Connecting Teachers

Can there be models of effective practice for teachers with ICT?

Chair: Christine Vincent, Becta

Presenter: Margaret Cox

King’s College London

Ideas for consideration

• The nature and scope of ICT in education

• The contributions of ICT uses to teaching and learning

• The implications for the curriculum

• The effects on teachers’ practices

• How to plan and integrate ICT use

• The relationship between ICT use and models of effective practice

ICT resources for education - local topic/subject specific

• Simulations and modelling– Simulations of processes, procedures and

experiments– Topic based models and modelling environments

• Tutorial resources– Problem-based tasks– Integrated learning systems– Revision exercises

Generic ICT software and devices

• Word-processing

• Spreadsheet - modelling

• Database packages

• Presentation software

• Measurement and control equipment

Communications resources

• Local networks

• National and global networks (Internet)– On-line curriculum resources

– Teaching and learning materials

– Access to experts

• Teacher-pupil communications– Email; VLEs;user groups; video-conferencing

• Pupils as teachers

• Subject experts

Effects of ICT on attainment at all key stages

Specific subjects

Mathematics

Science

English

Programming and

Modelling

Simulations and

Modelling

Word-processing Communications

andPresentations

Research evidence

Mathematics

Science

understanding and applying mathematical concepts when the measures related specifically to the concepts and processes being learnt

understanding of science concepts, developing problem solving skills, hypothesising scientific relationships, scientific reasoning and explanations

English

creative writing and language but theresults are very inconsistent and restricted by the rate of ICT useand access in schools

Methods of ICT use - in class

Teacher

Whole class teaching

Individual or pairs

Teams

Interactive whiteboardProjector demonstration

Class discussion

With/without ICTAny of the above

Work-stationsLaptops/PDAs

M & C kit

Methods of ICT use - out of class

Teacher at a distance

On-line Teacher led

tasks

Pupilgroups

Expert-pupilnetwork

Resource computerHome computer

Internet cafe

VLEsEmail linksChat rooms

VLE pupil networksEmail groups

Mobile phone groups

Effects on practice:individual teachers

• Teachers withdrawing as a leader in the classroom

• Teachers’ experiences affecting their theoretical knowledge

• Complex relationships between pedagogical reasoning and actual uses of ICT

• Limited teachers’ knowledge of ICT reduces the affordances provided to pupils

Implications for the curriculum

• Identifying the ICT resources to fit/enhance the curriculum

• Replacing well-tried content with ICT-based activity

• Matching the ICT resources with pupils’ level of knowledge and competency

• Balancing the ICT-based activities within a crowded curriculum

• Distinguishing the ICT skills from the topic concepts and skills

Implications for the school/institution • Developing and maintaining a long-term strategic

plan for ICT use across the curriculum

• Acquiring and providing appropriate ICT resources

• Time-tabling sufficient access to ICT resources

• Providing on-going ICT support and guidance

• Providing adequate professional development for all teachers

• Ensuring long-term maintenance of ICT expertise

Issues for effective models

• What types of ICT hardware, software, and communications are being used by teachers and for what purposes?

• What are the levels of use of ICT in schools regarding different types of ICT?

• What impact might ICT have on specific concept knowledge, on specific skills and on specific processes and how does this relate to different teaching practices?

A framework for pedagogiesand practices

Pedagogical reasoning

Teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and values

Teachers’ behaviours

Affordances

Students’ knowledge, beliefs and values

Students’ behaviours

Actions and activities

Learning outcomes

Pedagogical reasoning• Subject content knowledge• Knowledge related to general teaching issues, e.g. teaching

approaches, classroom management• Curriculum knowledge - “tools of the trade”: schemes of work,

resources etc.• Pedagogical content knowledge - their own special form of

professional understanding

• Knowledge of learners and their characteristics; • Knowledge of educational contexts: groups, classes, school and

wider community• Knowledge of educational ends, purpose and values and their

philosophical and historical grounds.

Goals for effective practiceBuilding on teachers’ existing expertise• Considering the types of ICT uses which will best

achieve the learning objectives • Balancing the teachers’ roles and the role of ICT• Recognising the possible changes in subject knowledge

and content • Having a good understanding of the pupils’ knowledge,

skills and abilities including their ICT capability that led to their planning decisions

• Having an awareness of the role of the pupils in helping each other to achieve the learning objectives

Teachers need to know and understand• that some ICT uses will change the nature and

representations of knowledge and of the way the subject is presented to and engages the pupils

• the potential of ICT resources not only in terms of its contribution to pupils’ presentation skills but in terms of its facilities for challenging pupils’ thinking and extending pupils’ learning in a subject.

• how to prepare and plan lessons where ICT is used which will challenge pupils’ understanding and promote reflection and thinking;

• which kinds of class organisation will be most effective for the learning tasks, e.g. as individual/pair/group work or as a whole class presentation;

Teacher Types for ICT use

Teacher types

Enhancing existingpractice using similarteaching approaches

Replacing current teaching practices

to enhance thecurriculum

Extendingthe curriculum

andmethods

Methods enhancer

Curriculuminnovator

Traditionalist

Towards a model for effective practice

• Identify the practice best suited to the teacher type

• Identify the range of ICT resources best suited for the current curriculum subject/topic

• Relate the teacher type to the balances between ICT and other activities

• Identify strategies for teachers to move from traditional type to innovative type