As director of the Center for Educational Technology, Israel’s leading body in the field of ICT based education, there are two principle goals that I perceive in terms of integrating technology in teaching practice:

1. •To provide teachers with environments, tools and content that will assist them in integrating technology in a way that will promote classroom teaching processes.
   

2. •To provide students with ICT based tools, environments and content that will allow them to learn in a manner that is up-to-date and relevant to their lives in the 21st century.
   

One of my key tasks, then, is to ensure this aspect of teachers’ training. The traditional mode of professional development for teachers in Israel usually requires them to attend face-to-face in-service training sessions, generally after school hours, and often at locations some distance from where they live (this is particularly true of teachers living in the periphery areas). The teachers, who in any case are exhausted from their regular workload, often perceive these meetings as an extra burden, one that does not actually contribute to their work. As a response, we have now enlisted technology to allow teachers to learn at home, from leading specialists, by means of distance learning courses that combine synchronous and asynchronous communications technologies. These courses offer teachers a quality encounter with the top specialists in Israel, and encourage fruitful, multicultural dialogue with colleagues in other towns and, indeed, in other population sectors.

This is where I see the importance of implementing MRT in professional development for teachers. In my opinion, this is one of the most successful methods for teachers’ professional development, in terms of the integration of technology into the routine of teaching, learning and assessment in schools. From this perspective, the medium is also the message.

In practical terms, I hope to establish a "bank" or database of lectures by specialists, reflecting three levels of integrating technology in teaching practice:

1. •At the first level – a distance learning course that includes a videotaped lecture by a specialist, presenting the principles for integrating technology within a specific discipline;
   

2. •At the second level – lectures that will include video or MRT clips of authentic teaching situations in the classroom; these will serve as a starting point for discussion of approaches, methods and models for integrating technology into teaching practice on the practical level, and be a basis for the teacher’s personal study of his/her own teaching methods;
   

3. •At the third level – the MRT will record examples of teaching with web-based activities – for example, conducting scientific experiments using computer simulations, classroom discussion of a play shown on a SMART Board, lessons on the credibility of information found in database searches, and so on.
   

Thus we will achieve authenticity in these learning situations, allowing course participants to discuss the learning and teaching processes taking place, and at the same time, the integration of multimedia in their own classroom teaching and learning processes.

I would expect that this collection will be structured on metadata that will allow smart topic-based searches. The software for running the courses should be based on social networks and Web 2.0 tools that will allow maximal cooperation among members of the teacher community to ensure optimal learning.

I am looking forward to take part in this exciting convention and to learn more from all of you about the innovative technologies and methodologies in this area.