ICT and Pedagogy: Implications for international

collaborative learning and learningenvironments

Margaret J. Cox

King’s College London

Focus of the paper• What do teachers’ pedagogies include?• What types of ICT resources and communications

technologies are being used by teachers and pupils and for what purposes?

• What is the relationship between different types of ICT use and teachers’ pedagogical practices?

• What ways is networked learning being integrated with other more traditional teaching methods?

• Implications for international educational collaboration and learning environments

Three main developments

• Technological

• Educational initiatives

• Applications to teaching and learning

Technological developments

EducationalInitiatives

ICT as a subjectICT to enhance

teaching andlearning

EducationalICT resources

Implications For teachers and leaners

Technological developments

• Reducing costs and increasing diversity

• Impact and migration from the IT industry

• Domination of commercial technologies

• Widespread use of office software in

education

Growth of IT resourcesDecline in IT costs

Growth of IT resourcesDecline in IT costs

1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s

Educational initiatives

• Major government policies regarding ICT

in education

• Different priorities from nation to nation

• Two main directions: IT as a subject and

ICT across the curriculum

• Extending the boundaries of educational

settings

Applications of ICT to teaching and learning

• Vocational need to meet demands of the IT industry

• Changing nature of ICT representations

• Networked technologies used for sharing of peripheral educational activities

• Networked learning within single institutions

Tutorial style softwareTutorial style software

Fixed modelFew variables

confirmationof correct

answers

help forincorrectanswers

USER

decisionspractice

choice ofvariable values

SimulationsSimulations

semi-fixed modelrange of variables

results ofhypotheses

and investigations

USERchoice ofvariablesand values

study relationshipshypothesiseinvestigate theories

Framework softwareFramework software

choice of modellearning framework

creationand

analysis of user’stheories

USER

framework

develop modelchoose variablesanalyse databuild theories

What do educators understand by teachers’ pedagogies

• Teachers’ ideas and beliefs about teaching• Includes the whole practice of teaching

before and after the class activity as well as during the teaching itself

• How ICT is used will have a positive or negative effect on pupils’ learning

• Teachers’ pedagogies will affect how ICT is integrated with other more traditional teaching methods

Pedagogical reasoning model

Teachers’ knowledge,beliefs and values

Teachers’behaviours

Pedagogical reasoning

Pupils’ knowledge,beliefs and values

Pupils’behaviours

Actions and activitiesLearning outcomes

Affordances

Affordances• The properties of a teaching and learning

system as perceived by the user which allow certain actions and specific types of behaviour.

• For ICT, affordances which are influenced by the teacher and the learner would include providing learning opportunities for the student using different ICT environments

Pedagogical reasoning• Subject content knowledge

• Knowledge related to general teaching issues, e.g. teaching approaches, classroom management

• Curriculum knowledge - “tools of the trade”: schemes of work, resources etc.

• Pedagogical content knowledge - their own special form of professional understanding

• Knowledge of learners and their characteristics; • Knowledge of educational contexts: groups, classes, school and wider

community

• Knowledge of educational ends, purpose and values and their philosophical and historical grounds.

ICT hardware

• Stand-alone computers

• Computer networks in classes

• Laptop computers for personal uses in class and at home

• Personal digital organisers

• Interactive whiteboard

• Measurement and control devices

• Range of other ICT devices: mobile phones, Web pads, tablet PCs etc.

ICT software

• Office software: word-processing, spreadsheets, databases,

• Subject based simulations

• Computer based modelling

• Measurement and control

• On-line communications

• Web-based courses

• Researching on-line evidence

• Computer based assessment

Hardware

Software

Expanding rangeof

Representationssystems

Different modesof

Human computerinteractions

New forms of knowledge

What do we know about ICT and teachers’ knowledge?

