ICTeacher

NUT General Secretary’s Introduction

I am delighted to introduce this celebratory edition of ICTeacher. It marks the tenth anniversary of the NUT’s ‘ICT Skills for Teachers’ programme.

The ‘ICT Skills for Teachers’ programme has been a real success story for the Union. The NUT has organised invaluable ICT training, which has had a huge impact on the lives of thousands of teachers. Many teachers have been able to use the newly acquired skills in their classrooms and this has been of huge benefit to the children that they teach. This is a record that the Union is justifiably proud of.

In 1999, when the NUT piloted the first basic ICT skills course in north London, the Union knew that there was a demand for high quality ICT skills training for teachers, but the scope and on going success of the NUT’s programme has been absolutely amazing. During the subsequent ten years the NUT has trained over 15,400 teachers in a wide range of ICT skills right the way through from the very basics to using advanced features of interactive whiteboards.

ICT courses are organised at venues across England and Wales at times and locations which are suitable and convenient to teachers. The ICT skills programme has grown immeasurably and in the past year the NUT has been working in partnership with the Sierra Leone Teachers’ Union on a project to deliver ICT training for women teachers in Sierra Leone. I am proud of the NUT’s involvement in this project and it is a great example of two teachers’ unions working together for the benefit of their members.

The enduring success and popularity of the NUT’s ‘ICT Skills for Teachers’ programme is a reflection not only of the continuing needs of teachers for relevant, high quality training but also of the NUT’s ability to provide it.

CHRISTINE BLOWER
General Secretary
National Union of Teachers

In this issue: