CARIBBEAN TEACHERS EMBRACE ICT

Hundreds of teachers across the Caribbean are rapidly developing their skills and knowledge of information and communication technology (ICT) with the support of COL. The Commonwealth Certificate for Teacher ICT Integration (CCTI) is an innovative open and distance learning programme that uses teachers to mentor other teachers on how to integrate ICT into school management, teaching and learning.

CCTI aims to improve the experience of teaching in the classroom with ICT and increase school managers’ involvement in ICT implementation. Originally offered by SchoolNet South Africa in many African countries, CCTI is now available to Ministries of Education and teacher training institutions throughout the Commonwealth. Materials can be freely used as is or adapted to suit local needs.

Typically a two-year part-time course, CCTI helps to build local capacity in ICT by training mentors – teachers who each go on to train 25 more teachers. In The Bahamas, 50 mentors are being trained. Another 54 are being trained in Trinidad & Tobago, and Antigua & Barbuda is initiating mentor training in the last quarter of 2011. Guyana’s experience is highlighted in the sidebar on page 2. The course can be offered as a full qualification, as part of existing qualifications or as in-service modules.

ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, LEARNING FOR IN-SERVICE TEACHERS

CCTI is well-suited to provide professional development to in-service teachers. All course materials are provided on CD-ROMs. Teachers are assigned to mentors who oversee the completion of modules, give advice and coordinate assignments. Activities are practical and school- or classroom-based. Group interaction is an important feature of CCTI; teachers and managers gain a better understanding of ICT and enhance their learning through online interaction. These activities are normally organised by Ministries of Education.

Each country decides how the course will be conducted, how it will be accredited/recognised, which technologies to use and what learning management tools to deploy. Modules cover themes such as:

• The range of ICT in schools,
• The different roles of teachers and managers and how ICT can support them,
• ICT skills for teachers and managers,
• Assessing ICT integration,
• Developing ICT teaching and learning resources, and
• ICT leadership in schools.

Accreditation is organised through local teacher training institutions.

“There are two urgent demands on teachers related to ICT: in addition to being able to introduce technology to learners, teachers must be able to use those technologies to enhance teaching and learning,” said Ms. Trudi van Wyk, COL Education Specialist, eLearning. “Our aim is that every teacher, manager and administrator is ‘ICT capable’ – that they have the ability to effectively use ICT creatively and innovatively.”

Teacher ICT integration involves three overlapping elements:

• Content: Knowledge of what they teach in their subject/learning area
• Technology: Knowledge of technologies that support teaching and how to use them
• Pedagogy: Knowledge of teaching methods

COL, SchoolNet SA and other partners are constantly assessing the relevance of the course materials. Two new modules are being developed: one for ICT and the development of 21st century skills and one on the use of ICT for classroom management. Other modules are being repurposed and updated to keep track of new developments in ICT and needs in countries.

The CCTI is aligned with the internationally recognised UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (CFT) (http://tinyurl.com/UNESCO_CFT).

The CCTI is part of a larger joint initiative between COL,Microsoft and the Commonwealth Secretariat. The three partnerssigned a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this year covering18 Caribbean countries and territories, setting the stage for a much broader regional roll-out of ICT education initiatives in the Caribbean.

COL envisages extension of the partnership and the CCTI to interested countries in Africa and the Pacific.

www.col.org/eLearning

NARROWING THE DIGITAL GAP IN GUYANA  (sidebar)

Recognising that increasing ICT literacy in the Education sector is essential to narrowing the digital gap, the Government of Guyana has embarked on an ICT in Education strategy in partnership with COL, the Commonwealth Secretariat and Microsoft. The partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding in November 2009 to develop and implement an ICT Professional Development Strategy for Teachers in Guyana.

The National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) within Guyana’s Ministry of Education is leading the strategy, which has ambitious goals. In addition to training all teachers in basic computer literacy by 2012, the Government has committed to equip all schools (65 primary and 80 secondary) with computer laboratories and conduct extensive ICT training with educators.

Nearly two years into the five-year programme, the Ministry of Education recently reported the following progress:

• 3,500 teachers have been trained in basic computer literacy.
• 30 schools are running SuccessMaker software, which offers online learning programmes.
• More than 100 secondary school teachers are competent to deliver Computer Science syllabi.
• The number of students studying Computer Science has tripled in the past two years.

PCF7 TO BE HELD IN NIGERIA

COL’s Seventh Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF7) will be held in Abuja, Nigeria in November 2013, co-hosted by the Federal Ministry of Education. The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is the lead partner institution.