Glenice Watson

Models of information technology teacher professional development that engage with teachers' hearts and minds

Abstract The willingness and ability of teachers to integrate information technology (IT) into their teaching is largely dependent on the professional development they receive. However, it is not clear which models of IT professional development result in transformative and effective practice. This article reports on interviews in three countries with ‘exemplary’ IT users who also have professional development roles. It identifies ideas such as the change of teacher role, home-grown experts, comfortable shoes approach, let them struggle and killer applications as part of the repertoire of successful approaches employed by these IT professional developers

Exploring relatedness to field of study as an indicator of student retention

Currently, tertiary education student retention is an important concern for universities. Prior research suggests that course completion depends on a number of factors, many of which are recalcitrant to intervention. This paper explores one factor: student relatedness to their chosen course and profession, as evidenced within two education courses. The analysis of survey and focus group data from first year, semester one students has found that the respondents relate to their course and their profession more idealistically than pragmatically. We suggest that relative unawareness of the realities of teaching might retain students in the early years, only to cause attrition when harsher realities of classrooms set in during the later years of their course. Two possible interventions are considered: post‐structurally‐derived critical reflection and peer mentoring in the hope that they will facilitate a blend of idealism and pragmatism that will sustain students to course completion and entry into their profession.

Measuring the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the Classroom

Abstract In 2003, the “ICT Curriculum Integration Performance Measurement Instrument” was developed froman extensive review ofthe contemporary international and Australian research pertaining to the definition and measurement of ICT curriculum integration in classrooms (Proctor, Watson, & Finger, 2003). The 45-item instrument that resulted was based on theories and methodologies identified by the literature review. This paper describes psychometric results from a large-scale evaluation of the instrument subsequently conducted, as recommended by Proctor, Watson, and Finger (2003). The resultant 20-item, two-factor instrument, now called “Learning with ICTs: Measuring ICT Use in the Curriculum,” is both statistically and theoretically robust. This paper should be read in association with the original paper published in Computers in the Schools(Proctor, Watson, & Finger, 2003) that described in detail the theoretical framework underpinning the development of the instrument.

Pre-service Teachers' Views on their Information Technology Education

Abstract The concern that teachers are being inadequately prepared by their pre-service education to be confident and competent users of information technology remains, despite over a decade of computer availability in education systems. This paper examines the views of 234 pre-service teachers who experienced an information technology component in their teacher education course. It finds that many students have low computer self-efficacy and express negative feelings about information technology. These perceptions are gender and age related. It concludes that the need for information technology competency training remains important, but such programmes need to be specifically tailored to account for the wide range of experiences and attitudes of pre-service teachers.

Measuring Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Curriculum Integration

Abstract There is currently a trend toward the development of methodologies to measure Information and Communication Technology (ICT) curriculum integration and its resultant impact on student learning outcomes. Simplistic, negative correlations between numbers of classroom computers and standardized literacy and numeracy test results provide headlines for the media but do little to illuminate the full impact of ICT on teaching and learning. However, attempts at more sophisticated analyses are not problem free and raise issues of methodology and definition. From a review of the recent international and Australian research on the definition and measurement of ICT curriculum integration, this paper describes the development and initial validation of a new ICT curriculum integration measurement instrument conceptualized from the Productive Pedagogies framework (Education Queensland, 2000). This instrument is envisaged as one of a suite of methodologies for validly and reliably measuring ICT curriculum integration in classrooms.