ICT Integration in Teacher Education: A Teacher Training Institute Case in Lao PDR

Abstract

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) integration in education has gained global popularity, yet, not much has been known about how ICT has integrated into teacher education in Lao PDR. This study applies UNESCOs four stages continuum model and SEAMEOs ten-dimension framework to make a comprehensive description of the situation of ICT integration in a teacher training institutes in Lao PDR, marking both the achievement and challenges. This study chooses Luang Prabang Teacher Training Colleges (LPB TTC) as the research site. It targets on collecting experience in regard of ICT of the pre-service teachers (PTs) and teacher educators (TEs). Based on the short-term field research in and documents review, the study reveals that although the overall situation is still at the emerging or applying stages from most aspects, there exists several practices showing that Lao PDR still has much potential to develop advanced ICT integration in teacher education: using ICT for creating teaching and learning materials, using ICT for teaching instructional design, creating teachers online community for easier knowledge sharing and policy borrowing and individual use of PTs and TEs for problem-solving. At the same time, it identifies the stages in five levels of ICT integration in teacher education in Lao PDR: (1) policies and major practices at the national level

(2) campus culture, infrastructure and facilities, the pre-service teacher curriculum, activities in which ICT is engaged with at the school level

(3) training experience in local computer centers and secondary schools, PPP and teachers online group at the community level

(4) the first experience, purpose at the individual level with ICT products and (5) the practices of global partnership in reference with ICT integration in teacher education. It also finds that the common ICT in the local context refers to (1) ICT products which can be personal possession (e.g. computers, mobile phones)

(2) ICT infrastructure (e.g. Internet)

(3) ICT skills for various purposes (e.g. for teaching and learning, for daily use, for work and problem solving) and (4) ICT as an integral part of habit and hobby. Although the study also looks for more effective ICT integration in teacher training institutes and highlights the potential of mobile learning in future teacher education in Lao PDR, due to challenges such as the huge digital gap and urban-rural gap, it is not able to claim that ICT integration brings better quality of teacher education and is more feasible and effective than the traditional way of learning and teaching. Thus, further studies are needed to continuously explore and examine the influences and outcomes.