Teachers as designers of technology enhanced learning (original) (raw)
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Teachers as Design-Researchers of Technology-Enhanced Learning
In this study we describe our Teachers as Design-Researchers approach for in-service teacher learning and professional development. Based on this approach we designed a series of three semester-long courses in order to support teachers in the process of (a) developing a technology-enhanced learning environment, (b) enacting it with learners, and (c) exploring its impact in various contexts. We studied the relevancy that teachers attributed to "design" and "design-research" with regard to their professional practice. Findings indicate that as teachers' progressed through the three courses a dramatic increase was found, with "design-research" evolving into a major construct in their professional identity.
Teachers As Participatory Designers: Two Case Studies With Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments
Teachers are not typically involved as participatory designers in the design of technology-enhanced learning environments. As they have unique and valuable perspectives on the role of technology in education, it is of utmost importance to engage them in a participatory design process. Adopting a case study methodology, we aim to reveal in what ways teachers work as participatory designers and define conditions that support teachers in that. Two initiatives of participatory design in Canada and Singapore were investigated. Design materials, transcripts of design meetings, and interviews with teachers were qualitatively analyzed. Case study 1 (Canada) showed that two teachers participating in software design for an astronomy curriculum contributed by suggesting new design features, introducing pedagogical requirements, and providing feedback on prototypes or design ideas. It appeared essential that teachers feel that their ideas were valued and respected in the entire process. In case study 2 (Singapore), six teachers contributed to the design of a mobile learning trail through: Theorizing and bridging knowledge building principles, collaborative prototyping, contextual inquiry of activity relevance and activity execution, and collaborative evaluation of technology integration. Teachers valued case study discussions with similar cultural contexts and visiting the learning site to design with contextual knowledge. From our case studies, it can be concluded that teachers contribute to the design processes by engaging in theoretical discussion, active participation in a design partnership, reflection about pedagogy and practice, and experimenting with enactment. Conditions that support teachers include support in emergent processes and an atmosphere of trust and inclusion.
Teachers learning technology by design
Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 2005
Although there has been much debate about what teachers need to know about technology, less attention has been paid to how they are supposed to learn it. Teacher preparation programs need to go beyond merely training teachers in how to use specific software and hardware tools, and instead focus on developing an understanding of the complex set of interrelationships between artifacts, users, tools, and practices. In this paper, we introduce and advocate a Learning By Design approach that can help teachers develop a flexible and situated understanding of technology. In this approach, inservice teachers work collaboratively in small groups to develop technological solutions to authentic pedagogical problems. We introduce the Learning by Design strategy and provide examples of its use in three different courses. We summarize what teachers learn in this approach, focusing on learning about technology, learning about design, and learning about learning.
2015
Despite the fact that teaching is increasingly referred to as a design science, teacher education programs devote relatively little time to developing expertise in the design of instruction, beyond lesson planning. Yet today's teachers not only plan lessons that incorporate existing classroom activities and instructional resources, they also design new learning activities and create their own (technology enhanced) learning materials. Different approaches have been tried to support pre-and in-service teacher design learning. Past efforts to develop teacher skills in design had limited success, probably due to poor alignment of traditional instructional design models with teachers' knowledge, needs and natural ways of engaging with design tasks. More recently, researchers have begun to investigate and develop ways to build on teacher expertise to support them in their design efforts. Yet to date, little has been done to capitalize on what is already understood about teachers as designers nor to draw on the wealth of literature on designers and designing outside the field of education. With the ultimate aim of supporting the work of teachers as
Instructional Science, 2015
Despite the fact that teaching is increasingly referred to as a design science, teacher education programs devote relatively little time to developing expertise in the design of instruction, beyond lesson planning. Yet today's teachers not only plan lessons that incorporate existing classroom activities and instructional resources, they also design new learning activities and create their own (technology enhanced) learning materials. Different approaches have been tried to support pre-and in-service teacher design learning. Past efforts to develop teacher skills in design had limited success, probably due to poor alignment of traditional instructional design models with teachers' knowledge, needs and natural ways of engaging with design tasks. More recently, researchers have begun to investigate and develop ways to build on teacher expertise to support them in their design efforts. Yet to date, little has been done to capitalize on what is already understood about teachers as designers nor to draw on the wealth of literature on designers and designing outside the field of education. With the ultimate aim of supporting the work of teachers as designers of technology enhanced learning, this contribution synthesizes research on design from classical design fields, instructional design, and teachers' designing. These perspectives are brought together in an ecological framework that can be used by researchers to study teacher design knowledge and work across projects. This synthesis could also provide an articulated framework for developers and facilitators of teacher professional development programs for identifying key areas for support to teacher-designers in specific settings.
