Study of affordances of iPads and teacher's private theories

Post-PC TouchPad mobile devices are increasingly being used in educational contexts. Growing investment isplanned by higher education institutions in Hong Kong and by the HKSAR Education Bureau in relation to educational uses ofTouchPad technology. However, current research intoeducational applications of this technology is limited. This paper reports an ongoing qualitative study that investigates how higher education teachers use iPad technology to facilitate their practice. The emergent study results provide insight intoboth the educational affordances of iPad technology and theways in which teachers’ personal or private theories mediate these affordances and transform through the process. The studyoutcomes will contribute to theoretical understanding of higher education teacher changes through adoption of technology. Furthermore, the outcomes will provide a set of recommendations for applications of TouchPad technology inhigher education and ways to support teachers to effectively adopt such technology in their practices.published_or_final_versio

Teacher design knowledge and beliefs for technology enhanced learning materials in early literacy: Four portraits

Teacher engagement in the design of technology-rich learning material is beneficial to teacher learning and may create a sense of ownership, both of which are conducive to bringing about innovation with technology. During collaborative design, teachers draw on various types of knowledge and beliefs: know-what (facts, information); know-why (principles, beliefs) and know-how (ways to shape learning materials and activities). The goal of the present study was to understand the nature of individual teacher contributions during the collaborative design of learning materials and activities for early literacy. Through interviews, teacher knowledge and beliefs related to use of technology for early literacy were investigated. Thereafter, teachers collaboratively designed learning materials and activities for use with PictoPal (a technology-rich environment for early literacy). Analysis of design talk that occurred during the design of PictoPal resources showed that teachers differ in the kinds of design knowledge they explicate during design. Of the four teachers, two teachers were inclined mostly to express know-how, one teacher proportionally expressed more know-what, and one teacher more know-why. Given the variety in knowledge and beliefs among teachers, practical implications for supporting such diversity during collaborative design are discussed

The use of technology in music education in North Cyprus according to student music teachers

Today, the rapid changes and developments in information and communication technologies affect all sectors, which includes a positive impact in the field of education. For this reason, it is important that teachers make effective use of technologies and keep up with innovation to meet the needs of the new generation. This research focuses on describing technology use in music education at a university in North Cyprus, according to 18 student music teachers, to highlight the extent to which technology has been integrated into music education, making recommendations for further integration. This mixed-methods study employed a questionnaire containing closed-ended questions, which were analysed quantitatively, as well as open-ended questions, which were analysed based on content analysis. Results underline the importance of curriculum updates to integrate information and communication technology into student music teacher training and the need for in-service training to keep established teachers up-to-date with innovative technologies. Future research is recommended to compare music education practices cross-culturally and to identify ways of maximising the benefits of innovations in technology for music educators.Keywords: information-communication technology (ICT); music technology; social media; student music teache

Defining student learning experience through blended learning

This paper aims to explore the benefits of Blended Learning towards students' learning experiences at an offshore campus of an Australian university located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. At the university campus, the Blended Learning practice in use is the displacement of content. Content displacement refers to a portion of the learning content and activities for a course being delivered online via the Learning Management System. Learning not only happens in face-to-face sessions at a given time but is extended to online spaces as well, happening anywhere at any time at students' preference. The focus of this research is its usefulness and effectiveness in promoting interactions between students and their peers, their teachers, and course materials. An online survey, which was designed based on a set of validated questions, was used to collect data from sixty-six students enrolled in eight Blended Learning courses. The analysis of the survey results provides empirical evidence to the claim that students' perception of their learning experiences at the university was beneficially impacted as a result of the Blended Learning environment in each of their classes. Specifically, factor analysis using oblique rotation method identifies a clear factor structure across survey questions, representing four dimensions of benefits: Engagement, Flexibility of learning, Online learning experience, and Self-confidence. In addition, significant differences between the clusters on these factors indicate that students vary in their responses towards the benefits of Blended Learning and their experience with a Blended Learning approach

Meanings, Dimensions, and Categories of Mathematics Teacher Beliefs: A Navigation through the Literature

