A proposal of framework for professional development of Turkish teachers with respect to information and communication technologies

Abstract

Studies in recent literature indicate that professional development programs for teachers addressing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are either inefficient or far from being productive. The reasons behind the inefficiency of such professional development activities are considered as the incompatibility between the level of training and teachers' ICT skills, and the lack of active use of ICTs by teachers in the teaching and learning processes. Bearing this problem in mind, the current study aims at proposing a framework for organizing professional development activities for Turkish teachers regarding ICTs with an emphasis on teachers' ICT-related needs, competencies and levels of technology use. Within the framework, it is suggested that teachers' levels and categories of technology use be determined in the first place, which will be followed by a four-stage professional development structure leading to teachers' effective ICT use and integration of ICTs in teaching-learning processes.