Unesco ict competency framework for teachers by pratima nayak

UNESCO ICT COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHERS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Modern societies are increasingly based on information and knowledge. So they need to:
• build workforces which have ICT skills to handle information and are reflective,
creative and adept at problem-solving in order to generate knowledge
• enable citizens to be knowledgeable and resourceful so they are able to manage
their own lives effectively and are able to lead full and satisfying lives
• Encourage all citizens to participate fully in society and influence the decisions
which affect their lives
• Foster cross-cultural understanding and the peaceful resolution of conflict.
These social and economic goals are the focus of a country’s education system. Teachers
need to be equipped to achieve these goals, and UNESCO in partnership with industry
leaders and global subject experts, has created an international benchmark which sets out
the competencies required to teach effectively with ICT.
UNESCO’s Framework emphasizes that it is not enough for teachers to have ICT
competencies and be able to teach them to their students. Teachers need to be able to help
the students become collaborative, problem solving, creative learners through using ICT
so they will be effective citizens and members of the workforce.
The Framework therefore addresses all aspects of a teacher’s work:
The Framework is arranged in three different approaches to teaching (three successive
stages of a teacher’s development).
The first is Technology Literacy, enabling students to use ICT in order to learn more
efficiently. The second is Knowledge Deepening, enabling students to acquire in-depth
knowledge of their school subjects and apply it to complex, real-world problems.
The third is Knowledge Creation, enabling students, citizens and the workforce they
become, to create the new knowledge required for more harmonious, fulfilling and
prosperous societies.

UNESCO ICT COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHERS-2011
In view of the importance of ICT for education, UNESCO, working closely with its
partners, CISCO, Intel, ISTE and Microsoft, as well as world renowned subject matter
experts, conducted an extensive consultation to identify the competencies that teachers
should develop to use technology effectively in the classroom. This work resulted in the
UNESCO ICT-Competency Framework for Teachers (ICT-CFT), which was first
published, in 2008 in three booklets namely:
• Policy Framework which explained the rationale, structure and approach of the
ICT-CFT project
• Competency Framework Modules which explained how three stages of
educational development could be mapped against six aspects of a teacher’s work
to create a framework of 18 modules of teacher competencies.
• Implementation Guidelines which provided detailed specifications for each
module.
Version 2.0 was published in 2011 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization,7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 PARIS 07 SP
The UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (ICT-CFT) is intended to
inform educational policy makers, teacher-educators, providers of professional
learning and working teachers on the role of ICT in educational reform, as well as
to assist Member States in developing national ICT competency standards for
teachers with an ICT in Education Master Plan approach.
About the license
This license is granted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO)….. You are allowed to share, copy, extract from, and
distribute ICT CFT Products and parts thereof to third parties for non-commercial
purposes. You may integrate ICT CFT Products, or parts thereof, without modification,
in your own materials. You agree to include attribution to UNESCO ….

INTRODUCTION
There is an emerging broad consensus worldwide about the benefits that can be brought
to school education through the appropriate use of evolving information and
communication technologies. The range of possible benefits covers practically all areas
of activity in which knowledge and communication play a critical role: from improved
teaching and learning processes to better student outcomes, from increased student
engagement to seamless communication with parents, and from school networking and
twinning to more efficient management and monitoring within the school.
In view of the importance of ICT for education, UNESCO, working closely with its
partners, CISCO, Intel, ISTE and Microsoft, as well as world renowned subject matter
experts, conducted an extensive consultation to identify the competencies that teachers
should develop to use technology effectively in the classroom. This work resulted in the
UNESCO ICT-Competency Framework for Teachers (ICT-CFT), which was first
published in 2008 in three booklets, namely:
• Policy Framework which explained the rationale, structure and approach of the
ICT-CFT project.
• Competency Framework Modules which explained how three stages of
educational development could be mapped against six aspects of a teacher’s work
to create a framework of 18 modules of teacher competencies.
• Implementation Guidelines which provided detailed specifications for each
module
The current version of the ICT Competency Framework for Teachers is a 2011 update of
the original version published in 2008, and is the result of the successful continued
partnership between UNESCO and CISCO, INTEL, ISTE and Microsoft. In this version,
the Framework has been enriched on the basis of feedback from subject matter experts
and users worldwide, and enhanced with the inclusion of example syllabi and exam
specifications for Technology Literacy and Knowledge Deepening.
ICT Competency Framework for Teachers is aimed at helping countries to develop
comprehensive national teacher ICT competency policies and standards, and should be
seen as an important component of an overall ICT in Education Master Plan.

