ICT Teacher Training in the United States

Despite several highs and lows, the Teacher Training on the integration of ICT in schools in the United States has made giant steps.

A._T._Ottenbreit-Leftwich__Teacher_Technology_Professional_Development_-_FGA_WP20_01.pdf

The introduction of new technologies and the net in schools as such is not enough for them to increase students’ interest and motivation and, possibly, to improve the quality of their leaning.  What is crucial is how these instruments are used on a daily basis and how they are integrated and fitted in with a process of didactics innovation aimed to make the most of ICT’s huge potential in a critical way.  Hence the importance of initial and in itinere Teacher Training. In her paper, Anne Ottenbreit-Leftwich (a young professor at Indiana University, Bloomington) describes and analyzes what happened in the United States in the last few years, tracing back both the theoretical debate on Teacher Training and the actual policy choices made at the federal and local level.

The Author makes a great job at pointing out strengths as well as weak spots of the American experience (with a rich and up-to-date bibliography), which makes a significant contribution to the Italian debate too.

Such paper is part of the researches commissioned by the Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli for the “Rapporto sulla Scuola in Italia 2010”.