ICT Competences for Educational Innovation: A Teacher Training Program in Colombia

The growing diffusion of technology in educational environments has raised the need to align Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to the curriculum to promote innovative pedagogical practices in teachers. However, achieving this objective requires teachers to develop competencies for the effective use of these technologies. Under this scenario, the Ministry of National Education of Colombia implemented a teacher training program to strengthen six competencies associated with the use of ICT: technological, communicative, pedagogical, investigative, management, and design. The objective of the research is to understand the relevance of the program in strengthening each competence. The study analyzes the perception of a sample of 2160 beneficiary teachers of the program throughout 31 of the 32 departments that compose the country. A questionnaire was applied with 36 statements about the usefulness and use of the program for teaching practice. In general terms, the results showed that most teachers agree that the contents of the program are relevant to the development of competences. Specifically, the results suggest that technological and pedagogical competencies were favored by self-directed, cooperative, and didactic learning strategies by using ICT that promote problem-solving skills in students. The communicative competence was associated with the learning of ICT tools that allowed to systematize and communicate significant experiences. Additionally, the research competence was related to the participation in communities of practice for the collective construction of knowledge with the support of ICT, the use of the information available on the web in a critical m​a​n​n​e​r​ and the reporting of own research results using ICT. Similarly, management competence was driven by activities that required the explanation of educational policies on and with the use of ICT. Finally, design competence was related to the planning of teaching units to improve educational practices through the combination of existing methods and ICT. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of the training program and lifelong learning for teacher’s professional development.