ICT Applications for Continuing Teacher Education

Prof. Vasudha Kamat Joint Director, Central Institute of Educational Technology, NCERT, New Delhi, India vasudhak2000@gmail.com, jdciet.ncert@nic.in

INTRODUCTION The theme for UNESCO World Teachers Day-2009 was Build the Future: Invest in Teachers Now. Well trained Teachers are not readily in the market and any nation must invest in their quality training for building their future. Today India is in dire need of trained teachers in millions. Why does such a situation arise? How to approach this situation? How to increase the reach? Would technology help? These and such other questions are being raised. Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), an apex institute working in the field of Educational Technology and a constituent unit of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) tried to find out some answers to these questions. This paper takes the readers through this journey. RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT (RTE) : IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER PREPARATION In the year 2009 India took a bold step and a leap forward by passing an Act called Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009. It came into force from April 1, 2010. Under this Act, every child of the age of 6 to 14 years shall have a right to Free and Compulsory Education in a neighbourhood school till completion of Elementary Education. Some statistics related to elementary education in India for 2008-09 are as below (DISE, 2009): Number of Schools (Grade I VIII) : 1.3 m Number of Students (I- V) : 134.4 m Number of Students (VI- VIII) : 53.4 m Number of Teachers : 5.8 m

Professionally Trained Teachers In-Service Teachers trained

Requirement of trained Teachers

: :

82% 35%

It is envisaged that there will be a requirement of 2 m trained teachers, about 750,000 part time Art Teachers and 750,000 Physical Education Teachers. This is a huge requirement under RTE Act. UNIVERSALIZATION OF SECONDARY EDUCATION (RMSA) The Second major step taken by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India is introduction of Universalization of Secondary Education (Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan) in 2009. Physical targets of this Movement are as below: Improving the enrolment ratio for classes IX-X from 52.26% (2005-06) to 75% within 5 years Estimated additional enrolment of 3.2 m by 2011-12 Appointment of 179,000 additional teachers Projections suggest an increase in absolute demand for secondary education between 2007-08 and 201718 of around 17 million students per year, with total enrollment growing from 40 to 57 million students.

(World Bank, 2009). It is envisaged that the Secondary Level Enrolment (for Grades IX to XII) will be about 40 m. This again brings challenge of having a demand for 500,000 teachers. It is estimated that presently there are 523000 teacher posts vacant in the States, with large inter-state variations. Estimates prepared by National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) and Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) show that implementation of the RTE Act would require the appointment of 510000 additional teachers over and above the existing vacancies of 523000. (India Development Gateway, 2010) IN-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING: NEED AND ISSUES National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) has suggested various routes for continuous teacher preparation (NCFTE, 2009): Short and Long Term Courses, Use of Distance Media, Sabbatical for Study and Research, Professional Conferences and Meetings, Professional Fora, Resource Rooms and Materials, Faculty Exchange Visits and Fellowships etc. (NCFTE, 2009). Generally In-service Training of elementary teachers is a responsibility of District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs). TECHNOLOGIES FOR IN-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING CIET used new technologies for in-service teacher training. Some of these technologies are Educational Satellite, Mobile Technology, Multipoint Technology, Web 2.0 technology etc. which are discussed below. EduSat Video Conferencing Educational Satellite (EduSat) a dedicated Satellite for Education was put into geo-stationary orbit by the GSLV-3 launch vehicle by the Indian Space Research Organisation on 20th Sept. 2004. CIET has a Mini hub which has a Teaching end and 100 Learning ends (well equipped with Satellite Interactive Terminals SITs) connected to it. These SITs are issued to SCERTs/SIEs, SIETs, some NIOS Centres, some Zonal Offices of Central Schools and some other educational institutions in India. During the orientation programme of National Curriculum Framework (NCF-2005), NCERT used EduSat Videoconferencing extensively. CIET provided all the technical support during these training/orientation programmes. NCERT trained more than 50000 Master trainers/teachers in NCF-2005, then new Textbooks, and also the evaluation system (Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation) through this technology. This was a new technology then, and it was mostly used for question answer sessions after the presentations by the experts at the teaching end (CIET Studio). Since last two years, CIET introduced workshop mode through this technology. During the year 2009-10 CIET conducted 3 workshops for Teacher Educators (TEs) in Research Methodology for ICTs in Education which were attended by more than 650 TEs. CIET also conducted three workshops for teachers in Use of Puppets in Education (preparing puppets, writing scripts for using puppets in teaching-learning process as well as presenting), one workshop on ICTs in Education, and 5 workshops for PG teachers in Mathematics. All these workshops had a built-in Interactivity and hence they proved very productive. The participants appreciated the interactive nature of these workshops. What was the modality of these workshops? For each workshop about 10-12 centres (SITs) were selected and about 20 participants were invited at each centre. About 200 participants attended each workshop. The workshops used online sessions (presentations by the Experts from Studio as well as presentations of Group work by the participants) and offline sessions (Group Work at the SITs). All the resource material was sent to the SITs and also uploaded on the Yahoo Groups created for each workshop separately. For the workshops on ICTs, participants were asked to work in groups on the tasks of creating / using web2.0 tools, for puppets in education workshops, material and some puppets were sent to the SITs in advance and participants prepared their own puppets in the groups. For Mathematics, demonstrations were shown and participants were asked to try them in groups during offline sessions.

