VARIABILITY IN THE ORGANIZATION OF TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON ELECTRONIC AND DISTANCE LEARNING

Advancement in technology and changes in knowledge delivery are making it imperative for teachers to acquire new skills and knowledge to meet the needs of today’s students. Teachers in rural areas rarely take advantage of professional development opportunities provided for them. This study explored the perspective of rural teachers on the constraints of accessing professional development programmes in order to situate Open Distance Learning (ODL) as an alternative method of delivering professional development training. Rubenson’s Recruitment Paradigm (1977), Cross’ Chain-of- Response Model (1981) and Darkenwald and Merriam’s Psychosocial Interaction Model (1982) guided the study. The study employed survey research design to answer the research questions raised. The population consisted of all teachers in public secondary schools in the rural areas of Lagos state. Ten secondary schools were randomly selected for the study. Twenty teachers were purposively selected from each school, making a total of 200 teachers. A self-developed questionnaire was employed to collect data. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. The study revealed that teachers in the rural areas rarely go for professional development programmes as a result of constraints such as lack of time, lack of funds, inability to forego family time for development training and teachers’ disposition. Based on the findings, it was suggested that the effects of these barriers can only be mitigated through ODL which allows teachers to learn whatever, wherever, whenever, and however they want to learn through information communication technology.

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The Role of Technology in Higher Education

IJOHMN ◽

10.24113/ijohmn.v3i3.27 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Dr. A. SUBRAMANIAN

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Information Systems ◽

Distance Learning ◽

Educational Achievement ◽

Traditional Education ◽

Developmental Potential ◽

Professional Development For Teachers ◽

Paper Technology ◽

Educational Field

Present status and use for educational purposes, technology is fulfilling an ever increasing role in both the traditional education field, and in other fields which are utilizing technology for educational purposes. Within the educational field we can see technology as a means of removing barriers for students and teachers alike. First, technology can remove financial and geographical barriers through distributed learning. This allows students and teachers to experience educational opportunities that they might have otherwise never been able to encounter. Second, technology is bringing about a new focus on problem and skill based learning. Information databases are being used to assist teachers in the acquisition of new knowledge and provide professional support outside of the traditional professional development seminar. In regards to future action, we should continue to utilize the successful trends in education as a means to fulfil their developmental potential and see increased impacts on our field. In particular, we should continue the use of distance learning as a means of professional development for teachers, by providing more opportunities aimed at improving their job related performance. Distance learning for students should also be an area of focus by providing software that allows for increasing authenticity in simulations, multimedia content, and social connections. We should continue to focus on technology that allows students to interact with other students and environments located outside of their current environment, locality, and culture. Information systems are also in need of continual investment. Information systems perform two important roles for the educational system: Focus on this paper, technology has already served an important role in education in multiple fields. Specifically, technology has been of great use to the educational field in terms of its focus on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the educational experiences of both students and teachers. Continued use and development of technology can serve to further benefit the educational field and recommendations based on the development of existing trends in education should be pursued for great gains in educational achievement..

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