MODEL INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATORS IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

The ultimate objective of this research is to develop a draft model for educational administrators in Pakistan. To achieve this objective a mixed methods research design was used and the study was completed in different phases. In the first phase, literature search was carried out by using standard sources and tools for the better understanding of theoretical and technical aspects of the study. Major areas covered in the literature review include: a) a discussion of the information overload in this information age and its burden on information searcher and user. Furthermore, how an Information System (IS) can help the information searcher/user. The discussion goes forward and discusses the case of educational administrators as information searchers and users; b) the design considerations of an educational information system along with available examples of information systems of the world are part of the review. A review of related studies is also given; c) the information needs, seeking behavior and work tasks etc of educational administrators are also presented; and d) the last section presents an overview of Pakistani perspective i.e., educational administration, information system and networks in education, etc. A review of related studies is also presented in this section. This thorough literature search and review led to the second phase of the study i.e. the survey instruments development. In this phase the quantitative data were collected with the help of survey instruments. For finding the information needs and seeking behavior through questionnaire survey, a selected group of experts from the public sector institutes, who, in their discharge of day to day administrative work, have to depend upon the information system in education, were identified with the help of reviewed literature and discussion with experts. Thus the educational administrators i.e., Registrars/Deans/Heads of Departments in universities and principals of schools and colleges (public sector) were identified as the target population and were selected through multistage cluster sampling. The respondents were from the Punjab province and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). In total, 297 (99%) responses were received and analyzed quantitatively. Interviews of three different categories of experts (i.e., educational administrators, Information and library professionals, and Information system experts) were also conducted for the in- depth understanding of respondents’ point of view and phenomena under study. The purposively selected sample of interviewees was working in well known institutes (public and private sectors) of Punjab province and ICT and had better understanding of the area under study. Fifty five interview responses were qualitatively analyzed. In the third phase, an initial draft of a centralized information system entitled ‘Pakistan National Information System for Educational Administrators-PAK-NISEA’ accessible through integrated web-based environment was proposed on the basis of findings of the study. The initial draft was sent to the purposively selected experts of Library & Information Science, Information System and Education within the country and abroad. In the final phase, the initial draft model was revised and finalized for presentation in the light of responses by 28 experts. The development of the information system is proposed in phases by using the Spiral Model. Services and access mechanism are tried to be made more user-centered with the help of Knowledge Environment Model. Major components of the model include: primary users; geographic acquisition and distribution coverage and type of information acquired; media classification; information acquisition; information selection; information processing; information storage; products and services; and management structure and funding.