HKIER

Abstract

In 1996 the authors of this paper published a set of skills related to the use of computer technologies which teachers in Singapore schools should have to be considered "IT competent." However, since that time, the changes to the Singapore education system have moved particularly rapidly, and have produced increased demands on teachers to upgrade their technology skills and practices. These changes in school IT use in Singapore — due to new governmental policies, improved state-of-the-art pedagogical practices, and technological advancements — have all contributed to the need for a revised set of IT competencies for teachers. The need for the establishment of IT competencies in Britain and US has proceeded independently from but parallel to Singapore, and a summary of their efforts here provides points of comparison. The resulting competencies for Singapore teachers are classified into three general developmental levels. In the Acquisition stage, teachers build up foundation IT skills and become comfortable with IT jargon, and with the use of general IT productivity tools. In the Application stage, teachers become more knowledgeable about how to select and evaluate CBL (computer-based learning), and to integrate IT into their lessons. In the final stage, Innovation, the teachers become very adept using computers, even to the extent they can author their own multimedia materials for use in their classes, and to design and maintain their own instructional web sites. Issues of how to deliver training and how to assess these skills, though of secondary interest in this paper, as also briefly discussed.

摘要

N.A.