2. THE PRINCIPLES page 6-7
The UNESCO International Commission on Education for the 21st Century views
learning throughout life and participation in the society of learning as the key to meeting
the challenges posed by a rapidly changing world. The Commission emphasizes four
pillars of learning: ‘learning to live together’, ‘learning to know’, ‘learning to do’, and
‘learning to be’.
The ICT-CFT project supports these programmes by building on the relationship between
ICT use, education reform and economic growth.
Economists identify three factors that lead to growth which is based on increased human
capacity: capital deepening - the ability of the workforce to use equipment that is more
productive than earlier versions, higher quality labour - a more knowledgeable workforce
that is able to add value to economic output and technological innovation - the ability of
the workforce to create, distribute, share and use new knowledge.
These three productivity factors serve as the basis for three complementary, somewhat
overlapping, approaches that connect education policy with economic development.
1. The Technology literacy approach
Increasing the extent to which new technology is used by students, citizens and the
workforce by incorporating technology skills into the school curriculum.
2. The Knowledge deepening approach
Increasing the ability of students, citizens, and the workforce to use knowledge to add
value to society and the economy by applying it to solve complex, real-world problems.
3. The Knowledge Creation approach.
Increasing the ability of students, citizens, and the workforce to innovate, produce new
knowledge, and benefit from this new knowledge.
The six aspects of a teacher’s work:
1. Understanding ICT in education
2. Curriculum and assessment
3. Pedagogy
4. ICT
5. Organization and administration
6. Teacher professional learning

Education reform
The use of new technologies in education implies new teacher roles, new pedagogies
and new approaches to teacher education.. The successful integration of ICT into the
classroom will depend on the ability of teachers to structure the learning environment
in new ways, to merge new technology with a new pedagogy, to develop socially
active classrooms, encouraging co-operative interaction, collaborative learning and
group work. This requires a different set of classroom management skills. The
teaching skills of the future will include the ability to develop innovative ways of
using technology to enhance the learning environment, and to encourage technology
literacy, knowledge deepening and knowledge creation. Teacher professional learning
will be a crucial component of this educational improvement. However, professional
learning has an impact only if it is focused on specific changes in teaching.
The Framework therefore specifies the competencies which teachers need in all
aspects of their work.
The framework can be used to identify complementary competencies that can build
on initial strengths and reform ef orts to improve other components in the system so
as to maximize the impact that educational change will have on economic and social
development. In this way, the framework can be used to localize or tailor a teacher
competency programme to a particular country, its policies, and its current
educational conditions, as illustrated in the diagram below. In this example, a country
may use current strengths in teacher education and pedagogy to advance curriculum,
assessment and school organization.(Page 17)

