DESCRIPTION OF TRAINING CONTENT
Computing and IT is required by all businesses and jobs in today’s world. Information and Communication technology (ICT) has the potential
to transform teaching and learning processes. According to a recent study in OECD countries, students are more sophisticated in their use of technology than teachers; an inherent discrepancy between student knowledge and usage of ICTs with the abilities of teacher to use ICTs. This suggest that teacher inexperience and skill deficiencies may often be a fundamental factor which prevents the effectiveness of ICT use in education. The same study reveals that the most effective uses of ICT are those in which the teacher, aided by ICTs, may challenge understanding and thinking of pupils, and this can be done through whole-class discussions and/or individual/small group workshops using ICTs. Nowadays, it is widely accepted that the use of ICTs should not aim at completely transforming teacher practices in and of itself but rather enabling and supporting the move from traditional ‘teacher-centric’ teaching styles to more ‘learner-centric’ methods. In other words, making each one of the students active and fully engaged. The ‘ICT skills for Educators’ course is designed to enable participants to improve their teaching practices with the use of specific ICT tools, such as smart boards, web conferencing and webinars, among others, thus, creating a ‘learner-centric’ classroom. This is an ideal course for all teachers, educators & trainers interested in continuing professional development (CPD).
Main Aims
- To guide participants in their achievement of the course learning outcomes
- To provide opportunities for participants to reflect on their own practice
- Prepare participants for implementing course content in their own classrooms
- Enhance participants’ skills to develop their learners’ digital skills and literacy
- To provide a technological toolkit for educators and improve the level of key competences and ICT skills
- To access a variety of on-line resources to promote good practice in education
- Share best practices, ideas and materials between colleagues within the EU
Why ICTE?
The course will allow educators to interact with others to improve their level of IT skills at their own pace enabling their updated knowledge to be used for school improvement. ICTE will improve the educator’s ability to use innovative and student-centred learning approaches and develop appropriate assessment to move their learners forward in their use of ICT. ICTE will enhance the participant’s ability to reduce low achievement of their pupils and students in ICT at the same time developing their pupils’ critical thinking when using ICT. The participants will be able to develop lessons for diverse learners – learners with special needs to high achievers by improving their own confidence to offer IT support. Participants will become a confident user of ICT across a range of medias and applications.
Who to attend ICTE?
The ICTE course is ideal for:
- School principals & directors (primary & secondary)
- Teachers (primary & secondary)
- Academic staff (tertiary)
- Directors & personnel in International coordination offices (tertiary)
- Directors/managers (companies/NGOs)
- IT professionals
- Trainers (formal & non formal education)
Course Content
Module I:
Introduction and course overview
- Ice breaking – team builder game
- Individual expectations – What do you know and what do you want to achieve?
- Discussion on what is ICT and listing a range of medias and applications
- Main strategies supporting ICT implementation in education.
- Support from education institution administration and the community
- Role of the educator and its confidence and motivation
- Introduction/Use of ICTs in my organisation
- Warm-up – Alliteration Introductions.
Module II:
Educators’ subject knowledge influences how ICTs are used: technical abilities.
- Practical exercises in identifying benefits and challenges in using ICT
- ICT tools in education: Input source, output source and others
- Practical exercises in creating animated slideshows
- Web Conferencing/Meeting/Webinars
Module III:
- Social Media
- Practical exercises in designing and creating a blog
- Online information resources: encyclopedia, libraries, journals, magazines
- Reflections of the day, discussion
Module IV:
- Illusion puzzles
- Combination of video, photo and social media
- How can I use ICT tools in practice?
- Reflections of the day, discussion
Module V
- Quick quiz
- Revisit the Flip chart from Monday. Have we achieved what we aimed for?
- Confidence building and time for questions.
- Show the animated slideshows given as homework on Tuesday.
- Ethical dilemmas
- Reflection on using resources and give out resources
- Summary and course evaluation
- Quote of the day and reflection
METHODOLOGY OF THE COURSE – ADDED VALUE
The methodology of the training is based on a combination of three important elements:
- Provision of knowledge required (theory)
- Use of training tools, such as case studies, videos, games, animations & exercises (practice – hands on experience)
- Feedback/reflection (review)
BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS – SKILLS & COMPETENCES
By the end of the course, delegates will have acquired capabilities to:
- To be able to provide technical support to learners in a confident manner
- Have experience of using ICT to support learning and teaching, creating and implementing their own e-learning solutions
- Be a confident user of ICT across a range of media and applications
- Have a positive attitude towards sharing of practice within their own workplace. Be able to promote the use of ICT as a driver to increase quality and relevance of education at all levels.
- Understand and acknowledge the risks relating to the tools we use in ICT.
CERTIFICATIONS AWARDED
- Certificate of attendance & certificate of competence