ADVANCING EDUCATION IN ALBANIA TOWARDS EFFECTIVE ICT INTEGRATION, TEACHER PREPARATION, AND FUTURE-READY CLASSROOMS

Albania emerges from a typical behaviorist school system, and the implementation of modern constructivism approaches is still encountering challenges. In tackling these issues, educational technologies come to our aid, actively intervening in the school-teacher-student trinity. Digital competence is among the most crucial skills for the 21st-century school, where the Future Classroom Lab holds significant importance. Future Classroom Laboratory (FCL) is a place of learning, designed for use by university faculty, pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and students. FCL offers users the opportunity to explore the science of teaching and learning in a technology-rich environment that includes a wide range of customized approaches and applications. For prospective teachers, this learning space allows them to explore technology and its applications in schools. The space enables pre-service teachers to incorporate hands-on, interactive teaching experiences into their various courses. The students can utilize this innovative and creative environment to explore ideas and applications that they can incorporate into the teaching and learning process. This kind of educational laboratory evolves a collaborative and communicative approach for teachers and students, actively interested researchers in its cutting-edge development. This study introduces the possibilities of developing digital innovative learning and teaching environments in Albania while addressing the various challenges. By examining the educational landscape and looking forward to international experiences, this study provides the findings and conclusions to policymakers, educators, and researchers about the digital innovative learning and teaching approaches in Albania.