EFFECTIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGIES TO PROMOTE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.4 Teachers training
It is often argued that teachers are reluctant to use ICT in their class due to a lack of technological skills. Consequently, it is believed that younger teachers, who are more used to ICT, introduce ICT more easily into their practice. Yet, the two believes are erroneous: not only new teachers do not use ICT more often than older teachers, but there is no apparent correlation between a teacher’s technological skills and their educational use of ICT. “Technology-focused” training, based on the use of a software or platform, lead to a “back-office” use, to prepare or transmit educational material, but do not predict a use of technologies in class. Only training based on an educational use of ICT can make their use in class easier. The “Survey of Schools” came to the same conclusion as it reports that teachers use ICT mostly to prepare their lessons and that educational software and other digital tools are more used at home than in class.
In this respect, teachers’ initial training has an important role to play. It should not only explicitly train teachers to use ICT, but should also integrate ICT as a training tool. Indeed, an important “modelling effect” is observed insofar as future teachers would tend to reproduce the practices they were exposed to during their training, both in the courses they attend and in class situation they observe during internships (Viens, Peraya, Karsenti, 2002). Teachers should also learn when to use ICT (and when not to), and how to adapt their practices to make the best of ICT rather than merely replace traditional practices (e.g. replace a blackboard and chalk with an interactive whiteboard).
ICT training is not only a matter for initial training, it needs to be part of a school policy if a school genuinely wants to become a school community, with staff and students engaged in progressing skills and understanding on all fronts, there has to be a culture within that school whereby pedagogical issues, discussions about methods, teaching and learning are sees as having value and are encouraged. In this respect, it must also be noted that the most skilled and confident users of a particular piece of ICT are likely to be the pupils themselves. Therefore, teachers might consider ways in which pupils might make a contribution to ICT staff development.
Online Resources
- Pour des usages des TIC au service de l’apprentissage. (In French)Article (2007) about the integration of ICT in education. M. Bétrancourt, Université de Genève.
- Comment s’articulent les facteurs qui influencent leur utilisation ? (In French)Karsenti, T (2007)
- Le rapport des futurs enseignants à l’utilisation de l’informatique pédagogie : fondements et trajectoire longitudinale (In French)Larose, F., Grenon, V., Lenoir, Y. et Desbien, J.-F. (2007)
- Etude pilote sur la mise en oeuvre et les perceptions des TIC (In French)Gonzalez, L. (2004)
- Impact des TIC sur l'attitude, la motivation et le changement dans les pratiques pédagogiques des futurs enseignants. (In French)Karsenti, T (2004)
- Effects of an educational computing course on preservice and in service teachers: a discussion and analysis of attitudes and useThis study (Yildirim, 2000) examined the changes in preservice and in-service teachers’ attitudes toward computers following their participation in an educational computing class, and it explored the factors that contributed to their computer use.
- Survey of Schools: ICT in educationSurvey (2013) conducted by European Schoolnet and the University of Liège about the use and provision of ICT in European schools.
- Effective use of ICT in Science Education (EU-ISE). Chapter 4 ICT and Science – Training for teachers in ScotlandReport by Bob Kibble (2005) about ICT teacher training in Scotland, looking into teacher’s willingness, confidence and skills in using ICT in class. Also includes five examples of activities used in training course
- Teacher training and usage of ICT in educationArticle (2015) focusing on expanding basic concepts and dimensions of teacher training related to ICT and who is being trained in ICT and on the teacher usage of digital curriculum and assessment in education.
- Teachers, Teaching and ICTsWhat do we know about successful pedagogical strategies utilizing ICTs for teaching and learning? What is known about effective teacher professional development? What do we know about the impact of ICTs on teacher performance? What do we know about the impact of ICTs on teacher motivation?
- Develop your skills – professional development opportunitiesEuropean Schoolnet also offers distant opportunities such as webinars and online training to reach out to a larger number of teachers
- Teacher Training and Usage of ICT in Education. New directions for the UIS global data collection in the post-2015 contextPaper developed to help strengthen the conceptual framework of ICT in education with specific reference to the importance of collecting data relevant to teacher training in relation to ICT and its usage in the classroom
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