Learning Technology MENTORS Research project

Carmel Taddeo ...University of South Australia

Harry Postema ...Glenunga International High School

“Excellent teaching of an ‘old school’, explicit kind has

been transformed with sophisticated use of new

technologies and the shift to a more paperless

learning ecosystem.”

‘Quality Teaching for Personalised Learning: Leveraging Technology for Exceptional Results’

Telstra White Paper 2012

Glenunga International High School

public secondary school 1500 students years 8 - 12

Context

University Research 2007 - 2012University of South Australia

Flinders University

What should high quality contemporary learning look like

for our students?

What technology and particularly ICT would support this?

What knowledge and skills of educators need to be

developed to achieve this?

Glenunga International High School as a DECD Learning Technology Focus School

Learning Technology Training Time = LT3

Late start for students once a week.

Teachers use this time to learn and develop new skills that combine

technology and pedagogy.

Build teacher capacity to deliver 21st century learning outcomes

key strategy

University data used to guide school strategies

1st phase: Technology - laptops, internet, smartboards, moodle, software

2nd phase: Pedagogy - using technology to present curriculum content

3rd phase: Collaboration - mentors and teaching teams working together

4th phase: De-privatisation - reduce between class differences

5th phase: Knowledge Construction- personalised, ‘flipped’ classroom, vodcasts,

‘un-googlable’ learning task design

key leadership phases of LT3

mentors

Mentor Program

In response to identified issues of - sustainability,

induction, progression of pedagogy, alignment with

school strategies, identification of and response to

21st century learning.

Mentors nominated by each Learning Area

(faculty) in key technology/pedagogy focus areas:

• MOODLE

• Smartboard

•Daymap

How effective is a mentor program in developing enhanced technology skills and understandings that enable 21st century pedagogies to be developed amongst teaching teams?

Innovative practices

Research Question

Why we engaged with the practitioner research process?

•Opportunity to be part of a participatory research process to facilitate change by evaluating an existing initiative in the school

•Validate the evaluation process by working collaboratively with a researcher to employ rigorous research methodologies

What did the participatory research process look like at Glenunga?

•Researcher and practitioner worked together to:

o Develop and refine research questions

o Identify suitable research methodologies

o Identify sample

o Address some of the practical challenges e.g., timing of interviews

o Disseminate findings

What were the advantages of the practitioner research process?

•Researcher able to provide big picture perspective

•Researcher provided an independent evaluation

•Practitioner able to support data collection process

•Staff were able to learn about the process in a meaningful & relevant way

•Provided opportunities to foster mutual respect and trust between practitioner and researcher

Learnings

•Important to have trust and respect between all parties involved (particularly important during data collection phase, where staff are involved in interviews)

•Important to share the findings in different ways to cater for different audiences

o Presentation to staff- both leadership team and the whole staff

o Written report: For formal documentation

o Conference presentation: For wider dissemination of findings

•Important to celebrate the process

o Acknowledgement at whole staff meeting

research method

In order to obtain perspectives from a cross section of teachers at GIHS who had been involved in the Mentor Model intervention, nine staff in various roles were interviewed.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with:

3 Learning Area Mentors

3 Learning Area Leaders

3 Mentees

data analysisTo facilitate the identification of key themes a

thematic analysis as outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006) was conducted. Specifically the phases

include:

• Familiarizing yourself with your data• Generating initial codes• Searching for themes• Reviewing themes• Defining and naming themes• Write up stage

Is practical, accessible, useful & relevant

Mentor Role StatementThe Mentor model provides professional learning opportunities for staff through access to knowledgeable individuals, within their faculty, who are able to offer relevant, practical, accessible and useful technology related support.

The Mentor will …• Enthusiastically support the school ethos of building teacher capacity in a collaborative environment as an active member of a school based LT Team• Undertake a personal skills development program• Participate in specialized training provided by the school• Work with individuals and small groups towards building skills and understandings of technology in teaching practice• Work with Learning Area Leader to provide a learning program as per agreed team objectives• Conduct specialist short courses during LT3 • Represent the school in professional learning environments

from recommendations