Developments in Higher Education (HE) over the last decade have seen an increasing focus on developing skills through the use of technology as part of blended learning opportunities. At Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) and Nottingham Trent University (NTU) in the United Kingdom research has taken place over the last year in the use of personal diaries with trainee teachers using a private web log (blog). The purpose of the research was to determine if blogs could provide a setting for their continuing professional development as practitioners and emerging qualified teachers. This collaborative project was undertaken to determine attitudes and perceptions of blogging as a tool for professional development, and also to evaluate and review current practice within the two institutions in this area of teacher training. The rationale for the use of blogs with the trainee teachers in this study was to determine if they could provide a usable substitute for more traditional methods of recording their professional development throughout their course. This paper seeks to share the findings of the research which the authors believe could be applicable to other areas of Higher Education.

This paper reports on research that has taken place with trainee teachers using web blogs for reflective practice at Sheffield Hallam University and Nottingham Trent University, in the United Kingdom. The research identifies how reflective blogs provided trainee teachers with an opportunity to develop as reflective practitioners in a more evolutionary way -something we might term 'e-flection' encompassing as it does reflections that are both evolutionary and online. This is in line with Schon's ideas of reflection on action (Schon, 1983) as the research indicates that trainees were using the blog after teaching, to reflect on their teaching and learning as a past experience. The research also explores how reflecting as part of a community can benefit students in developing the reflective aspect of their professional identity.

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Teacher education involves an identity transformation for trainees from being a student to being a teacher. This discourse analysis examined the online discussion board communications of a cohort of trainee teachers to better understand the situated identities of the trainees and how they were presented online. Their discussion board posts were the primary method of communication during placement periods and, as such, provided insight into how the trainees situated their identities in terms of being a student or being a teacher.During the analysis, the community boundaries, language and culture were explored along with the tutor"s power and role in the identity transformation process. This involved looking at the lexis used by the students, the use of pronouns to refer to themselves and others such as teachers and pupils, the types of messages allowed in the community and the effect of the tutor"s messages on their communication. The research found that the trainees felt comfortable with teaching but did not feel like teachers during the course. Tutors and school teachers need to develop an awareness of the dual nature of trainees" identities and help promote the transition from student to teacher. In the beginning of the course trainees should be familiarised with teacher vocabulary and practical concepts in addition to pedagogical theory. Towards the end of the course, trainee identity as teachers could be promoted through the use of authentic assessments that mirror real teacher tasks and requirements.

This paper reports on research that took place at Nottingham Trent University and Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom, over two years. The research focuses on the use of Web 2.0 technology, specifically web logs, with pre-service teachers, both during their university programme and the first year of teaching as full-time newly qualified teachers (NQTs). The purpose of this research was to add a developing body of knowledge by identifying whether technology used by pre-service teachers during their training course can be cascaded into their practice once qualified. Key findings identify a number of enablers and barriers to cascading technology in the classroom; these include curriculum time, pupil skills and support. The research concludes that early professional support and development should be on-going and assumptions about new teachers as champions of cascading innovative use of Web 2 technologies into their practice as NQTs may be over optimistic.