With the rapid changes in technology and Pakistan entering the 21st century, effective knowledge of ICT has become the need of the day. The Intel® Teach Program joined hands with one of the largest school systems in Pakistan – the PAF or Fazaia School System - prepare teachers and students for the needs of the day. Intel® Education has been working for the promotion of technology in education in Pakistan since 2001, to address the educational challenges of the 21st century. The Intel® Teach Program has ensured that academic planning should include the use of technology in the teachinglearning process.

Challenges:

• Subject or classroom teachers do not possess ICT skills.
• Only Higher Secondary students are allowed to use the PC Labs in most schools, as the usage is justified by the subscribed board curriculum.
• Students demonstrate a lack of interest in the classrooms, due to archaic teaching methods.
• Teachers are in need of effective strategies to prepare students for the real world and make them competitive in the international arena.

Approach:

• Provide teachers with professional development training, through the Intel® Teach Program, focused on integration of technology in curriculum through effective lesson planning
• Teachers of all subjects are trained and introduced to 21st Century Skills, Project Based Learning and moving towards a student-centered approach to teaching.
• Stress the importance of exposing students of all grades and levels to ICT, by training all teachers in a school through the Intel® Teach Program, and systemic changes at the time of academic planning.

Benefits:

• Teachers are more confident in their teaching abilities, and become excited about using technology as a teaching aid.
• With the introduction of Project Based Learning and integration of ICT students are more interested in the learning process.
• Teachers are better able to design, plan and implement their lessons and teaching strategies.
• Students of all grades are allowed to use the computer lab.

Intel® Teach Program: A Case Study

ICT integration nurtures the innovative potential of the youth, preparing them to step into a world where understanding of technology can help shape their success in the future. Young people today are entering a global economy, where they are being challenged to analyze information, collaborate and communicate their ideas using ever changing technology.

Change is a natural phenomenon and the trends that are influencing the world are also leaving their imprint on Pakistan. Education is no exception; with the onset of ICT integration in education, there is a need to equip the teachers and students with 21st century skills required to succeed in knowledge based economy.

Keeping these needs in mind the Intel® Education Initiative in Pakistan and Teacher’s Training Institute, Pakistan Air Force, collaborated to promote the integration of ICT in education. PAF has 25 K-12 institutions nationwide, with approximately 5,000 teachers working at these schools and colleges. PAF is one of the major school systems of Pakistan, which has its own Teacher Training Institute. The institute focuses on building teachers’ professional capacity in terms of effective classroom teaching practices and student-centered learning. The existing curriculum is designed on a cognitive approach and partnership with Intel® Education Initiative has added another dimension of ICT.

Integration of ICT has proved beneficial as teachers are now using technology and computers as a tool to involve students in developing independent and collaborative learning skills. It has resulted in classroom environment which is closer to real life. In March, 2008 teachers of the Fazaia (PAF) school system were trained on ICT integration and the project based learning approach through the Intel® Teach Program.The learners are more autonomous as they construct personally-meaningful artifacts that are representations of their learning.

Ms. Sarwat Shahzadi found the project based approach towards teaching and learning the most intriguing way of involving students in problem solving thus developing their critical thinking. She further added “A project is an extended inquiry into various aspects of a real-world topic that is of interest to students and teachers. Because of its real-world appeal, students are motivated to investigate, record and report their findings. The hallmark of project learning is greater independence of inquiry and "ownership" of the work on the part of students. When compared with the traditional form of instruction, PBL allows students a greater degree of choice and capitalizes on internal motivation.”

After the training, Sarwat got herself enrolled in a computer academy and learnt advanced computing. Sarwat expresses her excitement: “It made a lot of difference for me. I realized that the Internet is a rich source of information and gives a lot of ideas for my classroom teaching.” She feels she is a better teacher now and with the help of ICT, she is able to relate her lessons with real life and make them more meaningful for her students. In addition to engaging students in meaningful activities and lessons, she is now better able to manage her time and other resources.

Teachers who have undergone the Intel Teach training, found the methodology effective in terms of student involvement, creativity and ability to solve complex problems. Prior to attending the course the participants were not familiar with technology and did not know or understand the benefits of its use in education.

