Transforming pre-service teacher curriculum: observation through a TPACK lens

This paper will discuss an international online collaborative learning experience through the lens of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. The teacher knowledge required to effectively provide transformative learning experiences for 21st century learners in a digital world is complex, situated and changing. The discussion looks beyond the opportunity for knowledge development of content, pedagogy and technology as components of TPACK towards the interaction between those three components. Implications for practice are also discussed. In today’s technology infused classrooms it is within the realms of teacher educators, practising teaching and pre-service teachers explore and address effective practices using technology to enhance learning

Teaching and learning in virtual worlds: is it worth the effort?

Educators have been quick to spot the enormous potential afforded by virtual worlds for situated and authentic learning, practising tasks with potentially serious consequences in the real world and for bringing geographically dispersed faculty and students together in the same space (Gee, 2007; Johnson and Levine, 2008). Though this potential has largely been realised, it generally isn’t without cost in terms of lack of institutional buy-in, steep learning curves for all participants, and lack of a sound theoretical framework to support learning activities (Campbell, 2009; Cheal, 2007; Kluge & Riley, 2008). This symposium will explore the affordances and issues associated with teaching and learning in virtual worlds, all the time considering the question: is it worth the effort

JuxtaLearn D3.2 Performance Framework

This deliverable, D3.2, for Work Package 3 incorporating the pedagogy from WP2 and orchestration factors mapped in D3.1 reviews aspects of performance in the context of participative video making. It reviews literature on curiosity and engagement characteristics of interaction mechanisms for public displays and anticipates requirements for social network analysis of relevant public videos from WP6 task 6.3. Thus, to support JuxtaLearn performance it proposes a reflective performance framework that encompasses the material environment and objects required, the participants, and the knowledge needed

Towards the Situated Engagement Evaluation Model (SEEM) : making the invisible visible

This thesis explores the multifaceted concept of engagement within online learning environments. Key research aims are to suggest approaches and an extendable model for evaluating, monitoring and developing understanding of online learner engagement. The overall intention is to offer educators insight, practical guidance and tools for supporting timely intervention in fostering learner engagement. This thesis reviews the major theoretical perspectives on learning and highlights the role of student engagement in relation to the research literature. It discusses the limitations of the methods applied in current research and attempts to address this problem by crossing the disciplinary boundaries to draw together a range of perspectives and methodologies. A review of the literature provides a foundation for a learner engagement evaluation model that employs a variety of evaluation methods and accommodates the possible diversity of learning experiences. The proposed ‘Situated Engagement Evaluation Model’ (SEEM) is positioned to reflect the wide theoretical perspective of social learning. It constitutes a comprehensive system of intertwined components (Learning Content; Pedagogical Design Elements; Learning Profiles; and Dialogue and Communication) that learners may interact with, and integrates dynamically changing preferences and predispositions (e.g. cultural, emotional, cognitive) potentially informative in engagement studies. Prior to (and independently of) the development of SEEM, four empirical studies were conducted and reported here. These explored patterns of online engagement with respect to learning content, learning profiles, patterns of communication and elements of pedagogical design. Studies were then revisited to evaluate the usefulness of SEEM for monitoring and evaluating student engagement, and to discuss its potential for guiding intervention to improve learning experiences. The practical relevance for integrated and automated implementation of SEEM in online learning is considered further

Website Blocked: Filtering Technology in Schools and School Libraries

This paper investigates the impact of filtering software in K-12 schools and school libraries. The Children\u27s Internet Protection Act, or CIPA, requires that public schools and school libraries use filtering technology in order to receive discounted rates on technology. As a result, nearly all public elementary and secondary schools today use filtering technology. While the provisions of CIPA narrowly define the content to be blocked, filters are often set to block much more than is required. Filtering technology is often ineffective, and many unobjectionable sites end up being blocked, including Web 2.0 sites and tools needed to educate students in a 21st century learning environment. Filtering software raises other issues as well, such as First Amendment implications, a possible digital divide between students that have unfiltered access to online content at home and those that do not, and the loss of opportunity to educate students on how to be good digital citizens. These issues should be acknowledged and addressed. There are many options available to librarians, educators, administrators, and other stakeholders that can increase students\u27 access to online information and educational tools while still protecting children from inappropriate online content and complying with the requirements of CIPA

One-to-one laptop program: Effect on boys\u27 education

Since the beginning of 1:1 laptop programs in schools there has been extensive research undertaken about the effectiveness of how laptops are used for teaching and learning. With an educational environment in Australia where the use of Information Communications Technology (ICT) is one of the five general capabilities of the Australian Curriculum, an expectation to use ICT effectively for teaching and learning is explicit. However, the use of laptops for teaching and learning is complex for teachers and students. Furthermore, parents are expected to support their child’s learning in a digital age where mobile devices for learning are common. Therefore, investigating parental involvement and perceptions was a significant feature of the study. This report presents a three-year longitudinal study that examined the implementation of a student-owned 1:1 laptop program in a school for boys in Perth, Western Australia. The research tracked 196 students drawn from the junior (primary) and middle (secondary) schools, their families and associated teachers for a three year period. The focus on male students is purposeful. Understanding how male students use their laptops for learning can provide useful insights into the affordances and risks for schools and, in particular, the field of boys’ education. The aim of the research, therefore, was to describe and explain how boys use their laptops for learning in primary and middle school settings. Involving the whole school community in the research allowed for rich description and hopefully insightful explanation. The research literature reports that the use of laptops for learning can increase motivation and engagement, improve technology proficiencies, provide enriched learning experiences, and help teaching and learning. The five research questions developed to guide the research were aimed at either endorsing or challenging these claims. Underpinning this research was a mixed methods approach investigating how the boys used their laptops for learning, teachers’ pedagogical uses of laptops, implementation differences between a junior and middle school, and the possible impact of the laptops on literacy and numeracy outcomes. A rich data set, collected over three years, and derived from qualitative and quantitative techniques, was interrogated in relation to the study’s research questions. The study’s longitudinal design provided further opportunities to triangulate data over the three years, enhancing the strength and reliability of the findings. The novelty factor of laptops for learning quickly abated for both junior and middle school students. A two-pronged approach of providing targeted professional learning for staff coupled with confronting the obvious distraction that a 1:1 device can be for primary and middle school students, yielded positive outcomes. Students held strong views about the role, and effectiveness of a teacher when utilising their laptops for learning. Although teachers reported laptops were important for the teaching and learning program, there was a wide variation in the way teachers harnessed the 1:1 laptop environment for the benefit for student learning. Also, teachers were faced with pedagogical challenges in terms of considering games or Web 2.0 for learning. Literacy and numeracy outcomes based on national assessment results compared to national standards revealed the case study student participants performed favourably. Four enablers for effective laptop use are theorised. These are: inquisitive students, creative teachers, proactive leaders, and national and state policy directions. However, five paradoxes potentially inhibited these enablers. These paradoxes are presented as ‘spanners’ in the cogs of effective 1:1 laptop initiatives: engagement and seduction of students; transformative and conservative pedagogical practices; integration and alienation of parents; autonomy and systemic dependency of schools; and, the hope and fear of Web 2.0. The study may assist educational policy-makers, school leaders and teachers who are contemplating how to best integrate 1:1 laptop devices into the fabric of schools. A model is presented to provide new knowledge about the impacts of 1:1 devices on teaching and learning