Book Description

The goal of the United National Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Competency Standards for Teachers (ICT-CST) project is to improve teachers' practice in all areas of a their work. By combining ICT skills with emergent views in pedagogy, curriculum, and school organization, the Standards are designed for the professional development of teachers who will use ICT skills and resources to improve their teaching, collaborate with colleagues, and perhaps ultimately become innovation leaders in their institutions. The overall objective of the project is not only to improve teacher practice but to do it in a way that contributes to a higher quality education system which can, in turn, produce a better informed citizenry and higher quality workforce that, as a result, advances a country's economic and social development. The goal of this paper is to provide professional development partners with information needed to consider their participation in the UNESCO ICT-CST project and to revise or prepare their curriculum and course offering proposals. The paper presents the overall structure of the Standards by: (1) Identifying three complementary approaches that a policymaker can take to connect education reform and teacher professional development with a country's economic and social development policies; (2) Listing six components of the ICT-CST framework; (3) Describing the contents and specifying the levels of the modules that correspond to the six components of each approach; and (4) Detailing the objectives and suggested methods that a professional development provider may use to design learning materials that would support the goals of the UNESCO ICT-CST project. The paper also identifies and discusses issues that providers should consider as they develop or revise their materials. Subsequent materials will detail the mechanism by which professional development providers can submit their curriculum and learning materials for participation in the UNESCO ICT-CST programme. (Contains 3 tables, 2 figures, and 4 footnotes.).