ICT integration in teacher education

Teacher is considered to be the architect of the nation. In other words, the future of the nation lies in the hands of teacher. This shows the importance of teacher. Teacher education is looked after by a systematic operation of various agencies involved in it. Teaching is becoming one of the most challenging professions in our society where knowledge is expanding rapidly and modern technologies are demanding teachers to learn how to use these technologies in their teaching. While new technologies increase teachers’ training needs, they also offer part of the solution. Information and communication technology (ICT) can provide more flexible and effective ways for professional development for teachers, improve pre- and in-service teacher training and connect teachers to the global teacher community. While information and communication technology (ICT) is not a panacea for all educational problems, today's technologies are essential tools for teaching and learning. To use these tools effectively and efficiently, teachers need visions of the technologies’ potential, opportunities to apply them, training, just-in-time support and time to experiment because only then teachers can be informed and confident in their use of new technologies. This paper discusses new possibilities and challenges that ICT has brought to teacher training and professional development. It is concluded with discussion of emerging research issues with respect to ICT integration into teacher training and networking.