Mike Aston Consultant ICT in Education

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Promising emerging opportunities to improve
the poor effectiveness of teachers professional
development
2
Some stark facts

• 500m users in the developed world and elite of
  the developing world
• 4 billion non-consumers subsisting on less than 2
  US a day in India, China, Brazil, Russia,
  Mexico, Africa and the Eastern European countries
• THIS IS THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

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A possible future

• The non-consumers are the ones that need the
  technology the most because ICT opens up options
  and creates opportunities which up to now have
  not been possible
• ICT can break barriers of geography which have
  existed since time immemorial
• For the non-consumer, ICT is not an alternative
  but an instrument for progress and growth a
  passport to a better life

4
The role of EDUCATION

• UNESCOs Education for All challenge
• Literacy, Numeracy and now ICT
• Many nations are responding to the UNESCO
  challenges

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India

• The Hole in the Wall
• What happens if you provide poor children with
  free, unlimited access to computers and the
  Internet?
• Children respond rapidly and some become teachers
  within a few days
• Creates a demand for low-cost energy and
  technology

6
Uzbekistan

• Of the 10,000 schools, only a few have ICT
  currently but the Council of Ministers are
  planning to have a computer network in every
  school by 2010
• The capacity building for teachers is a huge
  challenge

7
The Digital Divide

• Top
• A travelling school bus on the Isle of Man
• Bottom
• A school bus stationed in Magubu village in Qunu,
  Eastern Cape, South Africa

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Africa

• Welcome to the African Teachers Centre.
• This Centre offers all African teachers
  information, news and resources on issues
  relating to using ICTs for effective teaching and
  teacher professional development. The Teachers
  Centre is a resource mainly for the African
  Teachers Network. The African Teachers Network
  (ATN) is the second flagship project of SchoolNet
  Africa.

9
South Central Asia

• UNESCO sponsors a radio soap in Uzbek and Tajik
  languages
• Deals with
• Family and reproductive health
• Agricultural themes
• Contemporary national issues through story lines
  of the radio serial drama

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Swaziland

• The Computer Education Trust (CET)
• Given the task of implementing and managing a
  computer education project in secondary and high
  schools. Operating in close partnership with the
  Ministry of Education, the CET aims at
  introducing computer skills to teachers and
  students in Swaziland by
• Developing teaching materials appropriate to the
  teaching and learning environment in Swazilands
  schools. 
• Training teachers and students in secondary
  schools.
• Ensuring the provision of appropriate software
  and hardware in schools.

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Expected outcomes

• Computer literacy
• Enhancing quality of life in society
• Reduction of digital divide

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Keys
to effective training programmes

• Introduce applications that provide clear
  benefits for pupils and teachers
• Encourage a broadening awareness of a wide range
  of ICT resources with less emphasis on word
  processing and more on resources which are
  currently underused such as the Internet, e-mail,
  and video-conferencing
• Promulgate the idea of ICTs as tools for lifelong
  learning for teachers as well as their students
• Promote information literacy as well as ICT
  literacy

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Contd.

• Consider the types of ICT resources available to
  teachers in school
• Encourage teachers to reflect on and make
  decision about their own ICT development needs on
  an ongoing basis
• Flexible training and development opportunities

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Professional Development
that Works

• Spend less on hardware, more on human
  infrastructure
• Take teachers seriously and adapt to their needs
• Centre capacity building around practical issues
  instead of computer applications
• Address the emotional dimension

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Contd.

• Create a culture peer of coaching and mutual
  support
• Use surveys and assessment to guide planning
• Provide time for invention and lesson development
• Adapted from Secrets of Success (UNESCO)

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Persist !
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• Thank you for your attention