During the next online sessions, participants from all the SITs were given opportunity to share their experiences and problems faced if any. This interaction was found very fruitful by all the participants which they shared during the closing session and also through the feedback proformas. During the workshop on ICTs in Education, one expert from the UK was invited to interact with the participants. He used Skype (which is a free videoconferencing tool) and it was integrated with the EduSat technology so that all the participants could interact with the expert to a great extent. Todays technologies are not only user friendly but also convergent. Educators must explore their convergence further and use them to enhance quality of education to a great extent. Mobile Technology CIET celebrated its Silver Jubilee Year during 2009-10. As a part of the celebrations several programmes were organized. One of the major programme was Educational Technology Lecture Series. Under this, total twelve lectures by eminent educationists, educational technologists in 12 cities in India in collaboration with various organizations (Regional Institutes of Education, State Institutes of Educational Technology, SNDT Womens University, SSA, SCERT and CIET). During these Lectures, teachers, teacher trainees as well as teacher educators and educational administrations were invited to participate. Nearly 300 to 600 participants attended each Lecture totaling about 4000. A database of Registration forms showed that 100% participants had mobiles but very few had email address. This triggered another project of using Mobile Technology for reaching to teachers as well as future teachers. In todays world, people are on the move and are demanding access to learning materials and information anytime and anywhere. At the same time, there is increasing use of mobile technology in different sectors of society to meet the needs of people on the move. (Ally, 2010) However, it appears that little use has been made of this convenient and easily available tool in learning contexts. Because of the increasing use of mobile technologies in society and by the younger generation, learners will demand course materials be delivered on mobile technologies to be accessed from anywhere and at anytime. Mobile learning devices allow learners to learn wherever they are located and in their personal context so that the learning is meaningful (Sharples 2000). CIET has created a gateway for sending SMSs (in bulk) for a year now and presently is preparing for two way interaction. Curriculum Group of NCERT had conducted several orientation programmes for many teachers, teacher educators as well as academicians about National Curriculum Framework-2005 for the last 4 years. This training was generally conducted through EduSat Video conferencing. The teachers were not in constant touch with NCERT after the training. NCF-2005 has many messages which are very important for the stakeholders. CIET prepared a list of about 100 important messages which could be sent to teachers on regular basis. Presently CIET sends these messages to teachers, teacher educators regularly. Mobile Technology was used during the Workshops on Research Methodology for ICTs in Edu, Puppets in Edu and ICTs in Education to provide instructions from time to time and support participants in group work (during offline sessions) and obtaining feedback on various programmes and rating of the overall programme. This is one way communication. We are also interested in feedback from teachers and hence a two way mechanism is being established. Return response from the users will be very valuable in planning integration of this technology to a great extent. Another important aspect is that of providing academic support to students in subject areas. CIET is presently working to provide this support through IVRS (Interactive Voice Recording Service). Small 2-3 minutes modules on various themes under a particular topic and subject are being prepared. Repository of these modules will be made available through mobile gateway. This new technology is the technology of tomorrow and educationists need to explore it further more seriously.

