TeachIT: Act now for teacher ICT learning

John TurnerHead of Information Technology, Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Melbourne

The gap between teacher capability and student potential in the digital age is an issue of concern for teachers and students alike. Efforts to date based on professional development of teachers have been disappointing and gaps appear to be widening. If student learning potential for a digital age is to be realised then new ways of supporting teachers to attain the skills necessary to add educational value through computer use need to be pursued. This paper examines one model, teachIT, which provides a teacher learning approach that engage, supports and adds value to classroom use of digital technologies across all teachers. Modules provide engaging pre-tests, supportive materials, examples of subject use, the building of knowledge banks, and the sharing, celebration and recognition of teacher and student work. Consideration in one school is used to highlight the potential of teachIT and issues arising. This paper reports on work undertaken within the Information Technology Department of the school mentioned and does not present or report on the school's current overall approach.

IntroductionFor the fast evolving world of digital technologies the industrial-structured school system looks to be increasingly on a different trajectory. The increasing availability of powerful computer systems in Australian homes, and a tendency of school system decision-makers to define value through traditional priorities, has led to increasing divergences between student home experiences, teacher comprehension of educational possibilities, and the values schools and their teachers place on curriculum use of digital technologies.

This paper investigates some of the issues that go with such divergences and shortcomings, and proposes a model of involvement to increase teacher engagement with technologies at the classroom level. The goal is the generation of valued learning for students and teachers: for students, to utilise and build on their motivation to engage with digital technologies (ISQ 2008); for teachers, engagement with information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance classroom learning opportunities. The platform underpinning the model, teachIT, makes use of the Internet’s capacity for interaction and publishing to share and build work of educational value within schools.

Research Background

Prensky (2000) highlighted the dilemma of difference between teachers and their students; defining those brought up in the digital world as 'digital natives' compared to older generations, including teachers, as ‘digital immigrants’. Others have not been as strident, pointing to the lack of effective supporting research (Siemens 2007) and identifying a range of student learning preferences and capacities for teacher adaptability at odds with Prensky's claims (VanSlyke 2003). However, what should not be contested is the difficulty that teachers have in making effective educational use of new, ever-emerging technologies. Cuban (2001) points to the inadequate use of computers in schools by teachers, building on his previous (1986) identification of the capacity of school as a system to subsume new technologies to fit its ongoing traditional, conservative, text-driven culture.

Barth (2001) summed up the approach to change management by schools as “a basic pattern of grand pretensions, faulty execution and puny results”. As Snyder (2008) points out, policy-makers fail to comprehend the importance of working with and understanding how teachers work. In the case of ICTs, schools too often appear content to seek promotion through the efforts of individual teachers or in partnership with commercial providers to publicise the next solution. Teacher professional development is an oft-mentioned solution for teachers to be able to make use of computers at the classroom level, but successful system outcomes in schools have been consistently lacking (Hargreaves 1998). Lighthouse schools and teachers have been used to showcase, but with limited effect on whole-system change. Leadership has been wanting, although at times evidence has emerged as to what can be (see Loader 2006). ICT related curriculum change in schools generally, however, has been limited and tending towards the haphazard (Snyder 2008).

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Historically there have been two central issues affecting how educators value ICTs. The first is how best to approach using computers in schools. Taylor (1980) summarised the choices as Tool, Tutee or Tutor. As Tool the computer is thought best used as one would pen and paper, another tool with purposeful intent. As Tutee the computer could form a student-centered learning partnership with the student, with the latter ‘teaching’ or programming the computer. As Tutor the computer was thought to have potential as a teacher substitute. Relevant philosophical debates about the preferred nature of school teaching and learning pre-date digital technologies: Dewey (1916) talked about the need for school systems to change to be more project-orientated, student-centered and authentic in purpose. His work is a strong influence on the Tutee view. Jonassen’s (2000) computer as mindtool concept pushes the tutee potential with computers as learning Tools. At this point in time the debates about the best way to use technology to progress educational achievement, and whether technology can be used effectively to improve student learning, remain unresolved (ISQ 2008).

