Ed-Tech Policy Report Roundup

UNESCO Report Calls for Ed. Tech. Training

By Mary C. Breaden — January 15, 2008 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The technology-standards project—launched last week in London—released three booklets that outline the policy framework for the effort and the guidelines for the skills educators should be developing.

If teachers around the world do not take part in more professional-development training in information and communication technologies, or ICT, they will continue to lack the skills necessary to integrate technology into the classroom and improve student learning, concludes a report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization .

Curriculum- and technology-training providers do not have a comprehensive set of international guidelines for training, and as a consequence, teachers in many countries have not developed the skills necessary to integrate technology into classroom curricula, says UNESCO, the Paris-based body of the United Nations that promotes international cooperation in education, science, and culture. It wrote the report in collaboration with the Washington-based International Society for Technology in Education, a nonprofit group that sets standards for how educators should use technology to improve student learning, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, in Blacksburg, Va.

UNESCO’S goal in producing the report is to establish a basic set of skills and qualifications that educators must acquire and to encourage countries to provide professional development to help them develop those skills.

The technology-standards project—launched last week in London—released three booklets that outline the policy framework for the effort and the guidelines for the skills educators should be developing.

See Also

For more stories on this topic see Technology.

A version of this article appeared in the January 16, 2008 edition of Education Week

Events

Reading & Literacy K-12 Essentials Forum Supporting Struggling Readers in Middle and High School
Join this free virtual event to learn more about policy, data, research, and experiences around supporting older students who struggle to read.
School & District Management Webinar Squeeze More Learning Time Out of the School Day
Learn how to increase learning time for your students by identifying and minimizing classroom disruptions.
Recruitment & Retention Webinar EdRecruiter 2026 Survey Results: How School Districts are Finding and Keeping Talent
Discover the latest K-12 hiring trends from EdWeek’s nationwide survey of job seekers and district HR professionals.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Ed-Tech Policy How Schools Can Balance AI’s Promise and Its Pitfalls
Three educators share tips on how schools can navigate this fast-evolving technology.
3 min read
Robotic hand holding a notebook with flying from it books, letters and messages. Generated text, artificial intelligence tools concept.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Ed-Tech Policy Q&A Why a Good Cellphone Policy Is About More Than Just Restrictions
At least 32 states and the District of Columbia require districts to restrict students' cellphone use.
5 min read
A student in Saxon Brown's 9th grade honors English class works on a timeline for an assignment on To Kill A Mockingbird, including drawing some of the characters from the book, at Bel Air High School in Bel Air, Md., on Jan. 25, 2024.
A student in a 9th grade honors English class uses a cellphone to work on a timeline for an assignment on <i>To Kill A Mockingbird</i>, including drawing some of the characters from the book, at Bel Air High School in Bel Air, Md., on Jan. 25, 2024. Most states have started requiring restrictions to students' access to their phones during the school day, but Maryland does not have statewide restrictions.
Jaclyn Borowski/Education Week
Ed-Tech Policy After FCC Cuts, This Nonprofit Keeps Schools’ Wi-Fi Connections Alive
Mission Telecom said it hopes other service providers follow its lead.
5 min read
Spencer Hollers works to equip Southside Independent School District buses with wifi on Aug. 13, 2020, in San Antonio, Texas. Southside will begin the year with remote teaching and will place the wifi-equipped buses around the school district to help students without access to the internet.
Spencer Hollers works to equip Southside Independent School District buses with Wi-Fi on Aug. 13, 2020, in San Antonio, Texas. Wi-Fi on school buses became E-rate-eligible in 2023 under the Biden administration, but in 2025 the Trump administration's FCC removed the service from the E-rate eligible services list.
Eric Gay/AP
Ed-Tech Policy Why Most Principals Say Cellphone Bans Improve School Climate
Nearly 3 in 4 principals believe banning cellphones has big upsides.
2 min read
Student Audreanna Johnson views her cell phone near a cell phone locker at Ronald McNair Sr. High School on Aug. 7, 2025, in Atlanta.
Student Audreanna Johnson views her phone near a cellphone locker at Ronald McNair Sr. High School in Atlanta on Aug. 7, 2025. Principals say cellphone bans are improving student behavior, according to a RAND study.
Mike Stewart/AP