Do new information and communications technologies have a role to play in achieving quality professional development for teachers in the global south?
Abstract
Underpinning this paper is the view that Africa must drive its own development, but that educators world-wide need to support this process if quality teaching and learning is to be achieved for all. It is addressed to the international community of educators and educational policy makers, who, it is argued, need to commit to joint action and creative research in respect of the challenge of Education for All. The paper concludes that information and communication technologies can no longer be viewed as some sort of optional pedagogic strategy available in ever increasing sophistication, as well as quantity, to only a small proportion of the world's teachers. Information and communication technologies need to be seen as an essential aspect of teaching's cultural toolkit in the 21st century, affording new and transformative models of development that extend the nature and reach of teacher learning wherever it takes place. Such models must be experienced, shared and evaluated by educators world wide if the global commitment to achievement of the EFA targets is to become a reality.
Citation
Curriculum Journal (2005) 16 (3), 37 pp.