Auditing the TPACK confidence of Australian pre-service teachers: the TPACK confidence survey (TCS)

This chapter describes the construction and validation of an instrument to measure teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). The TPACK Confidence Survey (TCS) contains scales that measure teachers’ attitudes toward using ICT; confidence to use ICT for teaching and learning tasks (TPACK); competency with ICT; Technology Knowledge (TK); and TPACK Vocational Self-efficacy. The scale measuring TPACK confidence uses the Learning With ICTs: Measuring ICT Use in the Curriculum instrument that has been evaluated and reported previously. This paper proposes that the TCS provides a valid and reliable instrument with which to audit teachers’ TPACK confidence

Teaching Teachers for the Future (TTF) Project: Development of the TTF TPACK survey instrument

This paper presents a summary of the key findings of the TTF TPACK Survey developed and administered for the Teaching the Teachers for the Future (TTF) Project implemented in 2011. The TTF Project, funded by an Australian Government ICT Innovation Fund grant, involved all 39 Australian Higher Education Institutions which provide initial teacher education. TTF data collections were undertaken at the end of Semester 1 (T1) and at the end of Semester 2 (T2) in 2011. A total of 12881 participants completed the first survey (T1) and 5809 participants completed the second survey (T2). Groups of like-named items from the T1 survey were subject to a battery of complementary data analysis techniques. The psychometric properties of the four scales: Confidence - teacher items; Usefulness - teacher items; Confidence - student items; Usefulness- student items, were confirmed both at T1 and T2. Among the key findings summarised, at the national level, the scale: Confidence to use ICT as a teacher showed measurable growth across the whole scale from T1 to T2, and the scale: Confidence to facilitate student use of ICT also showed measurable growth across the whole scale from T1 to T2. Additional key TTF TPACK Survey findings are summarised

A Controversy That Has Been Tough to Swallow: Is the Treatment of Achalasia Now Digested?

Esophageal achalasia is a rare neurodegenerative disease of the esophagus and the lower esophageal sphincter that presents within a spectrum of disease severity related to progressive pathological changes, most commonly resulting in dysphagia. The pathophysiology of achalasia is still incompletely understood, but recent evidence suggests that degeneration of the postganglionic inhibitory nerves of the myenteric plexus could be due to an infectious or autoimmune mechanism, and nitric oxide is the neurotransmitter affected. Current treatment of achalasia is directed at palliation of symptoms. Therapies include pharmacological therapy, endoscopic injection of botulinum toxin, endoscopic dilation, and surgery. Until the late 1980s, endoscopic dilation was the first line of therapy. The advent of safe and effective minimally invasive surgical techniques in the early 1990s paved the way for the introduction of laparoscopic myotomy. This review will discuss the most up-to-date information regarding the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of achalasia, including a historical perspective. The laparoscopic Heller myotomy with partial fundoplication performed at an experienced center is currently the first line of therapy because it offers a low complication rate, the most durable symptom relief, and the lowest incidence of postoperative gastroesophageal reflux

Auditing the TPACK confidence of Australian pre-service teachers: the TPACK confidence survey (TCS)

This paper describes the construction and validation of an instrument to measure teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). The TPACK Confidence Survey (TCS) contains scales that measure teachers’ attitudes toward using ICT; confidence to use ICT for teaching and learning tasks (TPACK); competency with ICT; Technology Knowledge (TK); and TPACK Vocational Self-efficacy. The scale measuring TPACK confidence uses the Learning With ICTs: Measuring ICT Use in the Curriculum instrument that has been evaluated and reported previously. This paper proposes that the TCS provides a valid and reliable instrument with which to audit teachers’ TPACK confidence

