REGIONAL SEMINAR ON TECHNOLOGIES FOR TEACHER TRAINING

The Regional Seminar on Technologies for Teacher Training, conducted on 3–5 April 2001 at the Institut de la Francophonie pour l’Informatique in Hanoi, Vietnam, revealed the yawning gaps in the use of information and communication technologies in basic education and teacher training settings across the Southeast Asian landscape and showed the need to share best practices in using ICT in education among SEAMEO countries.

The main aim of the seminar was to allow the participants from all the countries represented to exchange ideas and experiences related to the use and integration of information and communication technologies in pre-service and in-service training of teachers as well as in actual teaching practice.

The country presentations showed the stark disparities among the countries in the availability of technologies for teacher training as much as in the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs). These disparities seem to reflect the economic status of the countries represented, with Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia showing quite advanced levels. On the other extreme are the countries of Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

The seminar was divided into two main parts: presentation of country papers, including reports on the development of ICT and teacher training in France, and visits to academic institutions. A presentation by the Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres (IUFM) instructors Abdou Oudjedi and Michel Barbot demonstrated WebCT, a platform for distance education that IUFM will be piloting in its courses this year. This proved appropriate as Malaysia and Singapore expressed their intention to acquire a distance education application in the near future.

The presentation on distance learning platforms aimed to (1) show an inventory of options available to those who wish to develop distance education materials; (2) establish criteria for the choice of appropriate application; (3) anticipate technology innovations in distance training in the coming years; and (4) evaluate the advantages and limitations of setting up such training technologies. The presentation was followed by hands-on experience at the computer laboratory of the Institute.

Part of the activities during the three-day seminar were visits to Linch Cong Tac Secondary School and Hanoi Junior Training College. The visits gave participants the opportunity to experience actual application and utilization of technologies for classrooms and teacher training settings. They also had the chance to engage in dialogues with the school principal and the training director concerning technologies for teacher training.

Conducted under the framework of the partnership between the IUFM of Limousin and INNOTECH and through the initiative of Gilles Braun, head of the Department of Technologies under the Ministry of National Education of France, the seminar served as an opportunity for France to extend its partnership with SEAMEO into its other member countries.

SEAMEO INNOTECH Program Director for Information and Communications Technology, Mrs. Priscilla G. Cabanatan, formally opened the seminar with Dr. Vu Ngoc Hai, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in Vietnam and Dr. Tran Kieu, General Director of the National Institute for Educational Sciences, also from MOET in Vietnam. In his welcome address, Mr. Gerard Gonfroy, IUFM Director, stressed his commitment to developing IUFM’s international relations with SEAMEO countries not only as IUFM Director but also as President of IUFM’s Conference of Directors.

Representing the SEAMEO Secretariat, Dr. Nora N. Quetulio, Programme Officer, also delivered a message at the opening ceremony. High officials from Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training, together with Hanoi-based SEAMEO INNOTECH alumni, and Mr. Benjamin Benoit, Attaché for Cooperation at the French Embassy in Hanoi, attended the opening ceremony.

The regional seminar participants were composed of IT officers, professors, program officers, curriculum developers, training officers and researchers from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, France, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam. Representatives from the SEAMEO Secretariat in Bangkok and the SEAMEO INNOTECH also took part in the seminar.

- TOP -