ICT for CPD

Of course it’s making a difference in the lives of students, but technology is ready to play its part in the professional development of secondary teachers, too.

Nesta recently made some interesting observations about the use of classroom technology in our schools. The body said that ICT was often unsuccessfully applied to 20th century learning methods; you could apply this criticism to the development of trainee, newly qualified and experienced teachers in our secondary schools.

With the ramping up of the School Direct scheme more and more schools will find themselves responsible for the CPD of a new generation of teachers. But the techniques – and technology – that many schools are using to help track and manage the professional growth of these young professionals is seriously out of step with modern demands. With School Direct we have the 21st century reality of large scale in-school teacher training and development, yet the culture and the systems that most schools have for managing and tracking this on a school-wide and individual level is distinctly late 20th century in its approach. And my worry is that this will disempower teachers, especially trainees...read more