Tomorrow today; 2010 - unesdoc - Unesco

Strategies to reinforce the role ofICT in teaching andlearning for sustainabilityProfessor Vassilios Makrakis, Department of Primary Education,University of Crete, GreeceThree forces are shaping and driving 21st century education:the development and diffusion of information andcommunication technology (ICT), the increasing demandfor new educational approaches and pedagogies that fostertransformative and lifelong learning, and the reorientation ofeducational curricula to address sustainable development (SD).The link between ICT, transformative learning and SD is beingaddressed by extensive debates and research which recognize thechallenge new technologies bring to the reorientation of educationtowards learning to live sustainably. Some higher educationinstitutions, but not many, have begun to take advantage of thepotential offered by ICT to reorient their study programmesto address sustainability and cope with the barriers encountered.The results of the 2008 International Survey preparedfor UNESCO revealed some of the more prevalent barriers toaddressing education for sustainability to be too few (or inadequatelytrained) professionals to provide inspired educationfor sustainable development (ESD), limited staff awarenessand expertise, overcrowded curricula and lack of new teachingmethods and courses. There is also insufficient funding andinadequate national, provincial and local policy to support ESD.Disciplinary boundaries between subject areas persist, as wellas a lack of educational leadership to support transformativeefforts to address sustainability.Responses to these challengesAs a response to these challenges and barriers, the UNESCO ChairICT in Education for Sustainable Development, established at theUniversity of Crete in 2008, has set up a number of projects:Developing Web-based curricula addressing education for climate changeWe have set up a working group consisting of experts in ICT,Education for Climate Change and Instructional Design to developweb-based inter/cross-disciplinary curricula addressing the integrationof climate change in the Greek school curriculum. Theinstructional material we are developing is expected to engageprimary school learners in social activism and an exploration of theimpacts of climate change on ecosystems and natural resources, onlocal communities, and on individuals and global society. We areopen to international cooperation from Ministries of Education andFoundations to transfer our know-how through customization totheir own educational systems.A Euro-Mediterranean online ESD ‘community of practice’for reforming higher education curricula to addresssustainable developmentThis participatory action research project aimsat developing a Euro-Mediterranean ‘communityof practice’ in higher education committedto the principles of transformative learning andsustainable development. In particular, it aims todesign, develop and assess an online communitythat goes beyond awareness raising to a re-orientationof higher education curricula and campuspractices to address sustainability. It is foundedon a sound basis of merging theory and practicein higher education systems and constructivist,Web-based, open and flexible learning managementsystems. This project is integrated into theTEMPUS project, ‘Reorient University Curriculato Address Sustainability’, involving universitiesfrom five European Union countries as well as fromEgypt, Jordan and Lebanon.Development of an online problem-based learning environmentfor health educationThis project deals with the development andassessment of an online problem-based learning‘community of practice’ enriched with inter-disciplinaryhypermedia-based instructional lessonson health education issues. Participatory actionresearch is the research method adopted, with twoparallel action research teams working together inthe prefectures of Rethymnon and Chania on theisland of Crete. Through this project we are expectedto provide sustained, reform-based professionaldevelopment to guide teams of teachers throughthe process of creating and implementing interdisciplinaryand cross-disciplinary hypermedia-basedlearning interventions, focusing on local environmentalhealth issues for primary and lower secondaryschool students. This project invites internationalcooperation from Ministries of Education andFoundations, which may integrate our know-how intheir own educational systems.[ 169 ]