This paper aimed to discuss the meanings, dimensions, and categories of teacher beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics. I reviewed the relevant literature about teacher beliefs in general, beliefs about mathematics, and beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning in particular. Based on the review of the literature, I outlined the meanings of teacher beliefs and conceptualized three dimensions of teacher beliefs – affective dimension, cognitive dimension, and pedagogical dimension. Then, I discussed three viewpoints to observe teacher beliefs – relational, institutional, and praxis lenses. I utilized these lenses to categorize belief constructs into three classes of beliefs about mathematics, teaching mathematics, and learning mathematics. These classes’ included-instrumentalist, constructivist, and integral beliefs. I addressed the pedagogical implications of these categorical beliefs in the end

El profesor universitario y las TIC: Un estado del arte

18 Páginas.La sociedad actual se caracteriza por el aumento constante en la variedad de fuentes y uso de la información. Tal crecimiento, redunda en todos los aspectos de la sociedad incluyendo el ámbito educativo a nivel superior, en donde el profesional del futuro debe tener las herramientas necesarias para responder a un mundo dinámico con una ampliación constante del espectro en las formas de comunicación. El presente estado del arte se centró en el análisis de artículos en texto completo enfocados en la incidencia de la incorporación de las tecnologías de la información y comunicación en la educación superior. Para el logro de dicho objetivo se identificaron 35 artículos que incluyeron artículos originales, de revisión de literatura y reflexión a nivel mundial donde se recopilan hallazgos referentes a la incorporación de las Tecnologías de la información y comunicación (TIC) por parte de los profesores universitarios y su implicación en su quehacer y logro de aprendizaje significativo en los estudiantes

Digital culture: An autoethnographic report on assimilation and self-change

The research question addressed was, what is one teacher\u27s experience moving into the digital culture? This question was answered by performing an autoethnographic documentation of one teacher\u27s assimilation into the digital culture. Using the reflective theory for transformational learning, the researcher studied how the move into the digital culture prompted self-transformation personally, and as a teacher. The research is focused on three main areas: personal journey, teacher implications, and balance. Many unexpected outcomes and revelations unfolded that revealed profound research on: adult learning, digital media culture, and the role of the teacher in today\u27s changing world

Competências TIC. Estudo de Implementação

A proposta de formação e certificação de professores e pessoal não docente aqui apresentada corresponde ao reconhecimento que, no âmbito do Plano Tecnológico da Educação (PTE), é feito sobre a necessidade de investimento no capital social e humano como forma de responder aos objectivos de modernização da escola em Portugal. Constituindo um imperativo que a escola acompanhe e, até, lidere o desenvolvimento verificado nas outras áreas e contextos da vida em sociedade e a par dos recursos disponibilizados, faz sentido, de facto, preparar convenientemente os agentes educativos para usarem regularmente e poderem tirar partido das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC) nas suas actividades quotidianas. É uma proposta que permite responder às metas explícitas previstas no PTE de garantir que, em dois anos, a quase totalidade dos professores (pelo menos 90%) possuam as competências digitais básicas necessárias para poderem operar instrumentalmente com os recursos e tecnologias disponíveis nas escolas, mas, mais do que isso, permite traçar um caminho em direcção à inovação das práticas pedagógicas e de melhoria das aprendizagens dos alunos. Uma vez que, como é sabido, a mudança e a inovação em educação são processos complexos e longos, a equipa responsável pelo estudo quis aproveitar a oportunidade de apresentar um sistema integrado e articulado de formação e certificação, não apenas com um horizonte temporal mais amplo, mas que permitisse também equacionar e tomar em consideração as diferentes variáveis e especificidades que caracterizam o contexto nacional, isto é, a situação em que no nosso país as escolas funcionam e são geridas, o perfil de competências traçado para os professores portugueses e o modelo de avaliação do seu desempenho, a orientação do currículo nacional relativamente à utilização das TIC pelos alunos, as experiências desenvolvidas no terreno na área das TIC, etc. Nessa linha, tomou-se como principal alicerce do sistema a concepção de um referencial de competências em TIC que, beneficiando do conhecimento de alguns referenciais internacionais estudados, se ajustasse à realidade portuguesa e permitisse dar consistência e coerência aos restantes elementos do próprio sistema, isto é, a formação e a certificação. Não só como suporte à organização e desenvolvimento da formação de agentes educativos e à certificação de competências, mas também, de forma mais abrangente, como base de reflexão e de apoio ao seu desenvolvimento profissional, facilitando o processo de análise de necessidades de formação individuais e institucionais, a tomada de decisão sobre processos e percursos formativos, a orientação dos investimentos, a avaliação dos resultados, a investigação sobre a própria mudança de práticas ou melhoria do sistema escolar. A proposta aqui apresentada em respeito pelos normativos que regem a actividade profissional de professores e pessoal não docente, assentou nos resultados de investigação sobre a formação de professores e de adultos em geral e, no caso dos docentes, sobre a proposta de formação relativa à especificidade da integração das TIC na actividade pedagógica, mas também sobre os factores que facilitam ou inibem a utilização das novas tecnologias por parte dos professores. Em articulação estreita com o que nos restantes eixos do Plano Tecnológico da Educação está previsto, mas considerando que a eficácia da formação não é uma questão técnica, dependendo fortemente de variáveis impossíveis de controlar em toda a sua dimensão, como por exemplo a implicação do formando, ou a do próprio formador e o modo como ambos percebem e se envolvem nos processos formativos, a estratégia de formação aqui proposta assenta num conjunto de pressupostos e condições que é necessário assegurar, de forma a viabilizar a aplicação das aprendizagens que ela possibilita e reforcem e desenvolvam os seus efeitos.Gabinete de Estudos e Planeamento do Ministério da Educaçã