One of the teachers said, “I am learning a lot about computers and teaching practices. This will be really useful in my teaching and I am excited to be a part of the program and training. I have gotten many ideas about teaching, which can facilitate the students in their learning.”

The teachers have disseminated the training amongst colleagues of their respective institutions. So far 504 master trainers and participant teachers have been trained in the first leg of training. In future more such training shall be conducted in collaboration with TTI (Teacher’s Training Institute). PAF schools have also adopted the Intel Teach lesson plan format as prescribed in the training; the shift from conventional concept of lesson planning to plan a unit, has given teachers a lot of opportunities for creativity. ICT integration has made the laborious task of planning simple by breaking it down into smaller units to tackle a single concept. Now teachers are planning technology enriched units.

Ms. Humaira Hassan (Social Studies teacher) at Fazaia Inter College Minhas Base Kamra, has been teaching various topics like Agricultural Problems, Penguins, Great Wall of China, after completing her training she started implementing project based learning with her students, collaborative groups and exploratory learning really impacted student learning positively as parents appreciated the teaching methodology at the PTMs and urged the school to promote the ICT integration and make it a permanent feature. The student performance improved tremendously, first terminal exam papers were evident of their learning, their answers reflected their thinking skills and. Learning Social Studies became more visual for students. The questioning technique made classroom environment energetic, and helped student’s better grasp the concept with the help of ICT integration.

Similarly Ms. Naheed Rizwan is using questioning skills aimed towards developing critical skills of the students while teaching History. She gave assignment to students on Ali Garh Movement (a topic from Pakistan Movement) and she was pleased by the results she says, “Students usually find history boring and dull, but involving ICT has made a lot of difference, my students now take more interest in the subject”. She further adds, “My planning skills have improved a lot, now I am able to in-corporate a lot of innovative ideas in my teaching.”

Some of the student’s responses on ICT integrated learning.

“Classroom learning became more gripping, I never knew that learning about Penguins and their habitats can be so interesting, what they eat and they way they behave; through internet we founds a lot of interesting facts about them”

“Now learning Social Studies is more fun as I can get to work on computer and at the same time work in groups with my friends”

“I like working in the power point, creating the presentation and answering the questions of my class fellows has made me more confident”

However, there is still a great deal of work to be done. Teachers need more training on how to use and access technology so they can engage students in problem solving, decision making and collaborative tasks effectively. A school system's most important asset is its teaching force. And, the most important investment a school board, administrators, and parents can make is to ensure that teachers continue to learn. Continuous, high-quality professional development is essential to the nation's goal of high standards of learning for every child.

The principals at PAF institutions have also realized the need for ICT integration after they were given an orientation on needs of 21st Century classroom and the professional development of their teachers. They agreed that teacher professional development is essential to efforts being made to improve schools in Pakistan.

The impact of the teacher’s training at TTI made authorities realize that technology integration is the need of time. In their schools before the training only Higher Secondary classes had access to computer but after the training computer education has been made compulsory for primary and middle school students. Now students of these grades will have the chance to learn in an environment providing enriched opportunities of learning and creativity.

Teacher Training Institute Director Group Captain Tahir Mahmood said “Intel Teach carries a high didactic value and it is designed to improve teaching and learning through effective integration of technology. It has the classic winning features (professional development training on ICT integration, effective assessment methods, scaffolding, developing 21st century skills). This course marks the beginning of new era of integrating the modern technology in Fazaia System of Education.”

The Intel® Education Initiative

The Intel® Education Initiative is Intel’s sustained commitment to prepare all students, anywhere, with the skills required to thrive in the knowledge economy by improving teaching and learning through the effective use of technology, and advancing math, science and engineering education and research. Through a sustained public-private partnership with educators and governments in more than 50 countries, Intel works with international organizations and governments at an international, national, and local level and invests approximately USD 100 million per year in education programs adapted to address the needs of each country to advocate for 21st century educational excellence through policy work and awareness efforts.

For more information, visit: www.intel.com/education/pk

For more information on the Intel Teach Program, visit: www.intel.com/education/teach

Copyright© 2007 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel and the Intel Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

*Others names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.