"Technology will not replace great teachers but technology in the hands of great teachers can be transformational" George Couros
Best educational technology practices are typically defined as those that promote student-centered learning (Moersch, 2002). Jonassen (1996) talks about three types of uses of technology in classroom: technology as a subject, technology as a delivery tool, and technology as a cognitive partner. As a subject and delivery tool, technology is often used in a supportive role (e.g., digital worksheets, media to support lecture) or for administrative tasks (e.g., record-keeping, attendance). As a cognitive partner, meaningful use of technology comprises using it as a mindtool which enables students to achieve higher levels of thinking by reducing the cognitive load required to visualize and represent problems (Jonassen, 2003).
Despite this potential for student-centered uses of technology, such uses are not prevalent in schools. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2019-2020) reported that forty-five percent of schools have a computer for each student. Many recent studies including Project Tomorrow 2017 report shows that digital activities undertaken by teachers, especially in support of new student learning environments, reveals that the adoption rate for more transformative activities is still exceptionally low. 59% of teachers indicated that they want to use digital resources that they can modify to meet their own classroom needs, 62% of teachers are using digital content just as it is, without modifying it to meet specific classroom needs. The most significant challenge is helping teachers move from sporadic to sustained usage of digital tools, content and resources within their classroom. Research reveals that teachers’ mindset about the sustained usage and seamless integration of technology within learning is often intertwined with their personal perceptions of the value of digital learning.
Ertmer P.A. (1999) identifies both external (first order) and internal (second order) barriers that inhibit teachers to effectively design student centered technological activities into their curricula although teachers today recognize the importance of integrating technology. Traditionally, technology training, for both preservice and in-service teachers, has focused on helping teachers overcome first order barriers (e.g., acquiring technical skills needed to operate a computer), however it is the second order barriers that cause more difficulties than first-order barriers (Dede, 1998; Fisher et al., 1996). This may be because they are less tangible than first-order barriers but also because they are more personal and more deeply ingrained. In summary, it is acknowledged that first-order barriers can be significant obstacles to achieving technology integration, yet the relative strength of second-order barriers may reduce or magnify their effects (Ertmer et al., 1999, Miller & Olson, 1994).
Teachers’ reasons for using technology in the classroom typically align with their value beliefs. The research reveals that teachers’ mindset about the sustained usage and seamless integration of technology within learning is often intertwined with their personal perceptions of the value of digital learning. Buehl and Beck (2015) noted how teachers carry a sense of responsibility for students and student learning, where teachers make decisions about their practice based on what they think students need most in each moment.
Value beliefs (or beliefs about the value of something) encompass the perceived importance of goals and choices (Anderson & Maninger, 2007). In other words, teachers’ value beliefs with regards to technology are based on whether they think technology can help them achieve the instructional goals they perceive to be most important. Therefore, I propose to design an immersive professional development (PD) program that explicitly targets teachers’ value beliefs. Specifically, I plan to explore how an immersive PD program can address the barriers teachers face when incorporating technology in their classroom. I aim to create authentic, immersive opportunities for teachers to experience the potential of education technology in a safe environment. My goal is for teachers to engage in decision-making and exploration in a way that can help them understand the potential for technology in the classroom while learning more about the realties surrounding technology use.
The experiences that I intend to design for teachers are based on experiential learning theory and situated learning. Experiential learning theory’s mechanism consists of active experimentation in the world yielding “concrete experience” (Kolb, 1984), followed by reflection to make meaning of the concrete experience. Teachers will be able to act creatively in new situations in the real world. Situated learning theory considers the context of learning and when applied to virtual worlds, it is implied that the virtual world would provide a realistic enough context to teachers to think and act as they would in real-world situations. Both theories encourage authentic learning experiences that have the potential to improve teachers’ confidence, ability, and teaching practices with technology in the classroom.
I intend to create immersive authentic professional development experiences for teachers using one of two tools – either a Virtual Reality experience OR Teaching Moments (website). There is a dearth of evidence on teacher professional development programs aiming at the integration of VR technologies in education though visually stimulating spaces are beneficial for participants’ motivation and sustained engagement. On the other hand, Teaching Moments focuses on Media Interactive Case Studies that allow teachers to rehearse for and reflect on important decisions in teaching. It provides teachers with short classroom scenarios and gives them spaces to practice their responses to students in the moment. This platform would encourage teachers to engage in technological decisions in an authentic scenario while also experiencing the possible outcomes of those decisions.
Research Questions
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To what extent does an immersive authentic professional development experience impact teacher's technology classroom practice
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How does immersive authentic professional development experiences influence teachers value beliefs about technology in classrooms
References
Anderson, S. E., & Maninger, R. M. (2007). Preservice teachers' abilities, beliefs, and intentions regarding technology integration. Journal of educational computing research, 37(2), 151-172.
Buehl, M. M., & Beck, J. S. (2015). The relationship between teachers’ beliefs and teachers’ practices. International handbook of research on teachers’ beliefs, 1.
Ertmer, P. A. (1999). Addressing first-and second-order barriers to change: Strategies for technology integration. Educational technology research and development, 47(4), 47-61.
Ertmer, P. A., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. (2013). Removing obstacles to the pedagogical changes required by Jonassen's vision of authentic technology-enabled learning. Computers & Education, 64, 175-182.
Ertmer, P. A., Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T., Sadik, O., Sendurur, E., & Sendurur, P. (2012). Teacher beliefs and technology integration practices: A critical relationship. Computers & education, 59(2), 423-435.
https://nces.ed.gov › pubs2021
Kopcha, T. J., Neumann, K. L., Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A., & Pitman, E. (2020). Process over product: The next evolution of our quest for technology integration. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(2), 729-749.
Moersch, C. (2002). Measurers of success-six instruments to assess teachers' use of technology. Learning and Leading with Technology, 30(3), 10-13.
Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T., Glazewski, K. D., Newby, T. J., & Ertmer, P. A. (2010). Teacher value beliefs associated with using technology: Addressing professional and student needs. Computers & education, 55(3), 1321-1335.
Project Tomorrow 2017- Trends in Digital Learning: Building teachers’ capacity and competency to create new learning experiences for students