Transforming the core business of teaching and learning in classrooms through ICT

Abstract

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become an integral part of societies across the globe. This study demonstrates how successful technology integration by 10 experienced teachers in an Australian high school was dependent on teacher-driven change and innovation that influenced the core business of teaching and learning. The teachers were subject specialists across a range of disciplines, engaging their Year Eight students (aged 12-14 years) in the Technology Rich Classrooms programme. Two classrooms were renovated to accommodate the newly acquired computer hardware. The first classroom adopted a one-to-one desktop model with all the computers with Internet access arranged in a front-facing pattern. The second classroom had computers arranged in small groups. The students also used Blackboard to access learning materials after school hours. Qualitative data were gathered from teachers mainly through structured and unstructured interviews and a range of other approaches to ascertain their perceptions of the new initiative. This investigation showed that ICT was impacting positively on the core business of teaching and learning. Through the support of the school leadership team, the built environment was enabling teachers to use ICT. This influenced their pedagogical approaches and the types of learning activities they designed and implemented. As a consequence, teachers felt that students were motivated and benefited through this experience.

Preparing teachers for schooling in the digital age: A meta-perspective on existing strategies and future challenges

“…1 2 Steps towards capacity building -contemporary models and research issues On a global scale, important steps have been made in the ways teachers use ICT within primary, lower, and upper secondary schools. Even though access to technologies is still an issue of considerable concern in some countries, several important strategic developments have been made concerning teachers as change agents who use new technologies within the system of schooling (OECD 2006;Voyiatzaki and Avouris 2014;Petko et al 2015;Chandra and Mills 2015. ) In this section, we will highlight three important developments and strategies linked to practice, policy, and research that reflect the status of capacity building among such teachers.…”

Flexible learning spaces facilitate interaction, collaboration and behavioural engagement in secondary school

“…These learning environments ideally support student choice of where and how to learn and enable easy access to a range of educational technologies designed to facilitate learning [6]. The incorporation of virtual space into learning environments necessitates additional modifications to both the built environment and the pedagogical approach to capitalise on the affordances of technology [14].…”

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“…Integrating learning technology into the higher education environment, a process that requires a sharp learning curve, has slower adoption and higher rejection by faculty (Underwood & Dillon, 2011). Chandra and Mills (2015) discussed adoption strategies and noted the significant potential for merging ICTs seamlessly into education as well as niche uses of ICTs. Technologies could merge seamlessly with or transform pedagogical practices in learning environment design, within the collaboration between the teacher and students, and among students themselves (Adams Becker et al, 2017).…”