International Journal of Education and Development using ICT

International Journal of Education and Development using ICT > Vol. 9, No. 3 (2013)

Technology, teachers, and training: Combining theory with Macedonia’s experience

Laura Hosman, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA
Maja Jagev Cvetanoska, YES Network Project, EDC/USAID Macedonia

Abstract
Numerous developing countries are currently planning or executing projects that introduce technology into their educational systems. This article asserts that such projects will have limited long-term success or impact until they are reconceptualized to incorporate three transformative concepts: teachers play the key role in determining the success or failure of such projects; change is a years-long process and not a one-time event; and teachers need ongoing support to adopt the technology and should be treated as stakeholders in the innovation-adoption process. In the Macedonian nationwide computers-in-schools project herein described, teachers received extremely comprehensive advance training in both computer use and methods of actively incorporating technology into their curriculum and teaching. Still, the majority of teachers were not successfully employing technology in the classroom three years after the training and deployment were carried out. This article applies the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (or CBAM, which describes how individuals’ concerns evolve as they undergo the process of change and how these concerns may be addressed over time) to Macedonia’s experience. CBAM serves as a lens through which to examine ICT-in-education efforts and determine whether they effectively match up with how teachers experience change and where there is room for improvement in such efforts.

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