BLENDING ICT IN TEACHER EDUCATIONA comparative Study of ICT Awareness among the StudentTeachers of E-Learning Teacher Education Institutions and non-E-Learning Teacher Education Institutions -: RESEARCHER :Mr. Dipendra V. Bedre Assistant Professor Priyadarshini College of Education Sonegaon, Nagpur -: GUIDE :Dr. Vinaya Ransing Principal Smt Narmadadevi Sharma College of Education, Nagpur Meaning of ICT : ICTs stand for information and communication technologies and are defined, for the purposes of this primer, as „diverse set of technological tools and resources used to communicate, and to create, disseminate, store and manage information. These technologies include computers, the internet, broadcasting technologies (radio and television), and telephony. But ICTs are more than just these technologies. Radio and Television have for over forty years been used for open and distance learning. Although print remains the cheapest, most accessible and therefore most dominant delivery mechanism in both developed and developing countries, the use of computers and the internet is still in its infancy in developing countries, due to limited infrastructure and the attendant high cost of access. E-Learning: Although most commonly associated with higher Education and corporate training, ELearning encompasses learning at all levels, both formal and non-formal, that uses an information network- the internet, an intranet(LAN) or intranet (WAN) – whether wholly or in part, for course delivery, interaction and or facilitation. Others prefer the term online learning. Web-based learning is a subset of learning and refers to learning using an internet browser. What is Blended Learning? Another term that is gaining currency is blended learning. This refers to learning models that combine traditional classroom practice with E-Learning solutions. For example, Students in a traditional class can be assigned both print-based and online materials, have online mentoring session with their Teacher through chat, and are subscribed to a class email list. Or a Web-based training course can be enhanced by periodic face-to-face instruction. “Blending” was prompted by the recognition that no all learning is best achieved in an electronically-mediated environment, particularly on that dispenses with a live instructor altogether. Instead, consideration must be given to the subject matter, the leaning objectives and outcomes, the characteristics of the learners, and the learning context in order to arrive at the optimum mix of instructional and delivery methods. Need of ICT in Teacher Education : “If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the Father, the Mother and the Teacher.” – Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India Teacher is an engineer of the society. The quality of Education depends to a great extent on the quality of Teachers and the quality of Teachers depends on the Education imparting in Teacher training Institutions. Unfortunately, the condition of Teacher Education Institutions is very worst. Researchers find a big gap between the Teacher Education Institutions and emerging English medium school. The graduated Students of Teacher Education Institutions are unable to cope with the development in the English Medium schools. Our Teacher Education Institutions are lacking to fulfil the demands and needs of the English medium schools. Who is responsible for this? There is a big task before today`s Teacher Education. Pre-service training for teacher at secondary stage is all of more importance because secondary Education is a link between elementary and higher secondary stage of Education and occupies a crucial position in the system of Education as general Education terminates here and the Students at this level prepare for making choices through appropriate diversification of courses like professional, arts and science courses. At this stage, we need vision to equip our Students in the present high-tech and competitive society and that will only be through the knowledge of ICT. The 21st century is knowledge-based, technology-driven and fast changing society. So, we need our Teacher Education to be dynamic which can keep pace with the recent development in the transaction of curriculum What will be the future of secondary students regarding ICT? Statement of the Problem: A comparative Study of ICT Awareness among the Student-Teachers of E-Learning Teacher Education Institution and non-E-Learning Teacher Education Institution. Need of Study: According to the article in „EDUCTRACKS‟ Sept. 2011, Teacher Education is struggling to provide their Students with necessary knowledge, skills and valued system and to prepare good citizens for lifelong learning due to environmental changes. To meet this challenges Teacher Education has to focus concurrently on expanding access, improving internal efficiency, promoting teaching-learning and improving classroom processes through the new emerging ICT. But the question is „Do Teacher Education Institutions provide ICT facility to the teachers as well as students?‟ If the answer is yes, then another question can be raised regarding this issue – „Are our Teacher-Educators enough technically competent Teachers?‟ Therefore the Educational Institutions should undertake the innovative programs for Teacher-Educators to update and upgrade their teaching competencies to facilitate the teaching process effectively. There is a great need to facilitates the Educational transaction between providers and users by keeping Students informed about the courses, enhancing Teacher-Students relationship through e-mail, chat sessions, online learning discussion forum, blogs etc., enhancing active learning sharing ideas, providing immediate feedback and encourage pace learning with the help of ICT. This new learning environment created by ICT is called Interactive Learning Environment. So, it is very difficult for the Student-Teachers to meet the needs of Schools where these schools have started providing computer knowledge from very 1st standard. Hence, the researchers have undertaken this research to know the awareness among the Student-Teacher learning in different Teacher Education Institutions. Objectives 1. To find out the awareness among the Student-Teachers of E-Learning Teacher Education Institution. 2. To find out the awareness among the Student-Teachers of non-E-Learning Teacher Education Institution. 3. To find out the mean difference regarding ICT awareness between the Student-Teachers of E-Learning Teacher Education Institution and non-ELearning Teacher Education Institution. 4. To find out the significance of the mean difference regarding ICT awareness between the Student-Teachers of E-Learning Teacher Education Institution and non-E-Learning Teacher Education Institution. Hypothesis 1. There is no significant difference regarding ICT awareness in the StudentTeachers of E-Learning Teacher Education Institutions and non-E-Learning Teacher Education Institutions. Assumptions 1. The Student-Teachers in Teacher training Institutions are normally distributed according to their I.Q. level. 2. Score regarding ICT awareness is normally distributed among the Student– Teachers in Teacher training Institutions. Population All Teacher Education Institutions affiliated to R.T.M. Nagpur University, Nagpur. Sample A sample of 500 students from 10 Education Institutions was randomly selected affiliating to R.T.M. Nagpur University. It comprised of 250 students from E- Learning Teacher Education Institution and 250 from non-E-Learning Teacher Education Institution. S.N. 01 02 Type of Teacher Education Institution E-Learning Teacher Education Institution (Type I) Non-E-Learning Teacher Education Institution (Type II) No. of Students 250 250 Sampling Method Simple Random sampling - Lottery method is used to select sample. Research Methodology The present study adopts Descriptive Survey Method. For the purpose of collection data, the researchers will use a self-constructed questionnaire entitled “ICT Awareness in Student-Teacher” to find out the awareness among the student-teacher of E-Learning Teacher Education Institution and non-E-Learning Teacher Education Institution. Analysis From the collected score Mean, Standard Deviation, and „t‟ values will be calculated and the significance of hypotheses will be established. Conclusion and Suggestion Conclusion will be drawn out and needed suggestions will be provided for further researches. References Best J W; Kahn J V. (2006). Research in Education, New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India Pvt. Ltd. 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