LEVERAGING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR CONTINUOUS LEARNING AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT OF IN-SERVICE TEACHERS

The National Education Policy-2020 envisions an education system to transforming India into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, by providing high-quality education as well as through Continuous professional development of teachers. The present study aimed to identify the innovations in Continuous professional development of teachers with reference to new National Education Policy 2020 as well as to explore the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resources by in-service teachers for their continuous professional development. Descriptive survey design has been used by taking 30 in-service teachers from different schools of Odisha purposively. Data were collected via an online questionnaire and with a five point rating scale, open ended questionnaire and analyzed through percentage analysis, t’ test and by using in-depth analysis. The study revealed the new discoveries for the CPD of teachers by the NEP-2020 as Multimodal workshops, Participation of 50 hours of CPD, Cover latest pedagogies, use of technology platforms and shorter post-B.Ed. certification. The result also revealed that teachers are using ICT resources for overall professional development and for classroom practices. The result also indicates use of ICT resources helping in-service teachers to stay up-to-date with the latest teaching practices, be involved in the world of information, find materials, select, modify, and add content that meets the specific needs of students, facilitate thinking abilities, remain interested in teaching, improve teaching skills, gain motivation and grow professionally. KEYWORDS: ICT, Professional development, In-service teachers, CPD