Infusing Dynamism in Teacher Education through ICT Integration

Technology Integration for Quality Improvement of Pre-Service andIn-Service Teacher Training Programs

IASE, Andhra University- Madan Mohan

The Institution

The Institute of Advanced Studies in Education (IASE), Andhra University was establised in the year1999. The institute provides B. Ed. and M. Ed. Programs. It also imparts in-service training to teachersworking in secondary schools for improving their skills in modern trends and techniques.

The Institute is doing remarkable work in the area of teacher education in all the districts of coastalAndhra Pradesh. It has successfully produced quality teachers and teacher educators to cater to theneeds of teacher education. The faculty members are well qualified and competent to handle thevarious components of teacher education. The entire administration is looked after by the Principalunder the direction of Vice-chancellor, Andhra University. The financial control is with the universityauthorities.

The students come from the all districts of coastal Andhra Pradesh and different socioeconomicbackgrounds. Most of them are from rural backgrounds where their parents’ main occupation isagriculture. Very few students hail from urban areas.

The quality of a teacher who is at present working in schools is neither remarkable nor outstanding.Efforts need to be put forward to enhance the teacher quality at schools for which our institute providesin-service training to secondary school teachers.

Objectives of the Practice

The main purpose of trying out the practice is to ascertain quality teachers and teacher educators whocan meet the standards of the international order and organize quality teaching learning wherever theywork. To achieve this goal, the IASE, AU, aim to be the nodal point for all the colleges of education andschools and to prepare it self to cater to the specific needs of these institutions. To achieve this objective,IASE intends to introduce innovative trends and techniques in the field of teaching learning process,specifically the use of ICT. For this, both the student teachers and teacher educators must be wellversed in ICT. So, IASE is striving hard to incorporate ICT in teaching and learning process.

Need Addressed and the Context

The IASE,AU, imparts training to B. Ed. and M. Ed. students. The B. Ed. program has a course for 100marks on Educational Technology and Computer Education. The ‘Education Technology’ section

54

Infusing Dynamism in Teacher Education through ICT Integration:

Infusing Dynamism in Teacher Education through ICT Integration

deals with an introduction to various electronic equipments like tape recorders, LCD projectors, OHPand films strips for teaching, etc. Training and skill development of audio-visual aids in education hasthus become essential both for teacher educators and teacher trainees.

In ‘computer education’ course, students learn only basic components like M S Office. The Institute isstriving to introduce and integrate ICT in the teaching-learning process and impart higher order ICTskills. The M. Ed. students are required to do their dissertation (200 marks) using only computers andalso presenting his/her work using ICT. This has helped not only in making the students ICT savvy, butalso in creating a technology culture and positive attitude towards ICT integration.

Implementation of the Practice

The B. Ed. students have to undergo micro-teaching and macro-teaching. In micro-teaching, thevarious skills of teaching are taken one at a time and are practiced by following the teach and re-teachcycle till perfection is achieved. The trainee teacher has to present the microteaching components byusing PowerPoint. After micro-teaching, they have to go for macro-teaching or block teaching. Inmacro-teaching, they first observe the demonstration lesson given by the teacher educator. Theteacher educators are required to give demonstrations extensively by using ICT. When theirdemonstrations are over, they have to teach 15 lessons in this block-teaching. In block teaching, thetrainee teachers have to teach at least three lessons using PowerPoint presentations and other ICTs.The trainee students prepare the unit plan, year plan and lesson plan using computers. The B. Ed.students also prepare their achievement record using computers. Thus, by the end of the program thestudents acquire the required computer skills not only related to classroom teaching, but also inmanagement and administration aspects.

The B. Ed. students have 100 marks for technology and a computer education paper which is taught byusing ICT. In this paper the trainee teachers are trained in using various audio-visual instruments inteaching learning process. The M. Ed. students, as mentioned earlier, have a 200 mark dissertationwhich has to be done using computers. The M.Ed. students have to plan seminars every week-end. Allthe student teachers use multimedia presentations for these seminars.

All the B. Ed. and M. Ed. students learn the use of ICT in teaching learning process. Apart from pre-service training the IASE offers in-service training to secondary school teachers. In the in-serviceprograms, teachers learn various computer skills. They are trained to write their lesson plans usingcomputers and use Internet facilities to enhance their knowledge. They are also trained in usingcomputers in other activities of school management as well. This, it is expected, will result in transformingthe practice teaching in schools by developing ICT facilities.

55

Infusing Dynamism in Teacher Education through ICT Integration

Resources Required

The IASE is funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and thus sufficientfunds are available for conducting B. Ed. program and in-service programs for secondary schoolteachers. The M.Ed., program is a self finance course. Overall, the institution has, to a certain extent,assured finances from the MHRD and the University.

Ten Assistant Professors, two Professors and a Principal assisted by a core team of six non-teaching staff, organize the academic activities of the institution. In addition to the 12 teaching staff,guest faculties in specialized areas are invited to visit the department. One faculty member is in-chargeof computer education in the department. He looks after every aspect of computer education like theIntel Teach program, ICT introduction into teaching learning process and any other issues related totechnology integration and deployment.

Challenges Faced and the Solutions Devised

In the beginning, due to lack of a competent computer faculty we had a little difficulty in organizing thecomputer education classes. By the induction of a competent faculty, students received better computereducation and started working with confidence .The institution has also provided for in-house trainingof its faculty and as of now, sufficient faculty is available to teach computers for both pre-service and in-service programs and also to conduct practicals. The faculty have gained experience and skills andare in a position to conduct in-service training (computer skills), to school teachers and also to studentsof the distant mode B. Ed. programs (Padmavathi Mahila University, IGNOU, etc.) Initially there hadbeen a little difficulty in adjusting timings , which was overcome by providing time slots to students afterregular class-work (during evenings). Also the financial situation has improved as ample funds, toupgrade our computer lab and impart training to trainee teachers, and teachers, have been receivedfrom the funding agencies and resource generation by the institution.

Impact/Outcome

The impact of introducing ICT is tremendous and is visible from the improvements in the process ofimparting education in the institution. The students and faculty feel very confident in facing the challengesof a knowledge based society. The various facilities available in the computer education (Internet,computer based learning, etc.) have made us all very enthusiastic , dynamic and abreast of the latestdevelopments. The student trainees use computers for writing their lesson plans, maintaining records,student profiles etc. The faculty use the computer and Internet services to do research, publications,present papers in various seminars and conferences and guest lectures. Overall, the faculty and studentsenhance their knowledge and are well informed because of their access to the Internet and othercomputer facilities. Now, we are in a position to utilize the skills obtained through Intel Teach. We are

56

Infusing Dynamism in Teacher Education through ICT Integration:

Infusing Dynamism in Teacher Education through ICT Integration

able to make our student trainees computer literates and cope with the changing needs of the schoolsystem.

Requirements for Adoption and Adaptation

The Institute of Advanced Studies is a nodal institute for catering to the needs of all the B. Ed. collegesaffiliated to Andhra University. The various B. Ed. colleges can share the resources in areas of computereducation. Having a nodal agency with a good ICT facility and provision for industry-institute linkagewould certainly be a value addition. Imparting INTEL training and other similar professional trainingwould bring quality into the teaching system as a whole. The B. Ed. colleges need to establish computerlabs at least with minimum facilities, and later, like those in IASE in the long run. Institutions like the IASEcan become a nodal point for inspiring other B. Ed. colleges for introducing ICT in the teaching andlearning process.

57

õ õ õ õ õ õ