UNESCO's ICT Competency Framework for Teachers

The ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (ICT CFT) Version 3 is a tool to guide pre- and in-service teacher training on the use of digital technologies in both formal and in-formal education systems from K-12 to tertiary level. 

It is intended to be adapted to support national and institutional goals by providing an up-to-date framework for policy development and capacity building in this dynamic area. 

The ICT CFT version 3 provides a framework from which digital competencies can be identified and use to inform ICT in education policy directives, curriculum design, and pre- and in-service training as well as support the capacity development of educators to embrace and use technology appropriately in their professional practice. 

The ICT CFT covers digital competencies, presented over three levels of increased sophistication required for:

• teaching and learning;
• school administration;
• continuing professional development;
• aligning classroom practice with institutional and/or national priorities as stated in policy.

Implementing the ICT CFT requires an enabling strong environment, including a determined leadership from government, from those responsible for teacher education and professional development of in-service teachers, and from head teachers and school principals.

The UNESCO ICT CFT framework identifies 18 ICT competencies to which teachers should aspire and subdivides these into 64 specific objectives. The competencies range from encouraging teachers to understanding national priorities as identified in national ICT in Education policies, how ICT can support the curriculum, assessment strategies, pedagogy, school and class organization, administration as well ongoing professional development.

UNESCO has developed the ICT Competency Framework for Teachers Harnessing OER project which supports the contextualization of the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (ICT CFT) using teacher training resources developed through open educational resources (OER) .  

It aims to support Member States in contextualizing the ICT Competency Framework for Teachers, to meet national and institutional needs through three actions: 

1. Aligning the ICT Competency Framework’s components to national and/or institutional  objectives related to digital competencies  in education; 
2. Developing openly licensed (OER) teacher training materials; 
3. Implementing teacher training programmes, based on these OER- based materials.