Teacher Perceptions of Information and Communication Technologies in a Secondary School in Samoa

This study explored teacher perceptions of information and communication technologies in one secondary school in Samoa, in order to gain insight into recent government initiatives to introduce computers and other ICTs in schools. Phenomenology as an approach was deemed appropriate to the focus of this research in that it provided the framework for an in-depth exploration of how teachers view themselves within a particular event in the development of education in Samoa: the integration of ICTs in schools. Underpinning this study were assumptions about the nature of knowledge as being socially constructed as well as contextually situated. The research sought understanding of the phenomenon from the perspective of one group of participants. Data was gathered using lengthy semi-structured interviews in the Samoan language which were then translated into English for the purpose of data analysis. Significant findings include: lack of clarity amongst teachers regarding ICT in education policies, government rationale and strategies to achieve policy; teacher rationale for the introduction of ICT in schools included improvement of teaching and learning, student future employment and improved student access to technology. Teacher perceptions of ICT were mostly positive noting that its use contributed to higher levels of student interest, engagement, independent learning and motivation. As well, ICTs were mainly used to support teacher-centred pedagogies and contributed to the efficiency of teacher preparation. While teachers were keen to use ICTs in their classes, they were hindered by lack of ICT skills and insufficient pedagogical knowledge. Teachers perceived several obstacles to effective integration of ICTs in classrooms, which included: insufficient student and teacher access to computers; timetabling restrictions; a user pays system; maintenance and running costs; student plagiarism from the web and access to inappropriate sites as well as inadequate teacher professional development for the use of ICTs. i

Novice, Rural New York State Teacher Perceptions of Their Classroom Management and How These Perceptions Affect Their Job Satisfaction and Retention

This qualitative phenomenological inquiry listened to the voices of five novice teachers from a rural area in New York about their encounters with classroom management and their perceptions of job satisfaction and retention. Data were triangulated through the use of four audio recordings, an online focus group featuring two online discussion board topics and two online discussion board replies, and two individual phone interviews per participant. Data analysis resulted in nine emerged themes. Findings indicated that participants felt (a) experience was necessary to succeed; (b) issues with classroom management are part of the job; (c) approaches to classroom management were unique to the individual; (d) teachers rely on each other for support; (e) classroom management was linked to job satisfaction; (f) dealing with disruptive students was emotionally taxing; (g) teachers love to teach; (h) teachers are resilient and desire to stay in the profession; and (i) teachers would welcome additional practical classroom management training. Implications highlighted the need for additional teacher training, the development of a peer network, and support for teachers dealing with the emotional aspect of the job. Suggestions for future research are provided