A developmental model of basic ICT skills for pre-service trainee teachers

Resource limitations present several challenges to diffusion of ICT skills in developing (non-OECD) countries. Trainee teachers join colleges of teacher education with little or no prior exposure to technologies such as mobile phones or computers. Distinctive models are a required to help understanding of basic ICT skills learning in this context. A developmental model of basic ICT skills acquisition is presented. The model links learner skill level acquisition with pre-requisite infra-structural requirements called resource milestones. The model is applied to six out of the 22 teacher education institutions in Ethiopia and schools in and around the zonal capital Debre Birhan. It is found that none of the surveyed primary schools, Grade 1 to 8, use ICT in teaching and learning. A higher education preparatory school and two teacher training institutions have high speed Internet access. In the teacher training institutions the Internet is used to teach skills such as Web browsing to trainee teachers. The Skill Levels and Resource Milestones model provides a detailed roadmap for funding agencies and institutions to plan their investments. The Institutions surveyed have some way to go before students can develop more advanced information