Make IT happen

The Government pledge more money to support IT skills for teachers

The Open University has welcomed the news that its programme to support education professionals in sharing and enhancing their technology skills has gained further support from the Government. The scheme, entitled Vital Professional Development, aims to ensure teachers are proficient in their own usage of ICT and supports schools looking to enhance the skills of its staff.

The £1.25-million provided by the Department of Education supplements the £2.5-million already granted earlier this year and will guarantee the scheme’s continuation into 2013. The additional funding underlines the success of Vital and supports the In-house Professional Development Partnership, an innovative approach to CPD that provides a structured programme to support schools and colleges in meeting their institutional needs, and includes access to subject specific web-portals to help teachers use IT more effectively across the curriculum.

Dr Peter Twining, Vital Director and Senior Lecturer at The Open University, said: “This is great news for the programme and allows us to partner with more schools and colleges to help them maximise the impact of their existing resources. The In-house Professional Development Partnership model provides an economical yet high quality and effective approach to staff development that is flexible and sustainable, and targeted on meeting each partner institution’s specific development needs.”

Further information can be found at http://www.vital.ac.uk