Technology, Teachers, and Training: Combining Theory with Macedoniaâ•Žs Experience

Numerous developing countries are currently executing or planning—pouring both hope and money into—projects that introduce technology into their educational systems. This paper puts forth the assertion that developing world ICT-in-education projects will continue to disappoint until they are reconceptualized and redesigned to incorporate three transformative concepts: teachers play the key role in determining the success or failure of such projects; change is a years-long process and not a one-time event; and teachers need ongoing support to adopt the technology and should be treated as stakeholders in the innovation-adoption process. In the Macedonian nationwide computers-in-schools project herein described, teachers received extremely comprehensive advance training in both computer use and methods of actively incorporating technology into their curriculum and teaching. Still, the majority of teachers are not successfully employing technology in the classroom three years after the training and deployment were carried out. This paper applies the ConcernsBased Adoption Model (or CBAM, which describes how individuals’ concerns evolve as they undergo the process of change and how these concerns may be addressed over time) to Macedonia’s experience. CBAM serves as a lens through which to examine ICT-in-education efforts and determine whether they effectively match up with how teachers experience change and where there is room for improvement in such efforts.