Researching the design and implementation of systemic, sustainable, school-based teacher professional development in K-6 Science and Technology using e-learning approaches. Effective, sustainable teacher professional development is a critical issue for large operationally diverse, geographically dispersed education systems. Yet, research into designing professional development, particularly ICT-mediated (e-learning) approaches, is sparse. This project uses an innovative e-learning environment ( ....Researching the design and implementation of systemic, sustainable, school-based teacher professional development in K-6 Science and Technology using e-learning approaches. Effective, sustainable teacher professional development is a critical issue for large operationally diverse, geographically dispersed education systems. Yet, research into designing professional development, particularly ICT-mediated (e-learning) approaches, is sparse. This project uses an innovative e-learning environment (developed by the CI and previously used for initial teacher education and developing school student learning), as a research tool for eliciting and operationalising teachers' e-learning-based professional development designs, in K-6 Science and Technology. It will deliver a model of teacher self-renewal, of wide theoretical and practical value, developing new understandings and strategies of professional development, and insights into the potential of new technologies.Read moreRead less
Children, on-line learning and authentic teaching skills in primary education. The main aim of this project is to identify the authentic skills and strategies adopted by teachers of online learning programs in rural and urban locations. By studying teaching and learning behaviours in primary education we seek to match best practice in teaching with quality online learning outcomes. ICT experts acknowledge the urgency of this knowledge. Without clear indicators for teachers we run the risk of mis ....Children, on-line learning and authentic teaching skills in primary education. The main aim of this project is to identify the authentic skills and strategies adopted by teachers of online learning programs in rural and urban locations. By studying teaching and learning behaviours in primary education we seek to match best practice in teaching with quality online learning outcomes. ICT experts acknowledge the urgency of this knowledge. Without clear indicators for teachers we run the risk of mismatched traditional techniques and minimising teaching effectiveness. The expected outcomes will be benchmarked data linking numeracy and literacy standards with best practice in on-line teaching, and an accompanying interactive web based professional development package grounded in theory.Read moreRead less
Literacy in the digital world of the twenty-first century: learning from computer games. The creation of a literate and tech-savvy workforce and community is essential to Australia's future prosperity. By helping teachers better understand and teach ICT-enabled forms of text and literacy, drawing on insights from young people's actual engagement with digital culture in their leisure hours, the project will help strengthen young Australians' capacity to critically evaluate and use ICTs for effect ....Literacy in the digital world of the twenty-first century: learning from computer games. The creation of a literate and tech-savvy workforce and community is essential to Australia's future prosperity. By helping teachers better understand and teach ICT-enabled forms of text and literacy, drawing on insights from young people's actual engagement with digital culture in their leisure hours, the project will help strengthen young Australians' capacity to critically evaluate and use ICTs for effective learning and communication. This project will help produce the skills, knowledge and orientations necessary to create smart information use, through developing and strengthening young people's uses and understandings of ICT-based forms of text and literacy.Read moreRead less
Blended learning in schools, TAFE and universities: experience, principles, patterns and practice. Effective use of technology in education depends upon the teacher's understanding of good ways to support learning. New uses of technology to improve learning are emerging constantly: the challenge is to share good practice. This project focuses on investigating the quality of blended learning experiences and using the outcomes to identify and share good practice using a format called a 'design pa ....Blended learning in schools, TAFE and universities: experience, principles, patterns and practice. Effective use of technology in education depends upon the teacher's understanding of good ways to support learning. New uses of technology to improve learning are emerging constantly: the challenge is to share good practice. This project focuses on investigating the quality of blended learning experiences and using the outcomes to identify and share good practice using a format called a 'design pattern'. Design patterns combine research-based evidence and the knowledge of experienced practitioners in a format which is relatively easy to communicate, learn and apply. They are not yet used in teaching with technology. We will generate and test design patterns for learning through discussion in technology-based and other classroom settings.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354816
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Development of the Foundations for a Research Network for Schooling the Knowledge Society. This initiative will develop the foundations for a network of researchers and practitioners by identifying and establishing directions for research required for schooling the knowledge society. The initiative will engage research leaders across a number of fields, early career researchers and trainee researchers in a collaborative strategy that harnesses the power of information and communications technolo ....Development of the Foundations for a Research Network for Schooling the Knowledge Society. This initiative will develop the foundations for a network of researchers and practitioners by identifying and establishing directions for research required for schooling the knowledge society. The initiative will engage research leaders across a number of fields, early career researchers and trainee researchers in a collaborative strategy that harnesses the power of information and communications technologies (ICT) to make smart use of research knowledge and to make it available to innovation teams in schools as they respond to the emerging challenges. The initiative will use a leading-edge learning communities Internet platform that is itself the product of an international collaborative effort for which the Commonwealth Government has provided funding of $1.3 million over the last 3 years.
The outcome of the initiative will be the development of the foundation for a fully-fledged Research Network, identification of the key research questions and directions for the next decade, a web-based resource to support the Research Network, and an archive of relevant research for researchers, policy makers and educational practitioners to utilise in enhancing the impact of research on everyday practice and the economic productivity of the nation.Read moreRead less
School-University e-Learning research partnerships for scaling up innovation. Despite optimism about new technologies for learning, e-learning innovation has been slow to scale up. This project tests a novel research strategy for engaging schools sustainably with e-learning. Teams of students (school and university), teachers (including beginning teachers), community members, consultants and e-learning researchers are constituted, in schools, to identify, collaboratively, hard-to-learn (technolo ....School-University e-Learning research partnerships for scaling up innovation. Despite optimism about new technologies for learning, e-learning innovation has been slow to scale up. This project tests a novel research strategy for engaging schools sustainably with e-learning. Teams of students (school and university), teachers (including beginning teachers), community members, consultants and e-learning researchers are constituted, in schools, to identify, collaboratively, hard-to-learn (technology-and-science) concepts and effective teaching approaches, develop ways of exploiting new media to teach such concepts and scale up their solutions within and beyond their schools. Re-conceiving the problem so students and teachers gain equity as e-learning researchers yields a model for scholarly, future-oriented educational renewal.Read moreRead less