Teachers’ Council seeks ICT integration in learning

Teachers’ Council seeks ICT integration in learning

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has emphasised the need for professional teachers in Africa to embrace the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

This was contained in a statement issued in Abuja and signed by Mr Ojewuyi Muyiwa, TRCN’s  Head of Information.

The statement quoted TRCN’s Registrar, Prof. Addison-Mark Wokocha as making the call at the Africa Forum of Teachers Regulatory Agencies (AFTRA) conference in Cotonou, Republic of Benin.

Wokocha said this in a paper entitled: The need to integrate ICT in Teaching and Learning and the role of AFTRA at the conference.

He said ICT had become necessary in the teaching and learning transaction in the information age and knowledge-based economy.

“Teaching skills can be more readily acquired and improved through the use of ICT instruments such as e-learning and e-teaching, virtual library, virtual laboratory and video conference,’’ he said.

He noted that the creative use of ICT–related facilities to improve learning opportunities had eluded a lot of teachers in the educational systems of many African countries.

“These are undoubtedly, the pivot of dynamic pedagogy and must indeed be the indispensable instruments of transformation of the educational institutions as trained trainers in content teaching and transmission, ‘’ he said.

The Registrar of South Africa Council for Education, Mr Rej Brijraj who doubles as AFTRA Chairman, said the ability to use ICT in teaching e-learning transaction would provide the needed transformation in higher education on the continent.

“It will assist in making our continental knowledge bases institutions to be internationally competitive, ‘’ the statement quoted him as saying.  

The AFTRA Chairman noted that the benefits to be derived from making use of ICT include saving time taken to complete operations and saving energy spent in performing tasks.

 Brijraj added that the 1998 UNESCO World Education Report noted that the world of teaching and earning process was changing.

He said the new technologies challenge had overtaken traditional conceptions of teaching and learning, configuring how teachers and learners gain access to knowledge.

He said this had the potential to transform the teacher-centred and text-bound classroom into rich student-centred interactions knowledge