Teachers Preparation and Professional Development for Addressing Twenty-First Century Distance Learners: Are BOU Teachers Ready?

Abstract

Teaching in the twenty-first century is a different perspective; learning could never
happen the way it is now. Learning takes place everywhere, all the time, on any
given topic, and in any learning style. The question now is, what does "Teacher of
the Twenty-First Century" mean? Great pupils are the outcome of great teachers.
Many factors influence student accomplishment. The most powerful influencer is
an inspiring and knowledgeable teacher, thus it is critical to pay special attention to
how we train and assist new and seasoned instructors. The skills and knowledge
students need to be successful in the future are continuously changing, while
others are quickly being digitized, automated, or outsourced. This puts teachers in a
complex spot. Not only they are expected to have a profound and extensive
perceptive of the subjects they teach, but also to effectively arrange their students
for 21st-century challenges; teachers are expected to be fervent, compassionate,
and thoughtful, and to ensure that students feel cherished and included in a mutual
learning environment. Duties & learning for teachers are soaring and rising, but
still, education systems are not keeping speed. Most schools seem much similar
today as they did a generation ago, and teachers themselves are frequently not
developing the practices and skills required to meet the diverse needs of today's
learners. So the next big question comes, what can be done to support teachers to
meet the formidable challenges of 21st-century education? And how can they take
advantage of new opportunities? This paper attempts to find out the actual status of
the teacher's professional development activities at Bangladesh Open University.
This research also tried to identify the current practices versus best practices of 21st
Century Skills. Both primary and secondary data have been used in this study.
Survey questionnaire and focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted to
achieve the objectives of this research. Some descriptive statistics have been used
for data analysis. It is revealed from the perceived opinions of teachers that the
teachers of BOU are quite competent to meet the need of twenty-first-century
learners but they have to concentrate more on relevant skills for meeting the need
of twenty-first-century learners. Researchers think BOU should create more
opportunities to develop professionally in terms of so many aspects through
research training, workshops, technology orientation etc. it has been recommended
that teachers should be more empowered to show creativity in their works and the
Use of learner-friendly modern technology should increases.