WEB-BASED TEACHER EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN: INFRASTRUCTURE AND PERCEPTIONS OF TRAINEE TEACHERS Muhammad Umar Farooq1 , Chaudhry Zahid Javid2 , Muhammad Safder 3 ABSTRACT In the 21st century, technology has become an integral part of the education system and at the same time both technology and education are understand as inter-related and inter-dependent. It is generally realized that technology has facilitated the educational process in across all educational levels. A teacher is the focal person in the whole process and to keep abreast with the developments, professional development is of utmost importance. To meet the increasing demand for professional development, various programs have been conceived for teacher development. In Pakistan, Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) is offering a Diploma and MA in Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) through print-based distance education. The present research focuses on the problems being faced by the trainee teachers and their perception regarding the integration of technology in such programs. A survey was conducted covering three aspects: trainee teacher’ access to technology, problems being faced by them in print-based distance education, and their perception regarding the integration of technology with the existing teacher education programs offered through print-based distance education. It was found that majority of the trainee teachers have access to the internet. They want to improve their professional skills, but cannot leave their institutes, so they have to continue their professional development through distance education programs. At the same time, they are facing problems with regard to face-to-face tutorial meetings, assignments, coordination with tutors and peers. They perceived that if technology is embedded with the existing print-based distance education programs, it would facilitate students in learning. KEYWORDS: E-learning, teacher education, professional development, technology, distance education