Collaborative Design of Technology-Enhanced Learning: What can We Learn from Teacher Talk?
TechTrends, 2016
The collaborative design of technology-enhanced learning is seen as a practical and effective professional development strategy, especially because teachers learn from each other as they share and apply knowledge. But how teacher design team participants draw on and develop their knowledge has not yet been investigated. This qualitative investigation explored the nature and content of teacher conversations while designing technology-enhanced learning for early literacy. To do so, four sub-studies were undertaken, each focusing on different aspects of design talk within six teams of teachers. Findings indicate that non-supported design team engagement is unlikely to yield professional development; basic process support can enable in-depth conversations; subject matter support is used and affects design-decisions; visualization of classroom enactment triggers the use of teachers' existing integrated technological pedagogical content knowledge; and individual teacher contributions vary in type. Implications for teacher design team members and facilitators are discussed.
A Fingerprint Pattern of Supports for Teachers’ Designing of Technology-Enhanced Learning
Teachers often find themselves in a position in which they need to adapt technology-enhanced materials to meet the needs of their students; as new technologies – especially those not specifically designed for learning – find their way into schools, teachers need to be able to design learning experiences that use these new technologies in their local contexts. We leverage previous work and new analyses of three cases in this area to identify a ‘fingerprint pattern’ of supports for teachers’ designing, investigating research questions: (1) What are common constructs that can be identified as the 'fingerprint pattern' of formal programs aimed at supporting teachers as designers of technology-enhanced learning? (2) What types of learning can such programs support? Although design work was diverse, all studies involved technology as a support for teacher learning and design work, and as a component of their designs for learning. Across studies, our supports involved modeling practice, supporting dialogue, scaffolding design process, and design for real-world use. We view these constructs as a 'fingerprint pattern' of design courses; together, these supported teachers' deeper understanding and adoption of new pedagogical approaches and inclination to adopt a teacher-as-designer professional identity.
Teacher education as design: technology-rich learning environments and trajectories
2014
Traditional school subjects are being challenged by the accelerating production and development of knowledge in all domains. This creates a need to educate student teachers not only to appropriate existing practices but to be prepared to take the initiative in designing and developing new ones. This paper examines the challenges that confront teacher education when both the amount of information and its complexity are increasing due to the growing use of technology. We argue first that we need a richer view of technology than is often found in decision documents and in some of the didactics literature. We then introduce the concept of design as both an analytical and a didactic concept that links technology-rich environments and learning trajectories to knowledge development. From an activity-theoretical perspective, we approach the notion of design as a key component in teacher education and consider how it materializes through the use of a wiki, and in a new type of exam. The aim ...
Not "what" but "how": Becoming design-wise about educational technology
2003
2 during the academic year. Only 7% of these teachers allowed students to use the computers to send e-mail as an instructional tool, and "even fewer involved the students in cross-classroom collaborative projects or in Web publishing" (p. 4). found that fewer then two out of ten teachers is a serious user of technology in the classroom. However, this is not because teachers are luddites or lack training. The "technology puzzle" according to Cuban is that, "of those same 10 American teachers, about seven have computers at home and use them to prepare lessons, communicate with colleagues and friends, search the Internet, and conduct personal business. In short, most teachers use computers at home more than at school."