Doha education summit urges nations: Train teachers on technology use

DOHA — International leaders in education urged yesterday developing countries to provide extensive trainings to teachers on the use of technology as part of their efforts to reform the education system.

Mamphela Ramphele, former vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town in South Africa, said “education reforms start with the teachers.”

“The teachers have to be wise and learn from their environment,” Ramphele said at the 2013 World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) at the Qatar National Convention Centre here.

WISE is an international initiative aimed at transforming education through innovation.

It was established by the Qatar Foundation for Science, Education and Community Development in 2009 under the patronage of its chairperson Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.

The three-day conference, with the theme “Reinventing Education for Life,” is attended by more than 1,200 prominent education, corporate, political and social leaders from over 100 countries, including Education Secretary Armin Luistro.

Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilinguism and Youth in Cyprus, said teachers should always be trained, particularly on the use of technology.

“We have to give them the tools for them to become more beneficial,” she said. “It is important to provide teachers technological training,” she added.

Yasar Jarrar, founder of Bain & Company in Jordan, however, stressed that teachers will never be replaced by technology.

“Technology will replace the books, or the medium used to infuse knowledge to students, but not the teachers,” Jarrar said.

STEM

Meanwhile, foreign educators also pushed for the use of narratives in teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects to arouse the students’ interest and attention.

Maggie Aderin-Pocock, a space scientist and founder of Science Innovation Limited, noted that most of STEM teachers have no passion for the profession.

She said teachers can bring their students to museums and other places where they can appreciate science.

“We can bring scientists to schools. We can allow kids to talk to scientists,” she said.

Claudia Dreifus, adjunct professor of International Affairs and Media at the Columbia University, said science can be taught through stories.

She also noted that most of the research universities in the US aim “to create more scientists than create appreciation of science.”

“American universities teach to create more researchers than appreciation,” Dreifus said.

STEM subjects, she said, should not only be taught using numbers or concepts but narratives as well.

“Allow students to do experiments than give Physics to memorize,” she said.