Towards a Framework for Designing Content of Professional Development

with knowledge and skills that enable them to build and sustain performance-oriented cultures. School programs and policies should support teachers' professional growth;

empower them to make instructional decisions to improve student achievement; and allow time for them to meet, plan, and reflect on practice (Bobbett, 2002).

In recent years, a culture of CPD has been thriving among principals and teachers in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, a number of studies have found a disjoint between calls for reform and actual educational practice. This is due, in part, to the lack of effective models to support professional development of teachers and principals.

Professional development models cannot simply be imposed, rather, we must create environments that provide teachers and principals with ongoing support for change that are situated in and address their practical needs. Teachers and principals need to have the opportunities to participate in discussion, reflection, and action that promote curriculum innovation as well as idea exchange for generating new ways of pedagogical practices using ICT.

To sustain and transfer the SITES M2 experiences to assist Hong Kong schools to carry out innovations, professional development program with the focus of school curriculum innovations should be provided to professionals working at various levels in schools, including principals, curriculum developers, IT-coordinators and subject teachers. Thus, it is important to develop a multi-level professional development model and to implement a scalable and sustainable on-line professional development program which enables school professionals to undertake curriculum innovations in their workplaces.

Borko, 2000)

z Using ICT in learning and teaching as pedagogical innovations (Fishman et al., 2004)

z Using ICT to promote school change (Preston, 2004)

z Teacher knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and experience are important (Loucks-Horsley et al., 1998)

z The context of teacher professional development, including teachers’ and students’ learning, curriculum, organization culture, and existing practices of professional development (Loucks-Horsley et al., 1998; Fishman et al., 2001) The framework for designing the content of teacher professional development in educational technology includes the following four dimensions:

z Technical content teachers must know that actually comprises ICT-supported classroom instruction

z Content teachers need to understand in order to prepare for the integration of ICT into learning and teaching

z Content teachers need to understand in order to build school ICT capacity and promote systemic change in learning and teaching

z Content of the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of ICT in schools teachers need to be aware

Technical content teachers must know that actually comprises ICT-supported classroom instruction

Fadel & Lemke (2006) identified a range of current technologies used in schools (ICT-supported classroom instruction), namely, television or video, calculators or graphing calculators, engagement devices, portable ICT devices, virtual learning, in-school computer use, and 1:1 computing. In SITES M2, a range of pedagogical practices using ICT were also found (Kozma, 2003). The planning of ICT PD for teachers should provide opportunities for teachers to build their curriculum content as well as pedagogical knowledge and technical skills. This would help teachers to examine their practices critically and develop in-depth understanding of their technical as well as pedagogical knowledge (Table 3.3). This would help teachers in choosing learning resources and integrating curriculum with technology.

We label this dimension as “technical knowledge”, i.e. Teachers demonstrate appropriate technical competence in ICT operations and concepts. Teachers:

z understand the emerging ICT knowledge and skills,

z keep abreast of current development of ICT in education,

z use ICT to enhance professional practice and increase productivity, and

z evaluate and reflect on professional development regarding the pedagogical use of ICT.

Content teachers need to understand in order to prepare for the integration of ICT into learning and teaching

Teachers need to understand KLA-specific as well as level-specific pedagogical integration using ICT. One important aspect is to understand the new learning environments enabled by ICT. The following is an example of new learning environments in contrast to traditional learning environments.

Table 3.1: Traditional and New Learning Environments (ISTE, 2000, p.5) Traditional Learning Environments New Learning Environments Teacher-centred instruction Student-centred instruction Single-sense stimulation Multi-sensory stimulation Single-path progression Multi-path progression

Single media Multimedia

Isolated work Collaborative work

Information delivery Information exchange

Passive learning Active/explanatory/inquiry-based learning Factual, knowledge-based learning Critical thinking and informed

decision-making

Reactive response Proactive/planned action Isolated, artificial context Authentic, real-world context

It shows a general shift from teacher-centred to student-centred learning approach.

The impact of ICT in education is not restricted to the introduction of technology in learning. Instead, it facilitates the emergence of new learning approaches. Thus, planning ICT PD for teachers needs to emphasize the conception of “design of new learning environments” in relation to pedagogical practices at different levels (primary and secondary) within different KLAs.

