Designing Open and Distance Learning for Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Toolkit for Educators and Planners

World Bank Publication - Coming soon

The global community has set a millennium development goal that ‘by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling’. In Sub-Saharan Africa this is a daunting challenge. Expanding provision requires millions of new teachers and upgrading millions more of unqualified and underqualified teachers already working in schools. Unqualified teachers may require emergency school-based training programs while they await the opportunity to access accredited courses. This comes at a time when pressure on the teaching workforce is great. New types of jobs in the expanding knowledge economy are attracting many who would traditionally have become teachers. HIV/AIDS is impacting the teaching forces of many countries. Teachers are less attracted to working in rural communities. In this context, the education and training of new and existing teachers becomes a top priority. New, school-based programs of teacher education using distance learning and information and communication technologies (ICTs) may be the only logistically feasible and economically sound means of educating the millions of unqualified and underqualified teachers within the primary sector.
   
The new publication ‘Designing Open and Distance Learning for Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a toolkit that addresses the key issues in program development. The authors are international experts in this field with extensive research and development experience in Africa. They set out a structured approach to program design drawing on extensive examples from within the continent and the broader international community. The toolkit presents the very latest thinking in the field, including detailed exploration of the possibilities of information and communication technologies. Learn more about this upcoming publication.

Due for release in March 2006.

Non-World Bank Publication

Teacher Education through Open and Distance Learning
B. Robinson and C. Latchem (eds.), London: COL/RoutledgeFalmer Press, 2002.

Open and distance learning is increasingly used in teacher education in developing and developed countries. It has the potential to strengthen and expand the teaching profession of the twenty-first century and to help achieve the target of education for all by 2015. Teacher Education through Open and Distance Learning examines the case for using open and distance learning and ICT to train educators and summarises the strengths and weaknesses of new approaches to the education of teachers. It offers invaluable guidance to policymakers, planners, headteachers and teachers.  

For information on how to obtain this book, go to Google Book ™ and enter Bernadette Robinson in the search box.