The second issue is school as a system. Its industrial preferences have been long touted as a limiting force. Papert (1980) recognized school’s ability to resist the required changes that computers required for learning. As Cuban (1986) demonstrated, the capacity for school as a self-serving system to submerge new technologies should not be underestimated. Snyder (2008) points to the need for more than provision of technology as a solution for educational shortcomings if schools want to move beyond the relatively minor shifts identified by Cuban (2001).

Priority given to machine decisions over people or learning objectives has been one of the major limiting factors towards teachers keeping up with ICT developments and schools providing educational value (Papert 1985). In more recent times, the competitive, market-driven model applied to schools has seen more emphasis on perceptions of value-added rather than any willingness to embrace the issues needed to professionally attest to what works and what is lacking. The recent initial focus of the Australian Government's Digital Education Revolution policy on provision of computers is a concern in its adherence to such limited considerations. As Barth (2001) puts it, “unless teachers and administrators act to change the culture of a school, 'innovations' will have to fit in and around existing elements of the culture. That is, they will be superficial window dressing incapable of making much difference”.

More consideration is needed into what schools should be required to provide through curriculum use of ICTs. Phelps et al (2001) pointed to the need to develop computer literacy in students through learning to adapt, to be flexible, intuitive, and do learning more than simply a set of technological skills. Meta-learners were defined as those who were aware of their motives, task demands and personal cognitive resources, and who could exert control over strategies used. Teachers were seen as integral to such a process, needing to develop adaptive computer skills and a capacity to engage in self-directed and experiential learning.

Expanding on the aims advocated by Phelps et al (2001) and others such as those reported by Peck and Dorricott (1994), classroom-based teaching and learning with ICTs has the potential to support:

Purposeful learning: learning by doing to effectively achieve commonly agreed outcomes. Adaptability: taking on changing technologies and systems in a diverse world. Collaboration: valuing peer learning as well as student prior knowledge and potential. Processing information overload: the efficient use and evaluation of digital sources. Digital experimentation: building on student motivation to experiment and learn. Digital identity: developing a web presence and with it a responsibility. Time management: handling the time demands of ICT use. Reflection: problem-solving and meta-cognition. Digital literacy: programming as an integral curriculum consideration (Prensky 2008) Data communication: developing expertise in submitting and validating digital work. Building of mental models (see Senge et al (2000), National Research Council (2000)): through

apprenticeship developing effective use of specialised software. ICT as a subject: forming worthwhile paths for students who wish to become ICT professionals Ethics of computer use: valuing understanding of copyright, plagiarism, threats, inappropriate materials

and using ICTs as part of the modern digital society.

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Guiding this should be a commitment to using ICT where benefits to student learning have been strongly demonstrated, in terms of “characteristics such as motivation, concentration, cognitive processing, independent learning, critical thinking and teamwork” (ISQ 2008).

School Background

The culture of the school in which curriculum use of computers is undertaken is as important as the intended approach. This paper reports on work conducted, exclusively at this stage, amongst IT Department staff in the secondary section of an academic, girls' independent school located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. The school has been using computers across the curriculum for over twenty years. During this time numerous technologies, including programming languages, applications, multimedia, and the Internet, have been accommodated as they have become available. The school provides the computer technologies as part of its policy of school resource provision (as distinct from 'laptop' schools where students use their own laptop). Currently there is a ratio of about one computer for every three students. Just about every student has home access to a computer and the Internet. The teacher is the primary determiner of when computers are to be used and instigates the booking of the resource. However, there is also open access to students to the computer facilities and links to home through a Virtual Learning Environment. Lankshear and Snyder (2000) found that that the school had an ever-evolving set of curriculum initiatives, and that there was a strong supporting culture and access for teachers when required.