• Teachers subject knowledge - greatest attainment when teachers understand their own subject in depth and detail

• Access to ICT resources- teachers who take the initiative to acquire relevant ICT resources are able to use them with more consequent benefits to their pupils

• Teachers who understand the range and scope of ICT can achieve greater integration and higher learning outcomes

Relationship between ICT and teachers’ pedagogical practices

• Teachers who were confident in using specific ICT resources were able to plan and implement appropriate learning activities

• Pedagogical practices of the teacher using ICT - depended upon their subject knowledge, ICT skills and their understanding of ICT

• Organisation - the class organisation had an important impact on the attainment of the pupils

• Beyond the classroom - ICT pedagogy includes all aspects of teaching, not just in the lesson.

ICT as a subject/across the curriculum

• IT/ICT as a subject– Insufficient teachers

competent to teach ICT

– Dominated by Microsoft Office

– Insufficient time-tabled time to teach ICT well

– Curriculum poorly understood

– Quality of learner’s achievements limited by the above

• ICT across subjects– Insufficient teachers

motivated to use ICT

– Lack of expertise in how to use it effectively

– Lack of support from school principals

– Competing for resources with ICT teachers

– Dominated by Microsoft office

Integration of networked learning

• Use of the Internet for distance learning

• Web-based courses

• Extending pupil-pupil and teacher-pupil communications:– Email – On-line assignments– Pupil-pupil evaluations– On-line evaluations

• Distance learning whole courses

Emerging issues

• Pedagogical conflicts• Teachers’ subject knowledge• Teachers’ pedagogical knowledge• Teachers’ knowledge of the potential of ICT• Pedagogical practices and affordances• Access to ICT networking resources• Managing a community of learners• Balancing local and international educational priorities

Pedagogical conflicts

• Using office based software

• New knowledge and new representations

• Challenges of networked learning environments

• Using subject based software

• Using existing knowledge and traditional representations

• Abilities of teachers to use ICT

National curriculum requirements

Teachers’ subject knowledgeTeachers need to know• that some ICT uses will change the nature and

representations of knowledge and of the way the subject is presented to and engages the pupils

• the potential of ICT and networked resources not only in terms of its contribution to pupils’ presentation skills but in terms of its facilities for challenging pupils’ thinking and extending pupils’ learning in a subject

• how to prepare and plan courses and lessons where ICT is used which will challenge pupils’ understanding and promote reflection and thinking, in the subject

Teacher pedagogical knowledgeTeachers need to know

• how to organise pupils when using ICT resources within a

range of learning settings

• the relationship between a range of ICT resources and the

concepts, processes and skills in their subject

• how to obtain and select appropriate ICT resources to

meet a range of learning opportunities;

• how and when to decide on the four approaches to using

networked technologies

Four approaches to using networked technologies

• Substitution approach

• Integrated approach

• Enhancement approach

• Complimentary approach

Loss of control of the learning process

Loss of control of the learning process

• Informal learning outside the formal institution

• Learners’ access to other ‘teachers’ and ‘experts’

• Learners’ perceptions of the value of IT in society

• Changing roles of the teacher

Balancing local and international educational priorities

Balancing local and international educational priorities

Within formal courses

• Using goal oriented international communities - new on-line courses

• Using international communities of interest to support networks of teachers at national and international level

• Facilitating learners’ communities across nations

• Communities of practice to contribute to students on formal courses

Balancing local and international educational priorities

Balancing local and international educational priorities

Within informal learning

• Providing opportunities for informal learners collaborating within a community of interest

• Providing specific Web-sites to support informal learners to exchange ideas and knowledge

• Communities of practice could contribute to students engaged in informal learning

• Educational collaborations need to benefit the whole community of partners

Implications for learning environments

Learningenvironments

Communicationresources

Simulations

Tutorialsoftware

Frameworksoftware

The teachers

The learners

LearningAffordances

Otherresources

Otherexperiences

Possibilities for international collaboration

• Setting up international communities of practice

• Setting up international projects on course development and evaluation

• Exchanging students and academics

• Providing professional development in the uses of ICT

• Sharing best practice in using ICT in teaching and research