Mouza, C. (2018). Editorial: Technology to support connected and powerful teaching and learning. Contemporary Issues in Technology & Teacher Education, 18(2). https://citejournal.org/volume-18/issue-2-18/editorial/editorial-technology-to-support-connected-and-powerful-teaching-and-learning

Editorial: Technology to Support Connected and Powerful Teaching and Learning

by Chrystalla Mouza, Editor, University of Delaware

Abstract

This issue of CITE Journal is unique in that it also moves beyond mere descriptions of tools and their affordances to discuss the role of emerging technologies (see also Mouza & Lavigne, 2012) in transforming education, learning and civic participation.

In March 2018, our community gathered for the Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education (SITE) conference – our annual gathering that focuses explicitly on issues of teacher education and technology across content areas. The conference featured four distinguished keynote speakers, including Jaime Casap (Google), Karen Cator (Digital Promise), Richard Culatta (International Society for Technology in Education), and Hall Davidson (Discovery Education). All the keynote speakers provided powerful speeches that shared one commonality – rather than focusing on specific tools, they discussed the power of technology in relation to innovation and new models of learning and instruction, such as inquiry-driven project-based learning, problem-solving, personalization, equity, and the role of teachers in integrating emerging technologies that now permeate the industry.

This issue of CITE Journal is unique in that it also moves beyond mere descriptions of tools and their affordances to discuss the role of emerging technologies (see also Mouza & Lavigne, 2012) in transforming education, learning and civic participation.

Description of Current Issue

CITE-English/Language Arts Education features a special issue focusing on connected teaching, building on the work led by Mimi Ito on connected learning. Connected learning is an educational approach focused on the role of technology to create a new ecology of learning at the nexus of collaboration, communication, and creativity. In the section editor’s introduction, “From Connected Learning to Connected Teaching,” Nicole Mirra articulates the importance of this educational paradigm but advocates for the need to examine the ways in which teachers develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that help them design connected learning opportunities. Specifically, Mirra advances the notion of connected teaching to complement the notion of connected learning. All articles in the CITE-English/Language Arts Education special issue focus on the role of technology in relation to connected learning perspectives and are described in Mirra’s editorial.

CITE-Current Practice features two articles focusing on teacher learning in collaborative and system-wide approaches. The article by Patrick Camilleri, “Looking for Cracks in the Pavement: Maltese Teachers’ Temporal Adaptation Patterns Toward Tablet PC Use in Formal Educational Settings,” brings an international perspective. It investigates the ways in which Maltese teachers contextualized the use of tablet PCs in formal educational contexts after a nationwide effort to infuse this technology in a single grade level. This article uses the theoretical framework of technological frames to describe and analyze participating teachers changing perceptions toward the use of tablet computers in relation to time and other elements that facilitated sense-making. Further, this article articulates implications for teacher learning in system-wide initiatives.

The second CITE-Current Practice article by Sujin Kim, Kim Song, and Sarah Coppersmith, titled Creating an Interactive Virtual Community of Linguistically and Culturally Responsive Content Teacher-Learners to Serve English Learners,” focuses on the use of video to support teacher learning of linguistically and culturally responsive content teaching. This study examined how teacher-learners interacted with a video-based platform to enhance their linguistically and culturally responsive content teaching for English learners while engaging in critical reflection. Findings have implications for course designs that support linguistically and culturally responsive teaching in teacher education settings.

The use of video is also the focus of the CITE-General article, titled “Seeing is Believing: Peer Video Coaching as Professional Development Done with Me and for Me,” by Kate Cassada and Laura Kassner. This article examines the use of video-recorded classroom instruction and peer feedback as a means of personal and professional growth.

Further, video is utilized in the CITE-Mathematics Education article by Shelly Sheats Harkness and Bethany Noblitt, titled “Believing and Doubting a Student’s Intuitive Conjecture About Perimeter.” Rather than teachers, teacher-educators are the ones utilizing video in this article to allow them to rewatch classroom episodes multiple times in an effort to “believe” or find merit in student’s mathematics conjecture and then explore the mathematics suggested. The authors emphasize the role of video in helping them capture in-the-moment teaching, which can then be used to reflect on teaching, learning, and content. Readers interested in the use of video may also see the recent CITE special issue on the use of video-enhanced teacher learning (Volume 18:1).

CITE-Science Education features an article by Isha DeCoito and Tasha Richardson at the intersection of teachers and technology utilizing the theoretical framework of Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge (TPACK). This article, titled “Teachers and Technology: Present Practice and Future Directions,” examines middle school teachers’ beliefs about and use of technology using TPACK as a lens following their participation in a STEM outreach program. Findings are structured around both internal and external barriers that influenced how teachers situated their pedagogy in terms of technology integration. Much like the article by Camilleri (this issue), this article also points to the need for continuous teacher professional development on the use and application of technology in practice.

CITE-Social Studies Education features a timely editorial by Daniel Krutka, Tutaleni Asino, and Scott Haselwood focusing on teacher activism. The editorial, titled “Eight Lessons on Networked Teacher Activism from #OklaEd and the #OkladEdWalkout,” used the recent Oklahoma teachers’ walkout to illustrate the power of social networked teacher movements.

Finally, CITE-Social Studies Education features an article by Kevin Oliver and Heather Purichia on the use of open educational resources, titled “Analyzing Historical Primary Source Open Educational Resources: A Blended Pedagogical Approach.” In particular, the study proposes a five-step strategy that allowed graduate students to work with historical open educational resources. Findings indicated that the five-step strategy holds promise for building their understanding of historical records as well as using their understanding to inform new problems.

As always, we encourage readers to submit formal commentaries on these articles, particularly timely articles such as the ones by Krutka and colleagues and those in the CITE-English/Language Arts Education special issue.

References

Mouza, C., & Lavigne, N.C. (2012). Emerging technologies for the classroom: A learning sciences perspective. New York, NY: Springer.

 

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