From the start the school’s approach to ICT use was built around: The identification of quality school learning within and across subjects. The teacher as the driver of classroom management and change. Identified valued learning that all should be able to benefit from. The ongoing development of teachers as computer users and classroom managers. Systems able to cope with the adaptability demands of ever-changing technologies. Subject learning at the core, with valued computer skills and subject learning objectives clearly

identified. Systems educationally viable and able to be replicated. Systems robust enough to cater for teachers coming and going, through departures from the school or

timetable dictates, and Students as digital creators, not consumers, with all middle-school students in managing their own

web folio site.

Moore’s Law highlights the ever-changing nature of digital technologies. The school’s approach pre-dates the advent of widespread use of the Internet in schools from the mid-1990s, and the changing balance between school and home use of computers. The school's approach has weathered technology change, teacher change, changes in student learning requirements and changes in external curriculum demands.

Teachers are a core element for successful use. Teaching teams are used to support teachers. ICT teachers work with subject teachers. No teachers are excluded from teams, although various strategies are applied depending on the individual teacher’s needs, aptitude and capabilities. Teachers have been willing to look objectively at new ways of supporting student learning, take risks in a supported environment, and work with other teachers.

Timetabling and staffing changes means that new teams are created regularly. New teams enable sharing of ideas, new ideas and interests to flourish, and a coherent-shared approach to the development of knowledge creation. The availability and sharing of quality materials is a key component.

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TeachIT model

Since the mid-1990s student work and teacher tasks have been made available through a school intranet. With the availability of new technologies comes new ways of communicating. The multimedia platform package, Flash was used to establish a multimedia delivery and reporting platform. This platform, teachIT, was created to:

bring together the materials (already available) in an easily accessible digital form, to provide pre-tests (using Flash ActionScript) for teacher learning, to publish and share teacher and student work through a Knowledge Bank, and to provide administrative information on support availability and certification.

TeachIT consist of nine sections: Knowledge Test: for self-assessment Skills Material: purpose driven sheet

templates on particular software skills Subject Tasks: Examples of subject specific

tasks to complement skill sheets Assessment: Assessment rubric templates

for subject tasks Mentor Support: Advice on ICT teacher

support availability Knowledge Bank: Library of teacher work

[subject task, student work examples] Certification: Advice on levels that

teachers can attain within the system Skills Map: An overview of skills covered

with students across Years 7 – 9 Theory: The educational frameworks on

which teachIT is based.

Figure 1: teachIT Home Screen

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TeachIT Sections

TeachIT Theory: TeachIT reflects the objectives advocated by Phelps et al (2000). It applies Jonassen’s (2000) computer as mindtools concept to subject learning through teacher inclusion and engagement to join purpose with reflective processes. It caters for new teachers and the ever-changing nature of technologies. Tasks are judged against the learning benefits that computers can provide as shown in Table 1:

Learning Goals Software Example

Curriculum Examples Measuring Success

Motivation DreamweaverVarious

Computer Learning and Junior English: Personal Intranet web pages

‘how long can students stay on task?’

Concentration Dreamweaver Geography: Field Trip multiple resources

‘when the bell goes are they still working?’

Cognitive processing

PowerpointWeb / Word

Geography and Religious Education: website analysisn

‘Subject teacher agreement that all students are benefiting’

Independent learning

Studywizvarious

In all subject areas and topics ‘students accessing, using and submitting materials without assistance’

Critical thinking Inspiration Religious Education: values and relationships

‘audience (teacher) assessment rubric’

Teamwork WikiWeb 2

History: WW2 story developmentEnglish: book discussion

‘what level peer problem-solving support’

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Individual differences

various Religious Education: learning styles task

‘variety of student interpretations of value to audience (teacher)’