Multipoint Technology Multi Point Technology developed by the Microsoft provides opportunity for students to work together on one computer. It is a multi mice environment (One Computer and many mice working simultaneously on the same screen or in each part of the screen). If four students are working collaboratively then unless all four put in their inputs, software does not allow one student to go ahead. This makes it binding on all the learners working on the software to collaborate, discuss and then give inputs so as to move ahead. There is also a possibility of competition here e.g. to test speed and accuracy (who clicks first type of activity). In the study conducted by Pawar, Pal, and Toyama (2006) narrate what intrigued them to work on this novel concept. A distinct feature observed in computer use in schools or rural kiosks in developing countries is the high student-to-computer ratio. It is not unusual to see more than five children crowding around a single display, as schools are rarely funded to afford one PC per child in a classroom. One child controls the mouse, while others are passive onlookers, without operational control of the computer. Learning benefits appear to accrue primarily to the child with the mouse, with the other children missing out. The obvious technical solution is to provide each child with a mouse and cursor on screen, thus effectively multiplying the amount of interaction per student per PC for the cost of a few extra mice. To our surprise, both the concept and the implementation appear to be unique to date, for the specific application to computers in education in resource-strapped communities. Initial trials with both single-mouse and multiple-mice scenarios suggest that children are more engaged when in control of a mouse, and that more mice increases overall engagement. Our results suggest new areas of research in pedagogy for computers in education. CIET saw an opportunity to provide collaborative learning space in this technology rather than competition (as emphasized in NCF 2005). CIET conducted two workshops for teachers from 5 States to prepare Collaborative and Cooperative lesson plans in subjects like Maths, Science, English and Geography. These lesson plans were converted to the Multipoint courseware. Some of these lessons were tried out on Grade IX students of Central School in Delhi. 16 students were involved in the project and subject teachers worked as observers. The observations revealed that the children were enthusiastic and participated with interest and discussed among themselves for solving problems etc. Teachers also appreciated the effort and technology. They also expressed their interest in using this courseware as it involved collaborative activities. This was for the first time the students were working collaboratively on computer. Now this year the experiment is extended to 5 States (HP, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, UP and J&K) in India. CIET is interested in taking Multi Point Technology further so as to encourage cooperative and collaborative learning among students. This experiment also showed that todays technologies are not only user friendly but group friendly. Web 2.0 Technology NCF 2005 emphasizes collaborative and cooperative learning as a major strategy for Constructivist approach. Web 2.0 tools provide a very good assistance in helping learners to learn collaboratively. CIET has been using two major tools viz. Blog and Group in all its workshops, training programmes for the last three years. All participants of the workshops (face-to-face or through EduSat) are requested to join the Groups. They introduce themselves as well as find all the resources used and created during the workshops. They also upload their group work on the respective folders for all to share. Sharing is a major activity. It is a very satisfying experience for the participants as well as Resource Persons. Participants continue their interaction through the group for a long time (some even for the last three years). During the EduSat Video conferencing workshops (3 in number during 2009-10) on Research Methodology for ICTs in Education participants uploaded their Action Research Proposals on their respective Groups. Resource Persons also could examine these proposals and give their experts comments and suggestions for further improvement. All the participants (nearly 200 in number per workshop) have access to all the proposals developed (with the expert comments) during the workshop through their respective Groups.

Fig. 1: Yahoo Groups created for Participants interaction CIET also creates Blog for the workshops organized in various areas. These Blogs provide a platform for interaction among Resource Persons and participants as well as create resources in terms of links, videos, visuals etc. by the Resource Persons. Sometimes participants are also asked to create their Blog and get attached to the main blog created by the Coordinator of the workshop.

Fig. 2: Blogs created for interaction CONCLUSION There is a dire need for in-service training of teachers in India. Since the number is huge, it is impossible to reach to them using traditional face-2-face or cascade model. Use of Open and Distance education becomes a must. This will be facilitated by the emergence of new convergent technologies. There are many technologies available which are user friendly. Educationists need to explore and use them judiciously by converging them as per their needs. CIET is experimenting in this area and plans to reach a large number of teachers, teacher educators.

REFERENCES

Ally Mohamed (2007) Mobile Learning. Guest Editorial. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Vol 8, No 2 http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/viewArticle/451/918 Last accessed on July 20, 2010 India Development Gateway, (2010). RTE-SSA Final Report. http://www.indg.in/primary-education/policiesandschemes/rte_ssa_final_report.pdf Last accessed on July 20, 2010 National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (2009). http://www.indg.in/primary-education/teacherscorner/national_curriculu-for-teacher-education.pdf Last accessed on July 20, 2010 Pawar, U. S., Pal, J., and Toyama, K. (2006), Multiple mice for computers in education in developing countries. Proc. IEEE/ACM, ICTD 64--71. Sharples M (2000). The design of personal mobile technologies for lifelong learning.Computers and Education, 34, 177193. World Bank, (2009). Secondary Education in India: Universalizing Opportunity. http://www.educationforallinindia.com/secondary-education-in-india-universalizing-opportunity-by-worldbank.pdf Last accessed on July 20, 2010