In collaboration with USAID missions and education leaders in five countries, LearnLink¹  is implementing computer-mediated professional development (CMPD) activities that take advantage of the potential of information and communication technologies to improve training and support services for teachers.  Because the activities are relatively new, longitudinal data on results and impact are not yet available.  However, summaries of these activities demonstrate the kinds of applications that can be designed for pre- and in-service teacher training in particular and provide broad and ongoing professional development opportunities for teachers in general.

 …in Guatemala
Home to 22 indigenous Mayan cultures, Guatemala is multiethnic, multicultural, and multilingual, with nearly 40 percent of children starting school without a productive knowledge of Spanish. Yet only 12 percent of schools are bilingual. This linguistic and cultural mismatch is particularly pronounced in certain provinces, or “departments” as they are known in Guatemala, like Quiché, where 95 percent of the population is indigenous.

Typically, teachers working in areas with large indigenous populations possess limited local language skills—many speak the local language but are not literate in reading or writing—and are essentially ill-prepared to teach Mayan children in their own languages. Opportunities for training are also inadequate, particularly in the areas of active learning and intercultural understanding.

To help bridge the gap between home and school, Guatemala's teacher training institutions need to strengthen instruction in Mayan language literacy and cultural concepts, first and second language learning and bilingual pedagogy, multigrade teaching methods, and cultural sensitivity.

Focusing on the Department of Quiché, an area severely affected by decades of armed conflict, LearnLink is assisting the Ministry of Education by helping to develop the following:

• Culturally appropriate Mayan language instructional support materials.

This includes the digital formatting of a set of core K'iche' and Ixil Mayan language materials. LearnLink is working with local groups to collect, translate, enhance, and digitize materials such as teacher guides, instructional units, pamphlets, maps, booklets, workbooks, and manuals.
• Teacher's professional skills and proficiency in oral and written Mayan languages.

LearnLink is purchasing the necessary equipment and installing multimedia computer labs in four teacher training schools (escuelas normales) in the region, as well as producing educational materials for bilingual teacher preparation, including an interactive multimedia system on CD-ROM to train teachers in oral and written K'iche' and Ixil.
• Early childhood activities to enhance learning.

After researching and collecting K'iche' and Ixil language materials, LearnLink will produce radio programs that will be provided to local stations.
• Institutional capacity in computer applications for teacher training schools and communities. LearnLink will train trainers to use the computer labs. In addition, training will be provided for the Departmental Directorate of Education staff to increase their effectiveness in the use of software, email, and the Internet.

• Providing the CFIs with learning technologies and appropriate pre-service and in-service training in their use;
• Developing communications networks to facilitate the work of the teacher trainees, teacher trainers, and inspectors, as well as collaboration and information sharing among peers across the provinces;
• Building local education technology capacity through the development of frameworks for "Master Information Teachers" who will sustain local development of learning technologies; and
• Contributing to national policy discussions on the use of learning technologies in education.

The project was designed to achieve a host of desirable results, including the following:

• Education technology and distance learning proficiency will be reinforced through hands-on use.
• Ongoing and sustained communication and collaboration among project staff, Ministry officials, teachers, and teacher trainers will enable durable professional relationships to develop that will facilitate broad ranging capacity building.
• By using these technologies professionally, the participating teachers will be well equipped to translate their use into their work in the classroom;
• The project will be able to demonstrate to the wider development audience how electronic networks and communication technologies can enhance project impact.
• Working asynchronously with the help of networking technologies will allow the project to engage the services of professionals in a cost-effective way.

…in Namibia
Since its independence in 1990, Namibia has been committed to the removal of the last vestiges of apartheid’s social and economic policies.  However, high student failure rates, unemployment, population growth rates, and the menacing incidence of HIV/AIDS persist as major development challenges.

Namibia’s Ministry of Basic Education and Culture (MBEC), its National Institute for Educational Development (NIED), and donors are working to improve the education sector overall.  Within this arena, teacher training ranks high on the list.  Currently, teacher education and qualifications are uneven across regions, and existing teacher training methods are inadequate for dealing with these disparities.  The great distances between schools, training centers, and colleges of education add to the difficulties teachers face in gaining some training, inadequate though it may be.

The Computer Assisted Teacher Training (CATT) project is a part of a greater plan to improve teacher training nationwide.  A collaboration among USAID/Namibia, AED/LearnLink, and educational leaders in Namibia, the project includes the following components:

• Developing computer-assisted training courses for teachers and other educators;
• Constructing a communications network linking educators to NIED through the Internet and other technologies;
• Designing prototype curriculum-based training materials for primary school students;
• Training and helping to integrate “Master Information Teachers” into the administrative structure of the MBEC and NIED as champions of teaching/learning technologies; and
• Introducing teaching/learning technology concepts into the national policy dialogue.

Through newly created multimedia teacher training laboratories in four Primary Teacher Training Colleges (PTCs), located in both rural and urban areas, teachers have access to their training curriculum through computer-mediated learning environments and digital library resources.  A broad range of activities involving computers and connectivity are being explored to determine the most effective approaches.  Moreover, the selected PTCs in each of the four districts have established Internet connectivity, which may provide access for the public in the future.

LearnLink is working with Ugandan governmental agencies and the Institute of Education Kyambogo (ITEK) to set up a multimedia development laboratory and a user-training laboratory at its facility in Kampala.  In addition, LearnLink will develop, test, and distribute up to six online, multi-media training modules for teachers and tutors.  In conjunction with ITEK staff, LearnLink is working to enhance the ITEK curriculum using multimedia materials.  With their partners, LearnLink will develop and deliver computer-based training to teachers and tutors.  These teachers, in turn, will train current and future teachers at the four PTCs.

A unique feature of Connect-ED is the linkage between the public, private, and voluntary sectors.  Working with LearnLink is the NGO World Links for Development (WorLD), which provides training for teachers in the use of technology in education.  WorLD will set up the computer equipment in the PTCs and provide training for the teachers so they are better equipped to utilize ITEK’s interactive, computer-based curriculum.  Computer Frontiers International (CFI) and the Leland Initiative are coordinating the partners’ efforts and working with private Internet service providers (ISPs) to arrange connectivity in both rural and urban areas.

…in Brazil
LTNet – the US-Brazil Learning Technologies Network (http://www.LTNet.org) – is an  Internet-based learning environment and clearinghouse on the ever-expanding role of ICTs in education, as well as a means of enabling interactive collaboration among educators in the US and Brazil.  Bilingual in English and Portuguese, LTNet provides Brazilian and US educators with access to information about computer-assisted learning and efforts to effectively integrate the use of technology in teaching and learning. LTNet also presents information on Brazil’s ProInfo program, a bold effort to integrate computers into schools throughout the country.  The website includes:

• a virtual library containing reviewed articles, many of which have been abstracted, as well as a means by which users can submit new articles;
• a SchoolLinks program that promotes professional collaborations among US and Brazilian educators;
• announcements about events, developments, and news of interest to those involved in educational technology;
• a place for users to post information about their own projects, events, activities, and experiences;
• an online discussion forum and listserv;
• a Help Desk that responds within 24 hours to questions about information and resources related to learning technologies; and
• free subscriptions for Brazilian schools to an online course in English language instruction, launched in collaboration with GlobalEnglish.com, a US Internet company that offers free online English language instruction for Brazilians.

For further information
Visit the web site http://www.aed.org