Improving the learning environment
The role of educators is dramatically changing. ICTs have been introduced into the teaching-learning process in order to improve quality, support curricular changes, extend the number of courses, introduce new learning experiences, or meet specific learning needs of specific groups of learners including those with 'special needs' such as disabilities, learning difficulties, language, or communication problems. However, teachers remain central to the educational process, and technology applications should be tools to guide the learning process and enhance their performance.
ICTs transform classroom dynamics. They provide alternative, authoritative sources of information requiring teachers to become facilitators and, in some cases, intermediaries between specific information sources and the learner. At the same time, ICTs can break teacher isolation, providing them with opportunities to communicate beyond the traditional school-management hierarchy.
Apart from being being tools, ICTs are also important subjects of study. Helping develop curricula that take into account the growing role of ICTs in the economic sector and in private life will be a concern all over the world. UNITE will focus on expanding the knowledge base and on activities designed with teachers firmly in mind:
- We will investigate teachers' use of ICTs to discover issues, possibilities, and best practice. This will include teacher preparation and, according to availability, technological support and learning materials
- ICTs must be used to gather, systematize, and disseminate local learning experiences as well as learning materials and knowledge.
- UNESCO will encourage work in this area and look at what is already being done
- Teaching and learning critical ICT literacy and pedagogy will be part of the overall strategy as an integrated part of the curriculum wherever possible
- We will continuously monitor and summarize research that is relevant to developing countries' use of ICTs for teaching and learning.