Teacher Professional Development supported by Information and Communication Technologies: A Case Study of the “Teacher Training Program for Curricular Update 2016-2018 in Ecuador”

Overview

Demands have increased on governments and public policy to provide quality teacher training. The approaches and models that characterize teacher professional development (TPD) systems vary across countries, as does the level of digital technologies used for their provision. This article presents the case study of the Teacher Training Program for Curricular Update in Ecuador, 2016-2018. It is a national TPD initiative of the Ministry for Education of Ecuador based on a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) model, which covered 187,376 teachers (out of a total population of 217,000 teachers) and achieved a high pass rate of 66.5%. The study of this program helps to understand two concepts: 1) how the state can use ICTs to substantially expand access to and improve professional learning at scale and 2) the teachers’ perceptions of these learning experiences. The findings reveal tensions to be resolved between the criteria of access and quality of training, as well as discrepancies between public policy objectives and teachers’ expectations of their professional learning activities.