3. Modules
Technology literacy Page-9
The policy goal of the technology literacy approach is to enable learners, citizens and
the workforce to use ICT to support social development and improve economic
productivity. Related policy goals include increasing enrolments, making high-quality
resources available to all, and improving literacy skills. Teachers should be aware of
these goals and be able to identify the components of education reform programmes
that correspond to these policy goals. Corresponding changes in the curriculum
entailed by this approach might include improving basic literacy skills through
technology and adding the development of ICT skills into relevant curriculum
contexts.
Changes in pedagogical practice involve the use of various ICT tools and digital
content as part of whole class, group and individual student activities. Changes in
teacher practice involve knowing where and when (as well as when not) to use
technology for classroom activities and presentations, for management tasks, and for
acquisition of additional subject matter and pedagogical knowledge in support of the
teachers’ own professional learning. Little change in social structure of the class
occurs in this approach, other than perhaps the placement and integration of
technology resources in the classroom or in labs to ensure equitable access.
The technologies involved may include computers along with productivity software;
drill and practice software, tutorials, and web content; and the use of networks for
management purposes.
In the early stages of development, teacher competences related to the technology
literacy approach include basic digital literacy skills and digital citizenship, along
with the ability to select and use appropriate of -the shelf educational tutorials, games,
drill-and-practice software, and web content in computer laboratories or with limited
classroom facilities to complement standard curriculum objectives, assessment
approaches, unit plans, and didactic teaching methods. Teachers must also be able to
use ICT to manage classroom data and support their own professional learning.

Knowledge deepening Page -11
The aim of the knowledge deepening approach is to increase the ability of students,
citizens, and the workforce to add value to society and to the economy by applying
the knowledge gained in school subjects to solve complex, high priority problems
encountered in real world situations of work, society and in life generally. Such
problems might relate to the environment, food security, health, and conflict
resolution. With this approach, teachers should understand policy goals and social
priorities and be able to identify, design and use specific classroom activities that
address these goals and priorities. It requires changes in the curriculum that
emphasize depth of understanding over coverage of content and assessments that
emphasize the application of understanding to real-world problems.
Assessment focuses on complex problem-solving and incorporating assessments into
learning activities. The pedagogy associated with this approach includes collaborative
problem- and project-based learning in which students explore a subject deeply and
bring their knowledge to bear on complex and everyday problems.
Teaching is student-centered and the teacher’s role is to facilitate learning. Teachers
help students create, implement and monitor project plans and solutions.
Teacher competencies related to the knowledge deepening approach include the
ability to manage information, structure problem tasks, and integrate open-ended
software tools and subject-specific applications with student-centered teaching
methods and collaborative projects in support of students’ in-depth understanding of
key concepts and their application to complex, real-world problems. To support
collaborative projects, teachers should use networked and web-based resources to
help students collaborate, access information, and communicate with external experts
to analyze and solve their selected problems. Teachers should also be able to use ICT
to create and monitor individual and group student project plans, as well as to access
information and experts and collaborate with other teachers to support their own
professional learning.

Knowledge creation page-13
The aim of the knowledge creation approach is to increase productivity by creating
students, citizens, and a workforce that is continually engaged in, and benefits from,
knowledge creation, innovation and life-long learning. Teachers, in this approach,
should not only be able to design classroom activities that advance these policy goals
but also participate in the development of programmes.
With this approach the curriculum goes beyond a focus on knowledge of school
subjects to explicitly include the knowledge society skills that are needed to create
new knowledge. These are skills such as problem solving, communication,
collaboration, experimentation, critical thinking and creative expression. These skills
become curricular goals in themselves and the objects of new assessment methods.
Perhaps the most significant aim is for students to be able to create their own learning
goals and plans—to establish what they already know, assess their strengths and
weaknesses, design a learning plan, stay on-task, track their own progress, build on
successes and adjust to failures.
Teachers can then be seen as model learners and knowledge producers who are
constantly engaged in educational experimentation and innovation in collaboration
with their colleagues and outside experts to produce new knowledge about learning
and teaching practice. A variety of networked devices, digital resources, and
electronic environments are used to create and support this community in its
production of knowledge and anytime, anywhere collaborative learning.
Teachers who are competent in the knowledge creation approach will be able to
design ICT-based learning resources and environments; use ICT to support the
development of knowledge creation and the critical thinking skills of students;
support students’ continuous, reflective learning; and create knowledge communities
for students and colleagues. They will also be able to play a leading role with
colleagues in creating and implementing a vision of their school as a community
based on innovation and continuous learning, enriched by ICT.

