ICT for teacher training

There are two complementary activities under this area - the first is the development of modules for use in training teachers in the use of ICT and the second is a support web-based portal on ICT for teacher training. New technology for teacher training ICT for teacher training portal: guiding teachers through the ICT challenge New technology for teacher training This project is implemented by Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development (APEID). The Project on New Technology in Teacher Training comes under the UNESCO Programme called, "Reform of education in the perspective of education for all throughout life" This project places an emphasis, on the one hand, on imparting competencies in the use of new technologies (e.g. computers, the Internet) to teachers and other educational personnel and, on the other hand, on the more effective use of new technologies (e.g. television, radio, computers and the Internet) in the training and retraining of teachers and teacher educators on a large scale.

The reform of teacher education through the use of new technology becomes an urgent task in view of the current reality that new learning environments taking place in the emerging knowledge-based society are impinging on the roles of teachers. These are characterized by the paradigm shift in education from the old concept of 'education' to learning, from the shifts in the teaching-learning process as well as the emergence of new spaces of learning from schools to work places, communities and mass media, from childhood to adulthood and from real to digital and virtual learning environments. These changes have generated new types of learners, new process of learning and new approaches to evaluation of learning, which in turn have contributed to the changed roles of teachers from the conventional ones to a series of new roles. The teachers are no longer the sole source of information. They are only one of the multiple sources of knowledge and thus work better as facilitator of knowledge. They are also now a proactive agent of change and active participant in transformation, a specialist in teaching with new technologies, and a teacher continuously learning throughout life. These worldwide changes in the roles of teachers and therefore their corresponding competencies have to be either developed or upgraded, if the teachers are to deal with the demands of the new learning environments and to ensure that the learners are being prepared to face the challenges of the new knowledge-based economy as well. This implies the use of ICT in Education, training and retraining of teachers in the new tools and technologies of education especially through the pre- and in-service teacher education and other professional development courses aimed at not only equipping the teachers with knowledge and skills to use ICT in classrooms but also in renovating all aspects of teacher education. There are many issues that are related to the task of building knowledge and skills of teachers in the use of ICT in classrooms which need to be examined. To address these issues ACEID of UNESCO-Regional Bureau of Education for Asia and the Pacific embarked on a project to implement the development of a package of modules and CD ROM to equip teachers with knowledge and skills in the use of ICT for teaching/learning.

Objectives 1. To develop teachers' understanding of the roles of technology in teaching-learning processes in an information society, and upgrade teachers' knowledge/skills in using new ICTs in the changing environment; 2. To develop exemplary/pilot training modules for effective use by teachers, in the form of a Resource Kit on ICTs for teachers; 3. To produce and disseminate the Resource Kit or training modules/materials through both print and CD-ROM; and 4. To build national/institutional capacity in using new ICTs in teacher education through "training of trainers" workshops at local, national and regional levels. Thus this project will hopefully result in new visions and positive attitudes toward new technology; a set of training modules incorporated into a Resource Kit on ICTs for Teachers, produced in print and CD-ROMs; and national/institutional capacity strengthened through series of training workshops. Strategies/activities To implement this project, the following chronological activities were undertaken: 1) The first activity was a planning exercise through an Expert Consultative Workshop held in March at UNESCO Bangkok for developing a Master Plan to implement this activity. It was participated in by experts from Australia, Belgium, China, Japan, Philippines, Republic of Korea and Thailand. The workshop identified the topics of the modules and each of the experts was assigned to prepare the topic assigned to them. 2) The next six months saw the development of the modules by the experts. The six modules were: ICT for Teachers in Changed Roles in a Knowledge Society ICT Application in Education ICT Integrated into Teaching-Learning process ICT for Teaching Sciences ICT for Teaching Humanistic Values and Civics ICT for Teachers Technological Fundamentals 3) In order to review and critique the first draft of modules developed, an Experts Meeting for Review/Revision of developed training modules was held in November in Macao hosted by UNESCO Centre for Macao. The following draft modules were presented for critique: ICT in the Context of the Emerging Knowledge Society by Group T of the Leuven

Institute of Technology, Leuven Institute of Education. Workshop on ICT for Teacher Training by Dr. Hitendra K. Pillay, Director, Centre for Cognitive Processes in Learning, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology.

Technological Dimensions Application in ICT Teaching presented by Mr. Leo Querubin, Manager, Business Development, Sun Microsystems. Using ICT in education and its application in research by Prof. Fumihiko Shinohara, Faculty of Education, Tokyo Gakugei University ICT in Science Teaching and Learning by Dr. Miao Fengchun, Director, ICT in Schools, Basic Education Curriculum Centre, Beijing Normal University. Teaching Humanistic Values (Social Studies) Using ICT by Ms. Debbie Lacuesta of SEAMEO Regional Center for Educational Innovations and Technology (Innotech)

