H Boulton

Trainee Teachers' Use of Blogs as Private Reflections for Professional Development.

A collaborative research project between Sheffield Hallam University and Nottingham Trent University in the UK investigated the use of blogs with trainee teachers as an alternative to reflective paper‐based diaries. An action research case study, involving focus groups of post‐graduate (secondary) trainee teachers (one group from each University) was undertaken to determine attitudes and perceptions of blogging as an appropriate tool to support reflective professional development. The findings indicate that the use of blogs by the trainee teachers had a positive impact overall, and provide concrete evidence of their development as emerging professional teachers. Unlike traditional paper‐based systems, blogs provided ongoing opportunities for the tutor to assist the trainees in their development as reflective practitioners. This paper seeks to share the findings of this research which the authors believe could be applicable to other areas of Higher Education.

E-flection: the development of reflective communities of learning for trainee teachers through the use of shared online web logs

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 UK. 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 contemporary ideas of reflection on action 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.

ePortfolios beyond pre-service teacher education: a new dawn?

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the efficacy of using ePortfolios to enhance career skills for newly qualified teachers (NQTs). The context is the final phase of a longitudinal action research project investigating whether an ePortfolio, created as a pre-service teacher to evidence a digital story of developing professional identity, could transition into employability, i.e. the first year as an NQT. Thus, this paper focuses on a new area of ePortfolio-related research in teacher education; the transition from university into employment. The research findings indicate a changing purpose of the ePortfolio from training to the workplace, an increasing strength of ownership as part of the transition, and empowerment in becoming a teacher. Secondary findings demonstrate an increasing acceptance amongst head teachers regarding the usefulness of the ePortfolio in pre-service teacher education and in the continuing professional development of qualified teachers. Key outcomes are discussed and arguments are presented for an ePortfolio to support professional development from university to employment.

Cascading the Use of Web 2.0 Technology in Secondary Schools in the United Kingdom: Identifying the Barriers beyond Pre-Service Training.

This paper reports on research that took place at two universities in the United Kingdom, over two years. The research focuses on the use of Web 2.0 technology, specifically blogs, 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 to 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 continue during the early years of teaching and assumptions about new teachers as champions of cascading innovative use of Web 2.0 technologies into their practice as NQTs may be over-optimistic.

Introducing Digital Technologies into Secondary Schools to Develop Literacy and Engage Disaffected Learners: A Case Study from the UK

This chapter reports a project, Literacy and Technology: Towards Best Practice, funded by the UK’s Teaching Agency, involving five secondary schools in the East Midlands, UK. The project introduced digital technologies into core curriculum subject classrooms: science and English. The aim of the project was to identify whether new technologies, introduced into Key Stage 3 classrooms (11–14 years), could raise literacy levels of students with special education needs or disabilities (SEND), learning in a second language (EAL), with low levels of literacy, or identified by their school as disengaged with learning. The project proved successful with raised literacy levels and improved engagement in learning resulting in improved levels of progression. This chapter discusses the adoption, design and development of the use of new technologies.