TE year1handbook/Introduction

Historically, human beings have used different ways of organizing and presenting information, and for communication. Language, script, print, mass media such as radio and television have been important information and communication technologies (ICTs). Whenever a new ICT is introduced, we see significant changes not only to education and knowledge processes, but also to larger socio-cultural, political and economic structures and processes. In the last few decades, digital ICTs are being widely used. The ease of creating and sharing information using digital technologies has caused an explosion of information in society, creating what is termed as an “information society” (a term used by the sociologist Manuel Castells to describe our current society). In this course, ICT refers to digital technologies. It includes digital infrastructure and digital processes that allow the creating, processing, organizing and presentation of information, as well as communication.

Development of digital literacy skills is required for all, to navigate this ‘information society’. Teachers, student teachers and teacher educators need to be able to use ICTs for their professional development, through self learning, peer learning, in digital resources creation and in teaching-learning. They must develop a critical understanding of the larger positive and negative implications of the design and adoption of ICTs in society. Recent curricular (NCFTE, National ICT Curriculum) and policy (ICT Policy in School Education) documents on education in India have recognized the importance of integrating ICT in school education.

The ICT Mediation paper will be part of the ‘Teacher Development Studies’ in both years of the program. In both the years, the ICT Mediation paper seeks to keep technology learning situated within educational processes and hence is described in a generic way without reference to any specific application. This is in line with the National ICT Curriculum as well.

In Year 1, the aim will be on building broad-based digital literacy and learning digital methods for self learning, peer learning and generic resource creation, all connected to teacher professional development. In year 2, the aim will be on the learning digital methods for subject-specific digital resource creation and integrating ICT in subject teaching. Integrating digital methods for subject teaching is purposely kept in year 2 only, in line with the overall KETEC focus of year 1 on LPS and year 2 on HPS levels, as it is currently considered appropriate to introduce ICTs in HPS but not in LPS.