February 2011
Teacher Training
Is Teacher Training the Solution to Better ICT Usage in Education?
We all know that the current state of ICT usage in education is sub-par. We’ve just had a month’s worth of debate on ICT use in schools with much of it centered on one reoccurring theme: most ICT investments in education are wasted.
I think Sam Carlson expressed the best reason why this is happening during the Live Debate in India, where he successfully argued that There is Enormous Wastage in the Implementation of Education Technology for Schools:
“The basic problem is that teachers are not given the incentives, the time, the encouragement, the opportunity to take advantage of the educational technology, which is made available to them.”
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We Cannot Train More Teachers, We Must Empower Them with Technology
The most popular answer to the question of how to improve the quality of schools and education in developing countries is: Invest in more teachers and more schools.
I think there are few people who would contest that having one full time, fully qualified teacher in front of every class of 25 children would bring education of the highest standards to any country.
But could this really be the solution to the educational problems in poor countries? I sincerely doubt whether this solution is feasible. I even fear it is completely impossible to solve the plight of education in the developing world by this route alone.
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ICT Teacher Training is Possible and Affordable on a National Scale
. In 2003, I was commissioned to provide information and communication technology (ICT) literacy training to all 90,000 public school teachers in Jordan through World Links. The UNDP and the government of Jordan estimated that we would reach 20,000 teachers by 2006. Using a well studied training model, I was able to achieve gradual training […]
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Key Teacher Training Questions: How and What to Train?
I think all people will agree that training in the use of new technology is important. Nobody will disagree this is necessary. The more important questions may be to “Train for what?” and “How to train?”
Today, much of the training is on how to use the technology and is usually done by a technical person who has little experience in teaching. The training covers things like turning on the PC, using the mouse, typing etc and then gets into using Word, Skype and perhaps some educational games or searching for resources with Google.
The trainer does not understand the pedagogy of teaching and there is little focus on how to use ICTs in the classroom for teaching and learning.
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Is Teacher Training the Solution to Better ICT Usage in Education?
. I have often been asked for insights into what would ensure the highest degree of quality integration of technology into the classroom. There are a number of compulsory components that must be effectively addressed if we are to truly observe the full benefits to learners and educators. The one area however that seems to […]
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Even Successful Deployments Have Teacher Training Challenges
The Eastern Townships School Board district in Ontario Province was the first in Canada to widely distribute laptops to its students. In the last eight years, the board has handed out around 5,600 laptops, mostly to students in grades 3 to 11. A preliminary study, posits that: the implementation of ‘one laptop per child’ strategy […]
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