4. IMPLEMENTATION page -17
Countries with different growth strategies will find different parts of the framework
useful. Countries with dissimilar social and economic conditions may share similar goals
but take different paths to achieve these goals.
Many advanced countries aim to become knowledge societies through competency and
productivity based on knowledge creation, while middle- and low-income countries may
not have all the requisite economic components in place for such a policy. Consequently,
a country may need to identify a long-term route by which it moves from one approach to
another in pursuit of more advanced economic and social goals.
The Framework facilitates such a strategy. Countries may also differ considerably in
terms of their educational infrastructure, the quality of their teachers, the substance of
their curriculum, and their assessment approach. The key to moving toward knowledge
creation is to use current strengths as a lever to push forward other components of the
system. Technological infrastructure may be strength in one country while in another
there may already be efforts in place to change pedagogical practices.
The framework can be used to identify complementary competencies that can build on
initial strengths and reform efforts to improve other components in the system so as to
maximize the impact that educational change will have on economic and social
development. In this way, the framework can be used to localize or tailor a teacher
competency programme to a particular country, its policies, and its current educational
conditions, as illustrated in the diagram below. A country may use current strengths in
teacher education and pedagogy to advance curriculum, assessment and school
organization.

APPENDIX 1.
Technology Literacy page 20
Teacher competencies
Teachers must be aware of policies and be able to articulate in consciously skilled ways
how their classroom practices correspond to and support policy.
2. Curriculum and Assessment
Teachers must have an excellent knowledge of the curriculum standards for their subject,
as well as knowledge of standard assessment strategies. In addition, teachers must be able
to integrate the use of technology into the curriculum.
3. Pedagogy
Teachers must know where, with whom, when (as well as when not) and how to use ICT
for classroom activities and presentations. Engage participants in a discussion of both
national policies and common classroom practices. Demonstrate the use of presentation
software and other digital media to supplement a lecture; provide a variety of examples of
instructional presentations.
4. ICT
Teachers must know basic hardware and software operations, as well as productivity
applications software, a web browser, communications software, presentation software,
and management applications. Demonstrate the creation and use of an email account.
Demonstrate the use of a search engine; discuss and demonstrate simple keyword
searches.
5. Organization and Administration
Teachers must be able to use technology with the whole class, small groups, and
individual activities and ensure equitable access is provided to all students.
6. Teacher professional learning Teachers must have the technological skill and
knowledge of web resources necessary to use technology to acquire additional subject
matter and pedagogical knowledge in support of their own professional learning.

Knowledge Deepening page 31
The policy goal of this approach is to increase the ability of the workforce to add value to
economic output by applying the knowledge of school subjects to solve complex
problems encountered in real world situations.
Teachers must have an in-depth knowledge of National policies and social priorities, and
be able to design, modify, and implement classroom practices that support these policies.
Teachers must have a deep knowledge of their subject and the ability to apply it ﬂexibly
in a variety of situations. They must also be able to create complex problems whose
solutions measure students’ understanding.
3. Pedagogy
Teaching is student-centered in this approach and the teacher’s role is to structure
problem tasks, guide student understanding, and support student collaborative projects. In
this role teachers must have the skills to help students create, implement, and monitor
project plans and solutions
4. ICT
Teachers must be knowledgeable about a variety of tools and applications and be able to
flexibly use these in a variety of problem-based and project-based situations. Teachers
should be able to use network resources to help students collaborate, access information
and communicate with external experts in order to solve their selected problems.
Teachers must be able to create flexible classroom learning environments. Within these
environments, teachers must be able to integrate student-centered activities and ﬂexibly
apply technology to support collaboration.
Teachers must have the skills and knowledge to create and manage complex projects,
collaborate with other teachers, and make use of networks to access information,
colleagues and outside experts in supporting their own professional learning.

