Achieve Universal Primary Education is one of the main development objectives. The Dakar Framework of Action for Education for All (EFA), adopted in 2000 as a roadmap to meet the Education for All goals by 2015, highlights the role that Information and communication technologies (ICT) has to support EFA goals at an affordable cost. ICTs have great potential for knowledge dissemination, effective learning and the development of more efficient education services.
ICT can also help to accelerate teacher training as the world is facing an acute and growing shortage of teachers with currently,60 million teachers in the world, but another 15-35 million needed to achieve Education for All by 2015.
However, effective integration of emerging ICTs in traditional education models is impeded by many factors. A key retardation factor relates to the lack of proper ICT competencies on the part of teachers.
Today's classroom teachers must be prepared to provide technology-supported learning opportunities for their students. Being prepared to use technology and knowing how that technology can support student learning must become integral skills in every teacher's professional repertoire.
Teachers must be prepared to empower students with the advantages technology can bring. Schools and classrooms, both real and virtual, must have teachers who are equipped with technology resources and skills and who can effectively teach the necessary subject matter content while incorporating technology concepts and skills. Real-world connections, primary source material, and sophisticated data-gathering and analysis tools are only a few of the resources that enable teachers to provide heretofore-unimaginable opportunities for conceptual understanding.
Traditional educational practices no longer provide prospective teachers with all the necessary skills for teaching students, who must be able to survive economically in today's workplace. Teachers must teach students to apply strategies for solving problems and to use appropriate tools for learning, collaborating, and communicating.
The problem is not necessarily lack of funds, but lack of adequate training and lack of understanding of how computers can be used to enrich the learning experience.
Objectives
The proposed community of practice is envisioned to engage global stakeholders in this important field of "ICT Competencies for Teachers" in order to find ways to arrive at the following objectives:
- Improve the training of new teachers in the use of technology.
- Ensure that every teacher has the skills to take online learning courses.
- Improve the quality and consistency of teacher education through standards, measurement, accountability and increased technology resources.
- Ensure that every teacher knows how to use data to personalize instruction. This is marked by the ability to interpret data to understand student progress and challenges,
- Drive daily decisions and design instructional interventions to customize instruction for every student's unique needs.
Deliverables
- An online environment for information exchange among all stakeholders in the field of ICT competencies and teacher training,
- A structured and guided discussion around the desired elements of teacher training in order to equip teachers with the appropriate skills to use the technology in an optimal fashion,
- A draft set of standards for ICT competencies for teachers,
- Guidelines for training curriculum developers to ensure compliance with the foregoing standards,
- Establishment of an international supervisory board to monitor global efforts in teacher training.
Lead organization
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Partners
- Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative. (GeSCI)
- Intel Corporation
- Microsoft
- Virginia Tech University, USA