We must involve more subject teachers besides IT teachers to integrate technology with existing curriculum.

Preparing technology-proficient teachers to meet the needs of the 21st century is a critical challenge facing teacher training programs. Although institutions of higher education vary in their specific responses to this challenge, the University of Education campuses require at least one educational computing course as a core component of their teacher preparation programs. The goal of such courses includes individual development of both confidence and competency in the use of information technology in various learning environments.

As part of the MoU signed between University of Education and Intel® Pakistan Corporation, the Intel® Education Initiative team has conducted refreshers and trainings for the faculty of the University of Education campuses. Training of the IT faculty, members who are involved in delivering the core course, was concluded last year. The need to involve subject teachers more was felt as the response for participation for the Intel Teach Pre-Service annual contest was limited to only computer department faculty members.

Commencing from Sunday, October 19, 2008 a three day intensive refresher in batches of two was organized. The objective was to better equip the teachers to use technology effectively and efficiently. Four faculty members from each campus were invited from the ten campuses of the University of Education. Forty faculty members were expected, but as the workshops were conducted during the midst of the on-going B.Ed. and M.Ed. sessions, only 25 faculty members turned up. The first batch consisted of IT faculty members and English faculty members of B.Ed and M.Ed classes. The second batch had participants from the department of Science, Mathematics and Computers.

Samples of the portfolios developed by faculty members of two campuses of the Government College of Educational Training (GCET) from Lalamusa and Bahawalpur were showcased for the participants. An interactive session with presentations on Blooms Taxonomy and developing CFQ’s were conducted at the workshop. The participants were given time to develop CFQ’s for their Unit Plan. They developed the student sample assessment time lines in their Units. On the final day the work of each group was showcased in an interactive session. Throughout the workshops the participants reviewed each other’s work and gave their peers feedback.

“Time and curriculum constraints in pre-service teacher training courses often limit an instructor's ability to provide support beyond introduction to and limited use of specific technologies.” Samina and Sadia from Lahore and Attock Campus     “Teaching pre service student teachers how to integrate specific technologies into our teaching methods helped increased our level of confidence.” Arifa from UE Lahore and Nagina from UE Vehari