Improving lecturers' IT skills. Discussion paper with 7 recommendations
Many institutions are keen to make their teaching more innovative. This requires lecturers to have good IT skills. In this discussion paper, researchers Ineke Lam and Riekje de Jong from Utrecht University make 7 recommendations as to how colleges of higher education and universities can improve the ItT skills of their lecturers.
Study of professional development for lecturers in the field of IT
The recommendations are taken from the study titled 'Van IT-docentprofessionalisering naar onderwijsontwikkeling’ (‘From professional development for lecturers to development in teaching'), which was undertaken earlier this year by Lam and De Jong on behalf of SURFnet. The study outlines how professional development for lecturers in the field of IT is organised in the Dutch higher education system and presents examples of good practice. The new discussion paper makes 7 recommendations to institutes of higher education based on this study.
7 recommendations:
- Focus on the development of teaching courses using IT, not on the acquisition of IT skills
- The workplace requires students with good IT skills and therefore also lecturers with good IT skills
- Create scope for experimentation
- Ensure multidisciplinary support
- An up-to-date portfolio for the teaching qualification (BDB/BKO) includes IT-integrated teaching
- Wherever possible, organise professional development at local level
- Formulate a vision for teaching as a connecting policy framework
More information
- Research report rapport inventarisatie ict docentprofessionalisering’ (‘From professional development for lecturers to development in teaching', in Dutch)