ICT and preservice teachers. Short case study about conditions of teacher preparation in: Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Uruguay and Poland

Abstract

The paper aims at presenting the most important indicators teacher preparation in the context of the developing information society. The text was written as part of the SELI project. It is the international study which seeks to answer the question about the factors determining the efficient use of ICT among the pedagogy students. This theoretical study joins the debate on the curricula and local, national and global conditions related to the education of teachers of the future. The text presents data from three countries from Latin America and the Caribbean region and one from Europe. The development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is key for any society that wishes to develop and face the local and global challenges that arise every day. However, teachers play a fundamental role in ensuring that these technologies are taught and reach the entire population adequately. During this process, an important number of challenges and problems must be faced, as a result of the current context in which the Dominican Republic, as a developing country, finds itself. In the present work we make a brief description of the main challenges and defies faced by ICT teachers. In the section referring to Ecuador, a general outline of the academic education for preservice teachers is presented. The numeric data are presented about the education system and the preparation of future teachers. The legal grounds have also been described. While discussing the conditions in Ecuador, the authors focus on the technical aspects of education, like the use of e-learning technologies. They also refer briefly to the need for lifelong learning. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the way the challenges of ICT are approached in preservice teacher education in Uruguay. Initially, some background information is provided about how preservice teacher education is organized for at the different levels. Secondly, the focus is on the way Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been included in the preservice teacher education and training curricula and the changes that this inclusion is undergoing. The overview shows a transitioning process, from a rather disperse and fragmented approach with a variety of courses, projects and programs, to a more consistent and centralized one. The article finishes with a few conclusions and ponders some Uruguay perspectives, joining an ongoing debate around unanswered questions and identified challenges. The Polish section presents several important changes associated with the reform of the education system, which affects the professional teacher preparation. The authors also present the examples of the academic curricula for Information Technologies and Media in Education courses carried out in the Pedagogical University of Cracow. Based on the short analyses, we have noticed that despite the geographical, language and cultural differences, teacher preparation in the area of ICT use shows many common features which are the global challenges. These shared elements include: legal systems preparing teachers to perform their profession, the development of digital literacy, modernisation of the academic curricula and technical infrastructure, and motivation to use ICT solutions among the preservice teachers