a search for information. Using information technologies significantly facilitates this search because “information-handling software can search, sort and represent information in graphs and charts, dealing with a range of media including pictures and sound” (Somekh & Davis, 2000). In addition to this, ICTs, for instance, PCs, allow retrieving and storing large amounts of data, which saves not only time but space. Now all the information which used to be stored in the libraries and archives can be transferred to several personal computers and stored in electronic format which does not damage books and documents. This makes research more convenient and accelerates it enabling the researchers to find different kinds of sources starting from outdated and ending with the latest ones. Thus, the use of information technologies will develop universities because it will accelerate the research processes these educational establishments constantly carry out.
Allowing practicing distance education
Furthermore, ICTs can develop universities because they make distance education possible. Students of distance education make their academic contributions to the universities, which ensures the latter with extra development. ICTs have a central place in distance education (Fitzgerald, Orey, & Branch, 2004) because they make it possible; using the Internet and PCs the students can take online courses and even tests at the end of the semester. These days distance education remains “an important focus of technology use” (Rosenthal, 2000, p.199), which the universities can make use of in the coming decade. Each university that provides students with regular education can expand using ensuring their students with the same quality of distance education. This is likely to demand certain costs, but they will without any doubts pay off in several years. The use of information technologies can be of great assistance when providing these services to the students this is why the universities should be aware of the innovations in the sphere of technologies. Therefore, the increase in implementation of information and communication technologies will not only allow the universities to practice distance education and turn it into a fast and easy process but will help to develop universities increasing the number of their active departments and making them more popular among the population.
Attracting a greater amount of students
Finally, increased use of information technologies will necessarily develop universities because their technological development will attract a great number of students from all over the country and even abroad. Technologically developed universities provide students with an excellent learning environment (Petersons, 2005) this is why modern students take into consideration the universities’ technological development above all. They are interested not only in the resources and access to the Internet which the universities can offer to them but in “technologically advanced on-campus residence halls which range from dorm rooms to apartment-style living spaces” (Petersons, 2005, p. 2172). Since the majority of students come from families whose houses are equipped with all the necessary and sometimes even unnecessary technologies, they expect the same from the university campuses because most of them can hardly imagine their life without them (Kronman, 2007). This concerns not only regular technologies but ICTs as well, because students use their cell phones, iPhones, laptops, palmtops, etc everywhere, which requires the universities to have coverage and available Wi-Fi systems. Some universities prohibit their usage during the classes, but the campuses should still have areas where their use is allowed. This shows that the increased use of information and communication technologies by the universities will make them more technologically developed and attract a bigger amount of students, which will result in their further development.
Conclusion
Taking into consideration everything mentioned above, it can be concluded that information and communication technologies are indeed the most important factor which may influence the development of universities. Ensuring them with modern equipment and keeping trace of the innovation will help the universities develop and remain up-to-date. Better technological development has several advantages for the universities. Firstly, the increased use of ICTs will facilitate the process of research in which every university is engaged because modern ICTs guarantee access to the Internet where any databases can be searched for the most various sources. Secondly, ICTs will make distance education possible for the universities, which will increase the number of students who will further contribute to their development. And thirdly, technologically developed universities will be alluring to the students, especially for those who follow technological innovations. This is why information and communication technologies are vital for the universities and can ensure them with proper development in the future.
References
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- Gupta, V & Ansari, MA 2007, ‘Impact of Information Technology on Societal Development and E-Governance’, Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship, vol. 8, no. 1.
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- Hussin, S & Ismail, A 2009, ‘Goals, components, and factors considered in university development’, Asia Pacific Education Review, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 83-91.
- Kronman, AT 2007, Education’s end: why our colleges and universities have given up on the meaning of life, Yale University Press, New Heaven & London.
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- National Research Council (U.S.) 2002, Preparing for the revolution: information technology and the future of the research university, National Academies Press, Washington.
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