L3 through ICT CFT Version 3: Emphasis on Teacher Professional Learning

Abstract

The wave of digitalization has opened the portals of digital edification in higher education institutions for promoting and enhancing L3 (Lifelong learning). The future generation will be flooded w ith digital natives and the process of teaching and learning will be certainly digitalized and blended with ICT (Integrated Communication and Technology) tools and techniques to accomplish the contemporary needs of the learners. UNESCO has designed ICT CFT (Competency Framework for Teachers) in 2008 and 2011 for elevating the digital skills of the teachers to nexus technology and education and recently in 2018 it has launched ICT CFT version 3 with the incorporation of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Develo pment. In the view of educational experts, ICT plays the crucial roles in imparting quality education which will inturn create the channels of lifelong learning. The ICT CFT version 3 focuses on six aspects at three levels and comprises of eighteen compete ncies. The centre of attention of this research work is the sixth aspect; Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) at three levels namely knowledge acquisition, knowledge deepening and knowledge creation. It is the need of the hour for the teachers to get embed ded with the competencies of ICT for a paradigm shift from conventional mode to digital. This paper presents an elaborate description of TPL which encompasses three predominant competencies such as Digital literacy, Networking and Teacher as an Innovator a t three levels respectively. Strategies that can be adopted for teachers to acquire the competencies pertaining to TPL are outlined in broader manner. The intensive study on the competencies of TPL strongly highlights that the enrichment of the teacher’s p edagogical use of ICT will embark on lifelong learning to great extent and the knowledge societies can be produced by the teachers with the acquirement of digital skills and mastery over ICT.// Paper ID 44