Age-related differences in ICT access and confidence among pre-service teachers

The Australian Government's Digital Education Revolution is directed at school education but, because teacher preparation is a significant factor in its success, there are implications for teacher education in Australian higher education. A national project, Teaching Teachers for the Future, has been funded to support change in teacher preparation programs based on the construct of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), which describes teachers’ complex combination of knowledge of content, pedagogy, and technology. Knowledge of information and communication technology is a necessary, but not sufficient, foundation for TPACK. This paper presents data about ICT access and confidence reported by teacher education students in a regional university. Key findings included that teacher candidates had access to and confidence for using common forms of ICT but more limited access to and confidence for using less common forms, and that there were few significant differences in ICT access and confidence according to age

Distance learning at times and places chosen by the learner: adapting resources and learning behaviours for working with mobile digital devices

The Distance learning at times and places chosen by the learner: Adapting resources and learner behaviours for working with mobile digital devices, was a collaborative project between the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) and CQUniversity, supported by the DEHub and funded by the Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIISRTE) through the DEHub Project. The project’s main aim was to investigate the affordances and constraints associated with small mobile wireless handheld devices (WHDs), namely the 4th generation iPod Touch, for enhancing distance and online student learning opportunities

Revisioning teacher preparation for mobility : dual imperatives

Widespread availability of smartphones and similar devices with connection to the Internet is influencing the evolution of higher education across disciplines. For teacher educators there is an additional consideration of how to prepare teachers to use such devices in their own practice once they graduate. This paper will address some related issues and report results from a study conducted in two Australian universities. The evidence confirms that obtaining the best results from adoption of mobile technologies in teacher education will require adjustments to course design and to the behaviors of both pre-service teachers and teacher educators

Distance and devices : potential barriers to use of wireless handheld devices

This paper reports the findings of a research project investigating the use of iPods by student nurses to enhance their interactions with content, instructors and peers while located at a distance from their university campus. Wireless handheld devices (WHD) are an important tool in nursing environments that are undergoing rapid technological change. Preferred treatments, drug dosages, postsurgical care, and preventive healthcare regimens continually change and such devices allow students to rapidly confirm information while in the clinical area, thus fostering active learning and safe practice. A case study approach was adopted with each participating student cohort comprising a case. Multiple data collection methods were used to enable rich descriptions of each case. This paper focusses on factors, relating to the use of iPods, which influenced student learning in distance courses at two regional Queensland universities. It furthermore highlights a range of creative interventions reported by students and educators in resolving issues with their devices. The study found that connectivity difficulties, technology literacy level, compatibility of study resources with the WHDs, and small screen size were all factors that impacted negatively on the use of iPods in distance courses. The paper describes the responses of students and educators to the use of iPods for learning. This study concluded that nursing students and nursing educators alike may experience problems when WHD's are introduced to courses as a platform for learning. However, both students and educators can be innovative and resourceful in managing these problems and, when access to course resources that were enabled for viewing on the WHDs were available, the learning experience of the students and the teaching experience for the educators were enhanced

Teaching teachers for the future (TTF) project TPACK survey: Summary of the key findings

This paper presents a summary of the key findings of the TTF TPACK Survey developed and administered for the Teaching the Teachers for the Future (TTF) Project implemented in 2011. The TTF Project, funded by an Australian Government ICT Innovation Fund grant, involved all 39 Australian Higher Education Institutions which provide initial teacher education. TTF data collections were undertaken at the end of Semester 1 (T1) and at the end of Semester 2 (T2) in 2011. A total of 12881 participants completed the first survey (T1) and 5809 participants completed the second survey (T2). Groups of like-named items from the T1 survey were subject to a battery of complementary data analysis techniques. The psychometric properties of the four scales: Confidence teacher items; Usefulness - teacher items; Confidence - student items; Usefulness- student items, were confirmed both at T1 and T2. Among the key findings summarised, at the national level, the scale: Confidence to use ICT as a teacher showed measurable growth across the whole scale from T1 to T2, and the scale: Confidence to facilitate student use of ICT also showed measurable growth across the whole scale from T1 to T2. Additional key TTF TPACK Survey findings are summarised