VIII International Seminar: "Teacher Training: Reconsidering Teachers' Roles"

Program

The recent irruption of technology and, especially, Internet, has radically changed the way we live, the way we communicate, the way we buy, the way we learn. But, has the way we teach changed accordingly? Is the educational system following the pace of all the rapid changes caused by new technologies? Web 2.0 tools, mobile learning, game based learning, etc. But, what about mobile teaching or game-based teaching? Isn’t teaching as important as learning? Or maybe teaching has become an obsolete concept and learners can nowadays learn by themselves using all these available resources and services? Is technology eventually going to replace teachers or there is a “third way” of doing things?

We think there IS such a third way where teachers fully or partially adopt these technologies in order to command a new way of teaching how to learn better.

Creativity and decision taking seems to be forbidden, teacher-learner relationship is reproducing the same scheme again and again, instead of taking control of the very learning process in which learners and teachers assume new active roles and new shared responsabilities.

Teachers need to be aware of all the possible uses of ICTs in the classroom, leading its adoption rather than just trying to catch up with learners.

During the seminar, among other topics related to teacher training, we will discuss about the introduction of ICTs in the educational system; new models for generating and sharing educational resources, learning designs and best practices among teachers; the changes caused by the new European Higher Education Area (a.k.a. the Bologna Process) and the problems of its incomplete implementation due to the lack of resources and teacher preparation; and experiences in countries where the number of teachers is vast, such India or China, for instance.

We want the seminar to be a powerful tool not only for gathering state-of-the-art knowledge about a given topic but also for creating and strengthening networks among participants sharing same concerns and interests about such topic.

The registration is closed, but if you are still interested, please send us a message and we will contact you if there are any cancellations.