This study examines if and how five teacher education institutes are helping students to develop the technological pedagogical content knowledge needed to effectively use technology for early ...literacy. Focus group discussions were held with teacher educators in which their responses to expert recommendations were probed. Findings indicate that, currently, very little attention is specifically given to the knowledge that teachers need to foster early literacy through the use of technology. This is due to multiple factors, including the conviction that many new technologies (e.g. tablets) are not used much in schools. Additionally, teacher educators themselves struggle with effective use of technology in their own courses. And although technological and early literacy specialists are available in teacher training colleges, pre-service educators note a distinct lack of integrated expertise in their institutions. Based on these findings, recommendations are given for research, policy and practice.
Twelve papers representing 59 authors from 16 different nations are included in this special issue addressing the theme of ‘Learners and Learning Contexts: International Perspectives on New ...Alignments for the Digital Age’. Collectively, the papers represent a synthesis of international perspectives on next steps for bringing educational technology research findings into policy and practice that will benefit learners locally. Three meaningful clusters of topics have been identified among this collection of international collaborative works: (a) Learning and learning contexts, (b) Technology integration and teachers, and (c) Partnerships. Recommendations spanning the macro, meso and micro levels are addressed withing these papers, with an overall focus on learning.
Computational Thinking is considered a universal competence, which should be added to every child’s analytical ability as a vital ingredient of their school learning. In this article we further ...elaborate on what Computational Thinking is and present examples of what needs to be taught and how. First we position Computational Thinking in Papert’s work with LOGO. We then discuss challenges in defining Computational Thinking and discuss the core and peripheral aspects of a definition. After that we offer examples of how Computational Thinking can be addressed in both formal and informal educational settings. In the conclusion and discussion section an agenda for research and practice is presented.
Considerably more research needs to be done to understand how successful technological innovations and change processes are sustained and scaled to new learning contexts. Without a better ...understanding of successful technological innovation, the wider field and education community are unable to benefit and build capacity. A model is presented that explores how research can better inform sustainability and scalability in technological innovations. It is represented as four loops: Organization, Innovation, Research and New Contexts. Three international case studies of technological innovation are analyzed to demonstrate use of the framework and model. Results show that research can be designed to support sustainability and scalability, but that this needs to be balanced with other factors to support a successful technological innovation. Implications for supporting technological innovations are explored.
Research has shown that
will (positive attitudes),
skill (technology competency), and
tool (access to technology tools) are all essential ingredients for a teacher to effectively integrate ...information technology into classroom practices. This study focuses on the
will,
skill and
tool as essential measures for the predictability of technology integration, reported by the study participants and measured by stages of adoption of teachers in Ghana. Attempts are made to explore the extent to which these parameters differ among the teachers and also influence technology integration. Furthermore, the parameters are proposed for use in modelling the process of technology integration for these teachers. Well validated instruments spanning the areas of attitudes, competencies, access and technology integration proficiencies were used to collect data from 120 mathematics prospective teachers and 60 practicing mathematics teachers from Ghana. The data was analyzed using regression analysis. The results indicated that lack of teacher anxiety was the most important dimension of attitudes, and that skill is the strongest predictor of classroom integration of technology for the teachers. Significant differences existed between practicing and prospective teachers’ computer anxieties, competencies, and access levels.
Collaborative design positively affects both professional development and the implementation of curriculum change, because teachers develop competencies and practice and develop ownership of the ...change. The current study was aimed to explore what empirical evidence is available about processes that take place when teachers co-design and how these contribute to professional development and curriculum change. Evidence from 14 PhD studies was collected to study their impact on teacher learning and curriculum change, by analysing effects, mechanisms, and conditions. Results showed that effects of curriculum design teams, in terms of learning outcomes for teachers in areas such as (pedagogical) content knowledge and design knowledge and skills, became manifest in the outcomes of the curriculum design process, and in the appreciation by the stakeholders. We concluded that professional development, through collaborative design in teams, which is specific and linked to the curriculum, influences teachers' knowledge and practice and impacts implementation of curriculum change.
Teacher involvement in curriculum design has a long tradition. However, although it fosters implementation of curriculum reforms, teachers encounter various problems while designing related to ...conditions set for the design process, and lack the knowledge and skills needed to enact collaborative design processes. Providing support to enhance teachers' design expertise is essential, since most teachers are novice designers. However, little is known about the nature of the support offered to improve teachers' design expertise. In this explorative study, six teachers and six facilitators offering support reflected on an enacted design process, the problems they experienced and the support offered. The findings indicate three gaps in teachers' design expertise related to three domains (1) curriculum design expertise, (2) pedagogical content knowledge and (3) curricular consistency expertise. The outcomes of this study illustrate the importance of supporting teacher designers during the design process and enhancing teachers' design expertise. By offering (tailored) support to teachers, the enacted design process and the quality of the design materials are expected to improve.
Adding computer science as a separate school subject to the core K-6 curriculum is a complex issue with educational challenges. The authors herein address two of these challenges: (1) the design of ...the curriculum based on a generic computational thinking framework, and (2) the knowledge teachers need to teach the curriculum. The first issue is discussed within a perspective of designing an authentic computational thinking curriculum with a focus on real-world problems. The second issue is addressed within the framework of technological pedagogical content knowledge explicating in detail the body of knowledge that teachers need to have to be able to teach computational thinking in a K-6 environment. An example of how these ideas can be applied in practice is also given. While it is recognized there is a lack of adequate empirical evidence in terms of the effectiveness of the frameworks proposed herein, it is expected that our knowledge and research base will dramatically increase over the next several years, as more countries around the world add computer science as a separate school subject to their K-6 curriculum.
•New tool used for observing need-supportive and need-thwarting teaching behaviors.•Teachers mainly used need-supportive teaching behaviors.•Need-thwarting behaviors were always combined with ...need-supportive behaviors.•Structure-providing behaviors were the most common in all instructional patterns.
Teacher classroom behavior is an important factor in student learning and motivation. Past research within higher education has primarily concentrated on identifying teaching behaviors that teachers and students deem important in honors classrooms. Yet, what specific teaching behaviors either support or thwart the needs of students in real-world honors classrooms is currently not clear. This study, which utilizes video observation, sheds light on teaching behaviors that either support or thwart students’ needs, as viewed through the lens of self-determination theory, within the context of Dutch honors education. We developed an observation tool to analyze video recordings of 12 lessons from four different teachers, and identified the types of behaviors making up the various dimensions of need-supportive and need-thwarting behaviors. We found nine types of behaviors that had not previously been identified in observational studies. Structure-providing behaviors were the most common need-supportive behavior, while need-thwarting behaviors always occurred alongside need-supportive behaviors. The observation tool introduced here can be used for further study of teaching behaviors in honors education practice. These results also make an important contribution to teachers' further professionalization and instructional practices.
Learner-centred pedagogy (LCP) has become a global pedagogy and has been adopted in sub-Saharan African countries such as Rwanda, despite ample evidence of implementation failure. Most research has ...examined its implementation at either the primary or the secondary level. However, this qualitative study adopts a comparative approach and seeks to explore how Rwandan primary and secondary school teachers define, perceive and recontextualize LCP. The study is based on interviews and classroom observations of 12 effective primary and 12 effective secondary teachers working in eight well-performing schools; the analysis draws on Schweisfurth's minimum standards for LCP. This Rwandan case reveals that the majority of primary and secondary teachers stimulated open and respectful classroom interactions. However, recontextualization of constructivism differed substantially between the two groups. Furthermore, the findings highlight the importance of more research into the dynamics between the various standards for LCP, and the interaction of these standards with contextual factors.
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