Teachers learn technology-applied teaching methodologies

Science and mathematics teachers have been urged to apply technology-driven methodologies to improve the quality of their teaching.

Mr Robert Goodman of the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning CTL), a US-based NGO, said greater application of information technology (IT) was the path to travel to promote effective work in the classroom.

It would help students to sharpen their analytical skills to become critical thinkers and thereby empower them to solve problems.

Addressing a seminar for selected teachers in Kumasi, he said the use of technology had become the standard mode of teaching.

The three-day programme is being attended by selected science and mathematics teachers from across the country to upgrade their knowledge on the “SMART technology teaching concept”.

The concept, which had been embraced by educational institutions in developed and some developing countries, seeks to replace the use of textbooks with an open-source courseware that relies on practical and more effective state-of-the-art teaching devices to facilitate quality education delivery.

IDvelop France and Proinfo Ghana, both educational consultancy firms, Ghana Education Service and SMART Technology Incorporated are the joint organizers of the seminar.

Mr Goodman, an educational consultant, introduced the participants to the “Progressive Science Initiative (PSI)” and “Progressive Mathematics Initiative (PMI)”, and said these teaching approaches had been developed to improve Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning outcomes.

These foster coherence in mathematics and science instruction, using pedagogical techniques.

He said the seminar formed part of a long-term project to install SMART technology in the nation’s schools to enhance the teaching and learning of science and mathematics.