Visual literacy PowerpointWord

History and English: Art, book and movie scene analyses

‘audience (teacher) assessment rubric

Accessing, Using and communicating information

FirefoxDreamweaver

Religious Education: web site evaluationGeography: Field Trip Reporting

‘audience (teacher) assessment rubric

Transferable skills iMovie Junior years cross-curricular use of digital movie skills

‘amount of technical input & support needed’

Artistic expression Photoshop English: AdvertisingReligious Education: development of animated story illustrationsHistory: Dreamtime Art

‘range of individual interpretations / ideas meeting audience (teacher) requirements’

Personal learning Web2 Computer Learning: Cyberbullying

‘degree to which students engage in discussion and reporting’

Global awareness StudywizWeb2

Digital Movie Making elective; Horizon Project Junior German: wiki with German school

‘range of cultural connections between students and teachers’

Value beyond school

Studywiz Women4IT ProjectStudent messaging 24/7

‘level of access’‘level of working connections to resources beyond school’

Access to high-level information

Web Religious Education: virtual excursion through websites of historic sites

‘audience (teacher) assessment rubric’

Introduction to new digital tools

iGoogle Computer Learning: Bookmarks ‘completion of task & extension into new digital tools’

Productivity and Efficiency

WordPowerpoint

Computer Learning: tables to organise & reportHistory: WW2 presentations

‘application into new tasks – degree of re-teaching required’

Managing learning for an audience

Dreamweaver Computer Learning and Religious Education: personal web site folio

‘generation of personal web site to project to audience’

IT career pathways & support

Students doing VCE studies ahead of their Year grouping

‘number of students who go to more advanced IT and related courses’

Table 1: Matching ICT skills with Learning Benefits

The intention is to develop and support teachers to be: Confident to take on new technologies as learners and teachers. Willing to use new technologies with their students. Able to work with student expertise. Able to work with and learn from other teachers. Confident as they teach core subject knowledge. Developing independent working skills relevant to digital environments. Open to challenges and improvement.

The software originally listed in 2006 has been updated as technology changes emerge:

1 Word Processing [Word X]: tables2 Presentation [PowerPoint X] 3 Desktop Publishing [Word X]4 Animation [2][PowerPoint X]5 Basic Spreadsheeting [Excel X]6 Graphic Drawing [Fireworks 8] 7 Graphic Animation [Fireworks 8]8 Visual Thinking & Planning [Inspiration]9 Digital Movie Making [iMovie HD]10 Web Publishing [Dreamweaver 8]

Office X Word: Word Processing :Tables Word: DTP Powerpoint PowerPoint: Animation Excel: Spreadsheeting - graphing & simple formulaMultimedia Photoshop CS3: Graphic Drawing Dreamweaver CS3 Photoshop: Animation

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11 Web Animation - advanced [Flash 8]12 Multimedia / Sound [GarageBand 2]13 Internet Searching [Safari]14 Peripherals - digital camera [Image capture]15 Peripherals – scanner16 Peripherals - digital video camera17 Peripherals – printing18 Studywiz: VLE19 College-wide network 20 WebMail21 Email

Inspiration: Visual Thinking iMovie HD: Digital Movie Making GarageBand 3: Sound & MusicWeb Safari / Firefox: Web searching iGoogle introductionAdvanced Cascading Style Sheets InDesign CS3 Flash CS3 Flash: ActionScript Final Cut Express: Digital Movie Making Web 2: iGoogle advanced Web2: wikis Web2: RSS Web2: Google Groups Web 2: Google Docs and Spreadsheets Web2: Ning: Social NetworksPeripheral Scanning Digital CameraWeb World Web Threats Copyright Plagiarism Cyberbullying The inappropropriate WebAdmin School Network Studywiz: VLE School Email

2006 software list 2008 software list

Table 2: teachIT software skills list

TeachIT Knowledge Tests:

Pre-tests for software identified as of potential learning value were created to help teachers see what a basic understanding entails. Teachers could also learn from the test to increase their knowledge. This process provides feedback for teachers to ascertain how best to proceed, what curriculum ideas could be taken up, and the level of classroom support needed.

