Use ICT to be an effective educator
Domain 6: Use ICT to be an effective educator
This domain tests how you use technology to plan, teach, assess, communicate, and grow professionally. Exam scenarios ask which use of ICT best supports an educator's work, often contrasting administrative convenience with instructional improvement. The focus is on purposeful integration: using data, collaboration tools, and communication channels to improve learning.
Core rules
- ICT should support planning, differentiation, formative assessment, and feedback.
- Assessment data should lead to adjusted instruction, not just grades.
- Communication with families and colleagues should be timely, secure, and accessible.
- Professional learning networks and shared resources extend teacher expertise.
- Teachers model digital citizenship, privacy, and accessibility.
Worked example
A teacher gives an online quiz at the end of a unit and records the scores. This is efficient, but the data arrives after instruction and does not change it. A stronger use is a live formative quiz mid-unit: the teacher reviews item-level results, groups students for targeted support, and shares resources in the learning management system for differentiated practice. Reasoning: ICT generates actionable data during learning, supports differentiation, and connects assessment to instruction. The end-of-unit quiz is not wrong, but it is a lower-level use for this domain.
Traps
- Using ICT only for administration or record-keeping.
- Collecting data but not acting on it.
- Choosing tools that families cannot access.
- Sharing student information on insecure channels.
- Treating professional development as optional rather than part of practice.