Abstract

Several changes have occurred over the past century in the education system of Saudi Arabia. The changes have largely been associated with the fact that in the 21st century, information and communication technology is highly applied in the learning process, thereby leading to a major transformation of the process. The application of information and communication technology has also transformed interactions and rapidly changed the learning process, giving a new meaning to social interactions. Enterprises that operate in the information age enjoy information interchange, collaboration, and adoption and application of innovative tendencies and shared decision-making. Students’ demands have changed in that they no longer hope for middle-class success or application of routine skills, but they measure success in terms of ability to share, communicate and apply information to arrive at solutions to complex problems. The changing learning environment requires that the teaching staff learns new tendencies and skills that they can apply to cope with the ever-changing learner and general society expectations. Teachers’ competence at work is measured in terms of their ability to improve the power of technology in enhancing creation of new knowledge. Therefore, leaders of teacher education programs are responsible for developing sustainable programs that allow for teacher education. Training has become part of the ethics of the teaching profession, and members of the teaching staff must be ready for training throughout their profession. This paper will shed light on the training program of faculty members in two well-known universities in the United States: the University of Maryland & George Mason University, as an attempt to compare the above educational establishments with the conditions of training of faculty members of King Saud University in Saudi Arabia to suggest a training plan to develop training programs in KSU. It is time when leaders in educator preparation should critically reexamine their roles in the 21st century knowledge and skills whose landscape has largely changed.

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