Lessons from the Training and Support of Teachers in the Development of Digital Skills: A case study of @prende 2.0

Abstract

Since 1997, Mexico - like many Latin American countries - has seen significant public and private investment aimed at incorporating information technology in the classroom. In-class information technology holds the great promise of revolutionizing the teaching-learning process. The reality is different, often showing negligible impact from such efforts. One common criticism has been the failure to properly train and support teachers before rolling out technology for use in their classrooms. This article looks at a recent effort of the Mexican government to address the issue of teacher training and support. @prende 2.0 was a program of the Mexican federal government that involved 2,700 digital trainers who trained more than 63,000 teachers in the use of technological equipment that they would be provided. Analyzing administration information and hard data from @prende, this article analyzes the program’s successes and challenges to fashion a series of recommendations regarding similar training and support efforts.