Project overview
The aim of this project is to research the effectiveness of an optional online unit for 2nd/3rd year pre-service teachers. The focus of this unit is learning with information and communication technologies (ICTs). It is designed as a general elective for those interested in using ICTs in schools (K-12), post-secondary institutions such as TAFE colleges or universities, as well as training establishments.
Researchers
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Design-based research approach
Phase 1 – Analysis
This research project was undertaken to investigate how the unit could be made more interactive and engaging. A design-based research approach was used to test the effectiveness of each iteration and identify areas for improvement that were implemented in subsequent iterations.
- Analyse & design video [3:19 mins]
Phase 2 – Design and develop
The unit is task-based, so by completing the tasks, students complete the unit. The tasks for this unit centre around the topic “teaching and learning X with current and future ICTs where X might be any area of professional interest. For example: primary school reading, or secondary school history, or middle school science, or undergraduate nurse education, or early childhood creative arts.
Students are asked to imagine their school is preparing to integrate ICT more fully in the classroom and they have been asked to create an example website to present a unit of work to their colleagues describing how they would implement ICT in their classroom for their selected area of teaching.
Phase 3 – Implement and evaluate
- 1st iteration 2010: Tutor evaluation of authentic tasks
- 2nd iteration: 2011: Companion website
- 3rd iteration 2012: Companion website
- 4th iteration 2013: Example website to demonstrate what students would create when they completed the unit tasks & TT4Ed
Phase 4 – Report and disseminate
- Conference paper: Parker, J., Boase-Jelinek, D. and Herrington, J. (2011). Perceptions and reflections: Using Skype chat to build a community of learners. In: E-LEARN 2011 – World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare & Higher Education, 18-21 October 2011, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.