As education technology tools transform classrooms, particularly in the wake of COVID-19, schoolteachers in State schools too are learning how to become tech-savvy.
The Samagra Shiksha, Kerala, (SSK) in association with the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education, is implementing a programme to make sure that teachers keep pace with tools and devices that create more engaging and fulfilling learning experiences for students.
The Techie Teacher programme provides training to make schoolteachers not only at ease with IT but also to make them somewhat of an expert, as information and communications technology has increasingly been making inroads in academic and non-academic activities and there has been a change in use of high-tech equipment over time too.
The training for primary, secondary, and vocational higher secondary teachers will concentrate on six areas—IT-enabled education approach; maintenance and use of high-tech equipment; digital content development; awareness of latest technologies; delivery made using digital resources; and use of technology in monitoring and take-home activities.
The training, devised by SSK by including it under STARS (Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States) project, after a teacher-need analysis for which a tool was developed and given to teachers online.
Nearly 30,000 teachers responded on what they needed while implementing ICT education in classrooms that are already high-tech with equipment such as laptops, projectors, and the like.
On the basis of the teachers’ responses, the six focus areas were fixed. With the support of KITE, experts helped prepare modules for training in these areas. Next, the State Resource Group (SRG) was equipped to transact these modules. They, in turn, are conducting training for IT coordinators of schools at the SSK’s block resource centre level. This exercise is expected to produce 20,000 resource persons who can then conduct school-level trainings, thus reaching out to all teachers.
The Techie Teacher, formulated on the basis of the General Education Department’s IT-based education policy, is expected to give a fillip to school academic activities.
