Advanced Teaching Environments was the first course developed at TEC Center (2006). Three colleges participated in the course in its first year: Al-Qasemi Academic College of Education, Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts, and Talpiot Academic College of Education. Additional colleges joined in its second year: Arab Academic College of Education in Haifa, Lifshitz Academic College of Education, and College of Technology Education. The course is currently held in ten colleges.
The aim of the course is to develop teaching and learning skills in multicultural online collaborative teaching environments, and is held online in accordance with the TEC Model. The course lecturers meet for three days before the beginning of the academic year to plan and prepare the course content, which changes each year in accordance with technological advances and decisions made following conclusions drawn from the previous year’s course. The students are split into small work groups, with at least one representative of each population sector in each group: religious Jews, secular Jews, and Arabs. The students are introduced to both the pedagogical and practical aspects of online teaching, and to creating professional channels of communication in a culturally diverse society. During the course, the students become acquainted with teaching and learning environments in different disciplines, and experience online teaching, using the various platforms utilized in the education system. Additionally, the students participate in online intercollegiate group projects on subjects associated with the disciplines they engage with on the course. The course prepares students for teaching in the twenty-first century, and introduces them to multicultural learning environments in Israel.