UNESCO-IICBA's Experiences on Online Distance Education for Master Teachers in Africa and on ICT-enhanced Teacher Development
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Abstract
Competence in the integration of technology in curriculum and instruction is fundamental for the professional instructional leader. In regard to the qualitative and quantitative needs of Africa to achieve the EFA goals by 2015 and beyond, UNESCO considers it essential to equip educators with the large possibilities that offer ICT in order to allow them to prepare and deliver quality training. In this sense, UNESCO-IICBA has been engaged in introducing innovative approaches in training teacher educators in Africa through the use of ODL and ICT4TD approaches. The approaches employed involve general as well as subject-specific methodologies. With regard to the general methodology UNESCO-BREDA and UNESCO-IICBA have designed and are putting in place a Moodle-based ODL Platform for Master Teachers in Africa. The platform aims to provide course participants with the background knowledge and practical skills to design, teach, and manage both pre-service and in-service online teacher education programs. This Open Distance Learning (ODL) Course for Master Teacher Trainers in Africa will be delivered using a blended model of face-to-face instruction and 8 online facilitated modules over 16 weeks. It is presented from the practitioner viewpoint and designed for educators who are new or inexperienced in online learning. These modules are : 1) Introduction to Teaching and Learning Online, 2) Learning Styles and Instructional Design, 3) E-Learning and Web 2.0, 4) Planning and Developing an E-Learning Course, 5) Introduction to Course Development With Moodle, 6) UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers, 7) ODL Project: Competency Practicum, and 8) ODL Master Teachers Course Evaluation. The subject-specific ICT-enhanced methodologies are guided, but not limited to, by IICBA’s ICT-enhanced Teacher Standards for Africa (ICTeTSA, http://www.eng.unesco-iicba.org/sites/default/files/ICTeTSA.pdf) and the ICT-enhanced Teacher Development (ICTeTD, http://www.eng.unesco-iicba.org/sites/default/files/ICT-enhanced%20Teacher%20Development.pdf) model. The present work targeted 6 subjects, namely: 1) Biology, 2) Chemistry, 3) Physics, 4) Mathematics, 5) African Geography and 6) African History. The produced modules will be pilot-tested in collaboration with CAMARA-Ethiopia and the final product will be used as open educational resources. // Paper ID: 487
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Africa
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2013-11