“The greatest part of my work revolves around the use of technology but most lectures within the college would not be in a position to say the same about their work,” says Olara James, an ICT officer that supports the college IT laboratory. And now, he is one of the 5 selected ICT Champions supporting the integration of ICT in Teaching and Learning at National Teachers’ College Unyama. So far, each of the five colleges has appointed 5 ICT champions specifically for this purpose.

Learning in the National Teachers’ Colleges is changing and one of the catalysts behind this is the introduction of Information and Communication Technology to the teaching and learning dynamic. For the most part, the colleges have operated with minimal ICT support in past which has greatly affected the quality of learning in the classroom. 

Lecturers mainly relied on the traditional means of teaching, and as this was the norm, it did very little to create learner-centred environments and to prepare their students to step into the twenty-first century. With support from Enabel, the Teacher Training Education project has facilitated in more ways than one, the integration of ICT in Teaching and Learning. This is because we believe that technology does not only aid teaching but can revolutionize the learning process.

Currently, the purpose of the ICT champions is quite specific. To mentor fellow lecturers on how to incorporate ICT in their teaching process and to aid learners in the use of ICT tools. This can be done in through several ways. One of them is the use of internet aided research using computers within the college and the use of projectors to display content in a classroom.

Among the ways to utilize ICT in the education process, is the use of video teaching. Through this process, lecturers access both offline and online video education resources in preparation for their lessons. A practise that is steadily growing in the NTCs.

According to Kilama Emmy, another ICT champion and lecturer at NTC Unyama, this practice capturers learners’ attention and has made it easier to illustrate ideas and concepts in a classroom.

In relation to video in teaching and learning, is the use of video in microteaching. Through microteaching lessons, lecturers and teacher-trainees review video recordings of teaching sessions to get constructive feedback and make improvements to their teaching technique. Another practice that has significantly strengthened the competencies of teachers graduating from the NTCs.

In order to build on the NTC’s capacity to utilize ICT in the teaching and learning, the project has trained a total of 25 appointed ICT champions across all the five colleges on the use of video in teaching and learning and strengthened their mentorship skills.