Reaping the benefits of technology

Representatives sign the memorandum of agreement between the 10 participating countries and Unesco Bangkok.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), in collaboration with Microsoft Corporation and Cisco Systems, launched the "Next Generation of Teachers Project" on May 16.

The three-year pilot project intends to establish a pre-service training programme in the area of teaching and learning via the use of technology. Unesco has selected 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region to participate in the project. In each country, three Teacher Education Institutions (TEI) will be selected as a pilot group.

"The aim is not just to improve the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) skills of teacher educators and pre-service teachers, but also to ensure they are able to utilise ICT to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, and create innovative learning environments," says Alan K. Jolliffe, project officer at Unesco Bangkok.

The underlying philosophy, he adds, is to prepare for the changing roles of both teachers and students. For teachers, this means that they will increasingly become learning facilitators and collaborators, a shift from knowledge-transmitting and teacher-centred methods.

On the other hand, the role of students will shift from that of passive recipients of information to active participants in the learning process, through collaborating and sharing knowledge with their peers.

After the launch, representatives from 10 countries spent two days in consultative meetings and workshops, during which representatives decided how to best implement the projects in their respective countries.

"We start by conducting a needs analysis of TEIs that examines specific training needs and direction in each country, and how the training can help to reach the goals of each country's educational policies," Jolliffe says.

In Thailand, Unesco's National Committee selected Thailand Cyber University as the first participating institution. In addition, the committee may further recommend a Rajamangala University of Technology, and one of the Rajabhat Universities as a second or third participating institution.

After the needs analysis has been conducted, each country will devise its own plan for implementation. "At the end of the three year period of national subprojects, we will have [formulated] clear approaches that each of these 10 countries need to take in order to enhance the integration of an ICT curriculum in teacher education on a broader scale," Jolliffe says.

According to Jolliffe, Unesco also hopes that these 10 participating countries will become centres of excellence in the Asia-Pacific region, in which participating TEIs subsequently pass on training to other TEIs in their respective countries and across the region.

For more information about the project, contact Mr Alan Jolliffe at 02 391 0577 ext. 218 or email a.jolliffe@unescobkk.org.

Project Timeline Initial Activities (July 2005 - April 2006) - Develop the project proposal with the key players in ICT and education fields - Select 10 countries to participate in the project Official launch (May 16 - 18, 2006) - Select three teacher training institutions and plan conceptual framework for pilot implementation in each country - Design and develop a set of initiatives, approaches, resources, and tools for participating institutions Development Year 1 - Analyse all final proposals in each country - Work with the ministry of education and the selected teacher training institutions to identify appropriate solutions Implementation Year 1 - Form a team to implement solutions in each country Implementation Year 2 - Form strategies and curricula to be implemented in each institution Evaluation Year 3 - Evaluate and document the best practices and share information - Make recommendations to the Ministry of Education in each country to implement the results on a national scale