A good starting point for teacher development is to form a group of
enthusiasts within a school. Later, this group can be extended to larger
groups of teachers from different schools, and even teachers from different
districts, states, or countries.
Where teacher networks can be built on teachers from different
schools as described under the applying approach above, such networks
should preferably involve some teachers from each school from different
subject areas. Because the way of working in a totally integrated way is so
different from what most teachers are used to, it is most important to
share experiences, adopt common goals and tasks, have involvement and
equal input from all teachers, and have others to lean on and give support
when things do not go quite as expected.
It is often valuable to involve students themselves in the work of a
community. Students can often take responsibility for activities and frequently
have the necessary ICT expertise needed in a particular project.
Further points to consider
Two further points to consider are the following:
One of the roles of a teacher is to help students transform information,
which is everywhere and in enormous quantities on the Internet, into knowledge
that only exists in human brains, and then into wisdom so that they can
transform their own lives and the communities to which they belong.
As ICT puts stress on teamwork and on teacher collaboration, teacher
education and professional development needs to be organized, not for individuals
but for teams, that are both local and global, and where learners are
co-learners.
SUPPORTING INFUSION OF ICT IN SCHOOLS
Infusing ICT throughout a school needs (as in other areas of the school curriculum)
human resources to support users' work and needs. Hence, there
must be experts or specialist teachers who are available to spend a great
amount of time acting as resource persons or ICT coordinators. Without this
kind of human support, infusion unfortunately will not take place, however
favourable other school factors are in creating a supportive climate for ICT.
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