Knowledge Creation page-35
The policy goal of this approach is to increase productivity by creating a workforce that
is continually engaged in, and benefits from, knowledge creation, social development and
cultural development.
1. Understanding ICT In education
Teachers must understand the intentions of national policies and be able to contribute to
the discussion of education reform policies and participate in the design, implementation,
and revision of programmes intended to implement these policies.
Teachers must know about complex human development, such as cognitive, emotional
and physical development. They must know how, and under which conditions, students
learn best, and teachers must anticipate and be able to effectively respond to the
difficulties students encounter. Teachers must have the skills required to support these
complex processes.
3. Pedagogy
The role of teachers in this approach is to explicitly model the learning processes and
create situations in which students apply their developmental skills.
4. ICT
Teachers must be able to design ICT-based knowledge communities and use ICT to
support the development of students’ knowledge creation skills and their continuous,
reﬂective learning.
Teachers should be able to play a leadership role in training and providing follow-up
support to colleagues and in creating and implementing a vision of their school as a
community based on innovation and continuous learning enriched by ICT.
Teachers, too, must have the ability, motivation, inclination, encouragement and support
to experiment, continuously learn and use ICT to build professional learning communities
working toward creating knowledge.

Model of (ICT-CFT)
SYLLABUS CANDIDATES
The primary candidates for the UNESCO ICT-CFT Knowledge Deepening professional
learning would be teachers using ICT and interested in integrating ICT effectively into
education. The secondary candidates would be those in teacher education, preferably with
some experience of teaching. They would have the following attributes.
1. Understand ICT policy
2. Identify key concepts and processes in the curriculum which can be best taught by
using ICT.
3. Use ICT to assess students’ understanding of key subject matter concepts, skills
and processes
4. Design a project-based learning activity incorporating ICT.
5. Implement the project-based learning activity.

6. Critically analyze the effectiveness of the integration of ICT in the project-based
activity.
7. Select or create suitable software and resources.
8. Use ICT to communicate and collaborate.
9. Use ICT to manage and monitor student projects.
10. Manage the physical learning environment and resources
11. Manage time and human resources using ICT
12. Manage and use digital resources for personal Professional learning.
13. Collaborate online to develop professionally. (Page 72- 86 )
EXAMPLE METHODS (FOR TEACHER EDUCATION OR PROFESSIONAL
LEARNING)
The teacher should be able to :
 Select a range of software packages in a speciﬁc subject area; have participants
identified speciﬁc curriculum standards that are associated with these packages and
discuss how these are supported by the applications.
 Discuss and demonstrate the basic operation of various types of hardware, such as
desktop computers, laptops, printers, scanners and hand-held devices.
 Describe and demonstrate the basic tasks and uses of word processors, such as text
entry, editing text, formatting text and printing.
 Describe and demonstrate the purpose and basic features of presentation software and
other digital resources.
 Have participants create a presentation on a topic of their choice using digital
resources.
 Discuss the purpose of graphics software and demonstrate the creation of a graphics
display. Have participants create and share a graphic display.
 Discuss the purpose and structure of the Internet and the World Wide Web and
participants’ experiences of them. Demonstrate the use of a browser; have participants
use a browser to access popular websites.

 Use a search engine. Demonstrate the use of a search engine; discuss and demonstrate
simple keyword searches; have participants search for websites on their favourite
topics and discuss the keyword strategies they used with the group for discussion.
 Demonstrate the creation and use of an email account; have participants create an
email account and create and send a series of email messages.
 Use common communication and collaboration technologies, such as text messaging,
video conferencing, and web-based collaboration and social environments.
 Identify and manage Internet safety issues. (page 25)
 Implement collaborative, project-based unit plans and classroom activities, while
providing guidance to students towards the successful completion of their projects
and attainment of deep understanding of key concepts.( Page-37)
 Play a leading role in creating a vision of what their school might be like with ICT
integrated into the curriculum and classroom practices.
By Mrs. Pratima Nayak
MSC(Mathematics).Med,PGDCA,IDGC
Working as Post Graduate Teacher (Mathematics) at Kendriya Vidyalaya,Fort
William,Kolkata.
International School Coordinator, British council.
N.B: The above write-up is an abridged version of the original article “UNESCO
ICT COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHERS, Version 2.0”(92 Pages)-
Published in 2011 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization.
Source:
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002134/213475E.pdf

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