The effective use of ICT by teachers is closely related to their students’ ICT competencies, information literacy (EMB, 2005b), and generic skills as specified in the curriculum reform document (CDC, 2000). The design of PD for teachers should be linked to student learning. Thus, teachers need to understand the notions of information literacy and generic skills in relation to ICT and KLAs. The following table (Law & Plomp, 2003; p. 20) presents an overview of pedagogy change in the information age.

Table 3.2 Overview of Pedagogy in the Industrial versus the Information Society Aspect Less (“traditional

pedagogy”)

More(“emerging pedagogy” for the Information Society)

Active Activities prescribed by teacher

Whole class instruction Little variation in activities Pace determined by the program

Activities determined by learners Small groups

Many different activities Pace determined by learners Collaborative Individual

Homogeneous groups Everyone for him/herself

Working in terms Heterogeneous groups Supporting each other Creative Reproductive learning

Apply known solutions to problems

Productive learning

Find new solutions to problems Integrative No link between theory and

practice

Separate subjects Discipline-based Individual teachers

Integrating theory and practice Relations between subjects Thematic

Terms of teachers Evaluative Teacher-directed

Summative

Student-directed Diagnostic

A range of learning types using ICT emerges in educational technology research and studies (Fadel & Lemke, 2006; Kozma, 2003). However, the existing common assessment methods only serve for traditional learning environments. For this reason, planning ICT PD for teachers should take into account of the issues of assessment and evaluation, in particular new forms in assessing student learning using ICT.

We label this dimension as “pedagogical integration”, i.e. Teachers plan and design effective subject-specific as well as level-specific pedagogical integration using ICT.

Teachers:

z understand the learner-centred learning environments enabled by ICT in pedagogical practices and innovations,

z design appropriate learning experiences that facilitate pedagogical practices using ICT,

z apply ICT in learning and teaching to facilitate the development of student information literacy skills (EMB, 2005) and generic skills (CDC, 2000), and

z apply ICT with multiple assessment methods in assessing student learning.

Content teachers need to understand in order to build school ICT capacity and promote systemic change in learning and teaching

Finally, the planning of PD for teachers should support teachers to serve in leadership roles, for example, as supporters of other teachers, as agents of change, and as

promoters of teaching with ICT.

Table 3.3 The Range of Roles Played by Teachers as Observed in Some Case Studies of Innovative Pedagogical Practices Using Technology (Law & Plomp, 2003; p. 24)

Level of deviation

from the traditional Roles played by the teacher

Traditional Present and explain information and concepts Set instructional tasks for students

Monitor student progress and assess students’ performance Some new elements Provide feedback to students

Develop teaching materials

Design curriculum and learning activities

Emergent Select ICT tools for use in the various learning activities Co-teaching with other teachers

Innovative Support and model the actual enquiry process for students Liaise with parties outside of the school who may have various levels of involvement in the learning/teaching process

Most innovative Support the team building and collaborative process of students

Mediate communications between students and experts We label this dimension as “managing and leading ICT”, i.e. Teachers demonstrate understanding of managing and leading ICT implementation in schools. Teachers:

z participate in making decision on hardware, software, and administrative systems,

z participate as a team member to build school ICT capacity and promote systemic change in learning and teaching, and

z engage in strategic planning in ICT implementation

Content of the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of ICT in schools teachers need to be aware

Finally, teachers need to be aware of the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of ICT in classroom, school, and outside school. We label this dimension as “socio-cultural awareness”, i.e. Teachers are aware of the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of ICT in schools and demonstrate those principles in practice. Teachers:

z educate students with social capability to function positively in the digital culture,

z model and teach legal and ethical practice related to ICT use,

z promote safe and healthy use of ICT resources, and

z facilitate equitable access to ICT resources for all students

Summary

“Teacher educators have long struggled to define what teachers should know”

(Putnam & Borko, 2000; p. 12). In this section, we attempt to propose a framework for designing the content which is appropriate to teacher ICT professional development. The proposed framework can be summarized in the following four dimensions: