Bridging the teacher-student technology gap through training on ICTs

New generations of students are often referred to as “digital natives”, as they have been born and raised in a world where information and communication technologies (ICTs) have permeated society. Conversely, today´s teachers are “digital immigrants” who have adopted ICTs later in life, and face the challenge of integrating technology in education to meet their student’s demands and to better prepare them to compete in today’s knowledge economy.

To help bridge the digital native - digital immigrant divide, OAS-SEDI’s Educational Portal of the Americas held three different teacher training workshops in Medellin, Colombia during the XIV Virtual Educa International Gathering (June 17 to 21). Over 600 teachers participated in the onsite workshops on the integration of new technologies in education, which was also transmitted online via webcast to ensure broader participation.

OAS pedagogical experts and others from around the region designed and imparted the workshops which provided educators and trainers with practical and transferable skills in areas such as:
- Creating digital content that is accessible through mobile devices;
- Using Open Educational Resources (OER) for lesson planning; and
- Understanding the importance of creating and sharing knowledge for educational purposes within virtual communities.

Teacher training in these areas are designed to help bridge the student-teacher technology gap, providing teachers with innovative, practical and low-cost tools for producing and sharing knowledge. In today’s digital society, these approaches will not only increase teacher effectiveness, but will also facilitate the inclusion of under-served populations, democratizing access to quality education in the Americas.

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