Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become ubiquitous in our society. In particular, 10-12 year old (primary school aged) children report that they increasingly rely upon ICTs for social interaction and for learning (ACMA, 2013). In spite of the large number of students reporting high ICT use, research indicates that many primary school teachers are not making effective use of online resources in the classroom. Influencing this lower level use is a lack of specifically focused research that considers the vital role of the primary school teacher in the integration of ICTs into the classroom program. To identify where research is most needed and might be most useful to support teachers to increase the use of ICTs in the classroom, this paper draws on research conducted in primary, secondary and tertiary education. It defines three core areas in which research is needed. These areas are teachers' internal (personal) and external (socio-cultural) barriers as well as the students' role in, and expectations of, pedagogical changes to classroom learning.
Over a three-year period, academics from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne, have partnered with a range of academics to facilitate an elective subject for pre-service teachers (PSTs).. These academics include staff from the Faculty of Science (The University of Melbourne), the Victorian Space Science Education Centre (VSSEC) and the Gene Technology Access Centre (GTAC) Together we have sought to develop and strengthen their teaching in the area of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. Students in this subject were supported to develop 21 st century skills that enabled them to work effectively in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Pre-service teachers observed and responded to each other's teaching providing real time feedback using 'Padlet' (a readily available web based application). Following each lesson students used the resultant 'Padlet' data as a prompt to promote reflective discussion. We analyse excerpts of Pre-service teacher responses to an online survey as a means to gain some understanding of their perception of working in this way. Additionally, Padlet feedback was thematically analysed in an effort to understand how teacher candidates focussed their feedback and limitations of this approach to facilitating professional development. Through adoption of this tool, critical collaborative reflection was fostered.
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