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Figure 2: Pre-test example

TeachIT Skills Materials: The skill sheets provided through this section are originally written as simple introductory steps. They are then adapted as required for subject projects. Skill sheets are published as word documents (rather than pdf files) to encourage teachers to adapt and take on as their own.

Figure 3: Introduction to Photoshop CS 3 Skill Sheet

TeachIT Subject Projects: Following the Pre-tests and teacher consideration of the skills material, subject projects are developed by the teacher. Support is available to assist with implementation if required. Student work is assessed by the subject teacher with ICT requirements a joint subject teacher / ICT support responsibility.

Figure 4: An example in which Photoshop CS 3 was used as part of a History project on Aboriginal Dreamtime Art

A recent development has seen self-contained modules created. In these teachers and students alike can undertake a preliminary task to see what knowledge they can bring to the learning environment. Then advice is provided to fill in gaps. Finally a second task is undertaken to reinforce the new knowledge.

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TeachIT Assessment:Subject projects are assessed by the subject teacher against their subject learning goals. Reflective feedback on the related ICT learning is provided through assessment rubrics. Computer Learning Skills (CLS) reports are provided each semester by ICT teachers for each Year 7 and 8 student as feedback on specific ICT skill and learning development.

Figure 5: A sample Assessment Rubric

TeachIT Knowledge Bank:Teachers submit examples of their teachIT supported work for publishing. Student work is included. This is an important inspiration for other teachers to take up and build on as a collegial process.

Figure 6: Example of Student Work Submitted to teachIT

TeachIT Certification:Different teachers operate at different levels in using ICTs. The recognition of work undertaken should be identified and celebrated. As teachers increase their understanding the school can also make use of their expertise to support others and strengthen the overall approach.

TeachIT Skills Map:Because of the ever-changing nature of ICT software and the emergence of new possibilities, an overview of what can be expected within the boundaries of expectation is kept and provided through teachIT. This can show new teachers what is on offer and what students have already experienced. Learning priorities over choice of software (see Table 1) is the focus.

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Using teachIT

The way that teachIT is approached and used in a school tells much about the potential of the school to take on the challenge of digital technologies for teaching and learning. Most case studies detailing the use of computers in schools adhere to positive confirmation through case study exposition. There are concerns about the legitimacy of such insights (Williams 1993, Reeves 2003). To date, the work described in this paper has been limited to the staff in the Information Technology Department of the school.

For the ICT teachers and their subject associates teachIT can provide coherency and a medium for input, team building, recognition and accountability. Student and teacher work can be shared and quality monitored. Changes to software can be coordinated to ensure value for all students, and new teachers can be accommodated. Teachers can authenticate worthwhile use of ICTs by their students in their classrooms. This approach seeks to address many of the shortcomings identified as limiting previous teacher professional development approaches, particularly regarding ICT use in the classroom (Turner 2005).

Conclusion

The industrial values that dominate schools are likely to continue unless new models of support for teacher and student learning are systemised to cater for the changing nature of ICTs and the digital world. TeachIT provides some ideas and insights into the considerations needed to engage and support teachers within the current environment. It has the potential to be much more; thinkIT is one example of an off shoot under consideration. To go further requires leadership from school leaders and the wider stakeholders. In different cultures different variations may be needed, but the fundamental aims on which teachIT is based should be pursued: to develop students who are purposeful, adaptable, collaborative learners, willing to engage in digital experimentation, forge a worthwhile digital identity, have purposeful, efficient, time management skills, reflect meta-cognitively, are digital literate for work, use digital communication to good effect, develop appropriate mental models for the world ahead, can choose and succeed as an IT professional if they wish, and are ethical users of computers. Do we continue to be content with 'technology champions' in schools with the inevitable burnout (Snyder 2008), or do we look for a paradigm shift? TeachIT could support the latter.

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