iTeach

iTeach is a Romanian-language professional development platform and community for pre-university teachers. Its title calls it "Comunitatea profesională a cadrelor didactice" (the professional community of teachers), and the home page counts 38415 teachers on the platform. It is run by the Fundația Institutul pentru Educație (Institute for Education Foundation), a nonprofit, together with Social IT S.R.L., and the home page says it is part of "cel mai complex ecosistem educațional digital din România" (the most complex digital education ecosystem in Romania) built by the Institute for Education and Social IT with partner institutions. The footer says it is supported by the Ministry of Education.

The terms say the platform is offered free of charge to teachers and support staff in the education system. Around that free core sit online courses, some free and some paid in iTeach points, a library of open educational resources, educational journals teachers can publish in, groups, surveys and debates, and a professional portfolio. The entry sits in teacher professional development and in continuing education, since the courses end in certificates teachers use in their career files.

The online courses

The course page describes iTeach courses as a training opportunity for teachers registered on the platform, aimed at the skills and attitudes needed for today's teaching profession. The home page says 35 courses have been delivered with 14 partners: universities, county teacher training centers (CCD), the Ministry of Education, NGOs, companies and research institutes. Across iTeach (with suntprofesor.ro) for pre-university teachers and Academia Online for higher education staff, it counts 30.000+ teachers and 15.000+ certificates of completion issued in 2010-2023.

There are two formats. Courses with tutor support run "cam de 2-3 ori pe parcursul unui an şcolar" (about 2 to 3 times per school year), depending on tutor availability. Courses without tutor support are open for enrollment all year and run self-paced. Enrollment happens in the Courses section of the teacher's iTeach account.

The page is frank about the workload: training is "exigent, solicită atenție, perseverență, dedicare" (demanding, requiring attention, perseverance and dedication). The certificate is awarded once minimum evaluation criteria are met, meaning tasks done to a set standard and/or the final test passed, and the page states "Rata medie de absolvire a cursurilor iTeach este de 30%" (the average completion rate of iTeach courses is 30%).

On recognition, the page says plainly that "Cursurile iTeach nu sunt acreditate sau avizate de Ministerul Educației" (iTeach courses are not accredited or approved by the Ministry of Education). They belong to the programs for functional qualification, category 3 under the old methodology, and the certificates need recognition rather than a separate equivalence process. The terms add that certificates are kept for up to 30 years so a teacher can prove them later for competitions, teaching grades, transfers or a merit bonus.

Current courses

The catalog lists each course with its number, length, format, points and authors. Recommended and available courses include:

• Ethical aspects of using artificial intelligence in education, 50 hours, self-paced, 200 points, by Olimpius Istrate (University of Bucharest).
• Standardized assessment of student performance with BRIO testing, 40 hours, self-paced, organized with BRIO Teste Educaționale, authors including Dragoș Iliescu.
• Digital educational resources, an introduction, 30 hours, self-paced.
• What emotions are and how to manage them, developing students' socio-emotional skills, 12 hours, self-paced, 100 points, by Ruxandra Chirca (University of Bucharest).
• Quality in online European school partnerships, and recognizing and certifying eTwinning projects, 24 hours each, 200 points.
• Genially, learning experiences with interactive digital resources, 24 hours, organized with Genially S.L.
• Designing learning with digital support, 30 hours, a blended course from the University of Bucharest, 20 points.
• An introduction to artificial intelligence in education, 30 hours, self-paced, 200 points, by Olimpius Istrate and Simona Velea.
• Three iEdu courses on project-based approaches, collaboration in the digital classroom and assessment in 21st-century schools, 21 hours and 50 points each, written by Intel Corp. and offered to Romanian teachers under a memorandum with the Ministry of Education.

An archive of closed courses shows the track record, with participants, certificates and completion rates. A 2023 pilot on digital educational resources had 968 participants, 273 certificates and a 28% completion rate. A Genially and eTwinning course in May to June 2021 issued 90 certificates. A long-running course on designing learning with digital support (July 2018 to July 2023) had 4732 participants and 841 certificates, an 18% completion rate. A few older courses run with a teacher training center in Bacău are marked accredited.

iTeach points and what they cost

The platform is gamified: some activities earn points and others spend them. The account page sample shows uses such as courses, publishing open educational resources, publishing articles in journals and "Servicii AI" (AI services). Teachers can earn points through platform activity or buy them with a personal card or the "prima de carieră didactică", the teaching career bonus. The terms state "Conversia este 1:1", so one point costs one leu. The foundation issues an invoice by email for every payment, and since it is a nonprofit that does not pay VAT, invoices carry 0 VAT.

Resources, journals and community

Digitaledu.ro, built with teachers through iTeach, is described as a library of more than 16.000 open educational resources. The home page breaks this down into 1.700+ learning activity ideas for every pre-university level and curricular area, 14.300+ digital resources (exercises, worksheets, teaching images, simulations, online tests, educational games and multimedia), and 100+ educational apps and tools. Resources published there can be submitted for approval by the Ministry of Education or registered with the county school inspectorate, according to the terms.

Teachers can publish in the hosted journals: iTeach: Experiențe didactice (1.500+ articles), EDICT, Revista educației (7.000+) and Revista Profesorului (600+), which together account for the 9.000+ articles the home page cites. The Journal of Digital Pedagogy, an open-access journal, is also part of the ecosystem.

The community side counts more than 9.500 blog articles, 400+ groups, and 5.500+ surveys with 350.000+ responses and comments. A news system carries 5.000+ local, county and national announcements for teachers.

Portfolio and data

The platform supports the teacher's professional portfolio, which the terms say becomes mandatory in digital form from the 2026 to 2027 school year under Ministry of Education Order no. 3858/2026. A teacher's completed courses, articles, activities and published resources feed the portfolio and profile.

iTeach is "open-by-default": blog pages, articles and resources are public, and course certificates are shown publicly on the teacher's profile. The terms cite the EU General Data Protection Regulation, say personal data is not sold, and let teachers anonymize their data free of charge or deactivate their account at any time. Contact is by email to echipa@iteach.ro or office@iEdu.ro, or by phone at 0722.45.80.00.

Who it suits

iTeach suits Romanian pre-university teachers who want free resources, a place to publish, and low-cost online courses on digital pedagogy, AI in education, eTwinning and socio-emotional learning, paid with points they earn or with their career bonus. It also suits teachers building the digital portfolio the Ministry now requires.

It suits less well a teacher who needs Ministry-accredited training, since iTeach says its courses are not accredited, or anyone who does not read Romanian. Course creators looking for a platform to sell their own courses are not the audience.