The meeting provided comments and suggestions for further improvement of the modules in terms of presentation, inclusion of more examples from Asia and making them lessons more interactive, among others. 4) Based on the discussions, the modules underwent second revisions and were presented during the Special Interest Group (SIG) Session of the 7th ACEID Conference held in December 2001 in Bangkok. Some of the modules had been revised and submitted in CD ROMs and can be accessed by clicking on above-cited titles with hyperlinks. 5) Once the complete set of modules are finalized and submitted in CD ROMs, they will be pretested in selected countries and schools during their teacher training programmes. The results of the pilot testing will be incorporated in the finalization of the modules 6) The final phase of the project will involve the printing of the reproduction in both print form and CD ROM where they will be distributed to countries for use in the training of teachers. ICT for teacher training portal: guiding teachers through the ICT challenge In order to support the project cited above, Information Programmes and Services (IPS) created a Portal on ICT for teacher training for teachers who need to develop the know-how and skills in the use of ICT to be able to perform their new roles. Currently the site is undergoing a radical overhaul to make it more user-friendly and rich in current resources. Until the relaunch of the site in November 2003, the portal provides information, materials, and links organised in the following sections: 1. The ICT in Education section offers links to articles, research studies, and papers that explain how education has changed to adapt to the new knowledge society and how information technology has contributed to educational reform and improvements in teaching and learning. 2. Teachers' Roles in the ICT Environment provides links to websites that discuss the new knowledge, skills and competencies required of teachers and the changes brought about in teaching and learning. Included are articles that explain how ICT can motivate teachers, assist them when confronted with teaching problems, and help them to become more effective educators. 3. ICT Strategies and Online Courses is a section the first part of which describes experiences and programmes dealing with professional development and training of teachers, specifically describing implementing objectives, modalities and strategies, and lessons learned. The second part provides links to online courses that teachers can join in order to upgrade their knowledge and skills in using ICT for teaching.

4. Integrating ICT into Teaching Lessons site contains links that explain the use of IT in classroom teaching and learning, curriculum development, and collaborative projects. Some sites provide examples of how teachers are incorporating ICT into their teaching. 5. Teaching Ideas, Lessons and Curriculum Materials provides ready-made lesson plans, activities, and curriculum materials for teaching of various subjects: arts, health, physical education, mathematics, science, social studies, information technology, geography and more. It also offers lessons and teaching-learning materials which employ multi-media techniques and bring real events into the classroom. 6. Educational Software/Courseware, here computer applications for teaching specific subject areas, arts and graphics, computer learning and tools, games, simulations, teacher tools, music, health and fitness, hobbies and databases are made available. Some links critically review and rate existing software and offer guidelines for conducting evaluation. 7. Using Internet Resources provides many links offering criteria for critically evaluating Web pages in terms of authenticity, applicability, latest update, authorship, bias and usability. It also gives a checklist for rating cyber contents and discusses privacy, copyright and legal issues. 8. The Electronic Collaboration section presents experiences and success stories in communicating with classrooms or professionals around the world. It focuses on undertaking electronic collaborative learning activities and using electronic networks to facilitate collaborative projects dealing with curriculum/lesson planning and development, classroom instruction, chats and discussion forums, and group research. 9. Bringing Your Classroom Online includes a variety of sites that offer guidelines for going online, setting up Web-based curriculum materials and courseware, and using network software and applications to upload assignments or class papers. 10. Evaluation and Assessment Tools and Indicators includes many sites which examine the availability of ICT in schools and how they are being used. Some sites present discussions of the relationship between using computers and gains in learning. The site also provides specific tools and instruments for evaluating the effectiveness of ICT in schools. Teaching and Learning ICT pervades modern society to the extent that many countries now regard the mastery of information and communication technology as a core element of basic education alongside literacy and numeracy. But ICT is more than just another subject for students to study; ICT has the potential to be a valuable tool in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. For example, the use of radio programmes in classrooms can provide interesting and relevant content in subjects such as social studies and English language; while computer simulations and visualization technologies can help students to learn complex concepts in more concrete ways.

An examination of countries in the Asia-Pacific region has shown that in this region ICT is not being used to its full potential in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. There are both technical and capacity-related barriers that have to be overcome. Many countries of the region do not make use of ICT at all in their education systems due to technical barriers (such as lack of infrastructure, equipment and connectivity) but even in countries where the technical barriers have been overcome and ICT is present in classrooms, other kinds of barriers remain. In these countries, ICT is often used simply as a supplement for existing pedagogical practices. However in order to fulfil the potential of ICT as a tool for enhancing teaching and learning, ICT must be fully integrated into pedagogical processes, which requires a cognitive shift on the part of educators, curriculum developers, administrators and policymakers. Projects which focus on ICT use in teaching and learning that have been implemented as part of the UNESCO ICT in Education programme include: UNESCO SchoolNet - Strengthening ICT in Schools and SchoolNet Project in ASEAN

Setting Improving Management and Delivery of Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) through the Application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

ICT pervades modern society to the extent that many countries now regard the mastery of information and communication technology as a core element of basic education alongside literacy and numeracy. But ICT is more than just another subject for students to study; ICT has the potential to be a valuable tool in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. For example, the use of radio programmes in classrooms can provide interesting and relevant content in subjects such as social studies and English language; while computer simulations and visualization technologies can help students to learn complex concepts in more concrete ways.

An examination of countries in the Asia-Pacific region has shown that in this region ICT is not being used to its full potential in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. There are both technical and capacity-related barriers that have to be overcome. Many countries of the region do not make use of ICT at all in their education systems due to technical barriers (such as lack of infrastructure, equipment and connectivity) but even in countries where the technical barriers have been overcome and ICT is present in classrooms, other kinds of barriers remain. In these countries, ICT is often used simply as a supplement for existing pedagogical practices. However in order to fulfil the potential of ICT as a tool for enhancing teaching and learning, ICT must be fully integrated into pedagogical processes, which requires a cognitive shift on the part of educators, curriculum developers, administrators and policymakers. Projects which focus on ICT use in teaching and learning that have been implemented as part of the UNESCO ICT in Education programme include: UNESCO SchoolNet - Strengthening ICT in Schools and SchoolNet Project in ASEAN

Setting Improving Management and Delivery of Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) through the Application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)