TaiwanICDF Teacher Professional Development Program

The World Links- TaiwanICDF partnership in the Dominican Republic is implemented in close collaboration with the Dominican Republic Ministry of Education.  The government in the Dominican Republic made strong efforts to start computer literacy courses for in-service teachers through collaboration with the Instituto Tecnologico de las Americas (ITLA).  This government- endorsed computer program has laid the foundation for the TaiwanICDF-World Links professional development program and integration of ICT into the classroom. 

The Dominican Republic has successfully completed all four Teacher Professional Development Phases: (Phase I: Introduction to the Internet for Teaching and Learning; Phase II: Tele-collaborative Learning Projects; Phase III: Curriculum and Technology Integration; and Phase IV: Innovation, Tech, Pedagogy and Professional Development).  For all phases, the Master Trainers who completed the 5-day workshops continued on to local schools to conduct the same workshops for a total of 108 teachers.  These teachers have subsequently trained 165 additional teachers. Using World Links’ pedagogical methods, teachers have designed and implemented national and international collaborative projects with their students.  Following the World Links’ cascade model, the number of teachers indirectly trained and students reached has risen, even after the termination of funding, as teachers continue to employ their skills and knowledge by training and sharing their skills with fellow teachers in local schools.  Thus, World Links’ impact in the educational system has been deep by changing and improving the way teachers teach with the use of ICT.   

The World Links program has not only trained teachers and changed pedagogy in the Dominican Republic; it has changed the attitudes of teachers and students towards learning.  With the new tools that technology provides, teachers and students were excited about the learning process and expanding their worldview.  With the collaborative projects the shape of the classroom has changed.  The classroom is no longer local, but international with students discovering their peers all over the world.  What has happened in the Dominican Republic during the life of this project is truly exciting because of the improvements to education and attitudes that it has positively shaped.