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INNOVATE USING EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY AND YOUR BELIEFSNicholas Yates

nicholas.yates@zu.ac.ae

Opening Quote

“In a landscape without bearings, teachers create and internalize their own maps”

(Kagan, 1992)

Rethink :: Evolve :: Innovate Mentally note your answer…

� Who uses educational technology often in their

class?

� Who doesn’t use educational technology often (or

never) in their class?

I never use… As often as I can!

Rethink :: Innovate :: Evolve

� (Ertmer, 2005 p.31)

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� (Kagan, 1992, p. 85)

Addition is the best form of multiplication

� Patrick (interview)

A tool in a toolbox

� Espen (interview)

Outline

� Def’n of educational technology

� Reflection

� Teacher Beliefs

� Thesis

� Study

� Reflection

� Results

� Audience discussion

� Q + As

Educational Technology

� What’s involved in this broad concept?

Reflection #1

� How do you believe educational technology should

be used in the classroom?

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What are “teacher beliefs”? What are “teacher beliefs”?

� Beliefs are influential; guide classroom interaction;

personal, distinct theories (Burns, 1996, p. 175).

� Evaluative, cognitive guide (Kennedy & Kennedy,

1996, p. 355)

� Functional and useful conceptual systems (Nespor, 1987, p. 326)

What are “teacher beliefs”?

� A synthesized definition

Teacher beliefs are the cornerstone of what a

teacher does, says, and thinks. They provide a

personal systematic justification process with

which to plan, assess, judge, decide, accept,

deny, or act; basically covering all aspects of

teaching.

The aspects of teacher beliefs

� Plan and decide on their teaching (Woods, 1996)

� Dictate the approach, and sometimes the success or failure, of what is taught or learnt in the classroom

(Kennedy & Kennedy, 1996)

� Justify and guide teaching (Breen et al., 2001)

� Influence attitudes (Nespor, 1987)

� Direct a teacher towards acceptance of an innovation (Fullan & Hargreaves, 1992)

Beliefs of Language Teachers Use of Educational Technology

� Beliefs influence technology integration (Ertmer,

2005; Lawrence, 2000; Lam, 2000)

� Novice vs. Expert teachers conceptions re:

Educational Technology (Meskill et al., 2000)

� Classroom management / empowerment

� Locus of Learning

� Self / Student learning

� Product / Process

Origins of teacher beliefs

� Apprenticeship of observation (Lortie, 1975)

� Past experiences (Goodman, 1988; Calderhead & Robson, 1991)

� Teaching classroom practice: Self or colleagues (Kagan, 1992)

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Just give it to me straight… Thesis

� Investigate the inter-relationships

� How the beliefs originated

Beliefs

Classroom practice

Teaching context

The study

� Interviews

� Showcases

� Comparative analysis

� University

� EAP – Content based learning

� Participants

Reflection #1 (revisited)

� How do you believe educational technology should

be used in the classroom?

Results

� Motivation

� Personalisation

� Access

� Culture

Motivation

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Intrinsic Motivation

� Target our students’ interests

� “Winning a battle” (Espen)

� Blogs

� Mini-presentations

� Football highlights

Extrinsic Motivation

� Rewards

� “Horse and a carrot” (Ingrid)

� SMARTboard

� Films

Motivation and Culture

� Links between motivation, culture and our students

� Unmotivated when not using it

� “Reluctant to extend their learning” (Ingrid)

� “Sesame street attention span” (Howard)

� MSN Chat

� Hot Potatoes Vocabulary Quizzes

Motivation and Web 2.0

� Audience

� Authenticity

� Discrete Practice vs. Language Production

� Panaramio

� Voice Discussions

Personaliztion Personalization - Interests

� Target students’ interests

� “they’re reacting to natural English language as opposed to a lot of the language which is

necessarily contrived” (Jordan)

� Blogs

� Online auto classifieds

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Personalization - Feedback

� Feedback for each student

� Student errors

� Writing Error Game

� Grammar games from own errors

Personalization – Tailoring

� Tailor each lesson

� Suit each student’s needs

� Cater towards different learning styles

� SMARTboard

� PhotoStory

Access Access

� 24/7

� Web 2.0

� Out-of-reach = IN-reach!

� MSN Messenger

� Images online

Culture Culture

� Computer @ home = www.boy’s domain.com

� Quality of work

� “Sesame Street Attention Span”

� “Picking up a book is foreign to them” - Sarah

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Shared Beliefs Origins

Origins

� Learning from colleagues

� Tech Team

� Learning from own life experiences

� Themselves as learners

� Practical real life uses of technology in the classroom

Opening Quote Re-visited

“In a landscape without bearings, teachers create and internalize their own maps”

(Kagan, 1992)

Use your beliefs!

� (Koehler and Mishra, 2007, p. 7)

Know your beliefsBelieve in your knowledge.

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Contact Information

� Nicholas Yates

� nicholas.yates@zu.ac.ae

� For a copy of the slides, please email.

� For a hand out (includes full reference list), please email.