Creating a community of practice: teachers learning online
Full Report | TES Article | Interim Report | Background | Project Team
Text of a PowerPoint Presentation made at Bera/BC January 03.
Christina Preston
MirandaNet Managing Director
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Chile
- China
- Ireland
- Mauritius
- Russia
ICT as a catalyst for change in teaching and learning
Democratic Participation
International Citizenship
Designing national ICT CPD programmes
Building web based communities of practice
Partnership between industry, government, education
Teaching and learning styles
MirandaNet lead-learners in new professional development communities
Australia - MirandaNet
Czech Miranda
MiraNet - Bulgaria
InishNet - Ireland
MirandaNorth England
Mulan, China
What is this talk about?
ICT Experience in England since 1997
- The National Grid for Learning (NGFL)
- The agencies involved
- The New Opportunities Lottery fund programme
- The complexity of introducing ICT to schools
Questions schools need to ask about ICT training for teachers
Can building communities of practice help?
The English experience since 1997
The National Grid for Learning
Raising standards and transforming learning
- Wiring the community - schools, libraries
- Educating the whole community
- Empowering democratic participation
- Minimising the digital divide
- Creating digital content -for education, communities, health
- Promoting education industry partnership
- Time for teachers - sabbaticals, support cover, travel
The complexity of introducing ICT to schools
Some UK Initiatives
Evidence based planning
Impact II study
Pathfinders
Laptops for Teachers
Managed Services
TeacherNet
Virtual Teachers’ Centre
Whole class teaching using interactive white boards
ICT CPD Models for Training
The agencies involved in NGFL
GOVERNMENT
DFES: Department for education and skills
BECTA: British education communications Technology Agency
LEAs: Local Education Authorities
TTA: Teacher Training Agency
INDEPENDENT
Consortia of trainers
Higher education
Professional associations
Companies: software, hardware ,publishing
PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATIONS
Curriculum subject associations
LEA subject associations
Initial Teacher Training Associations
Charities
Lessons from NOF ICT training
The complexity of introducing ICT to schools - NOF report
1. Government Policy
2. School Management
3. Teachers’ attitude, culture, ownership
4. Understanding of pedagogy and subject use
5. Technical support for teachers
6. Technology:connectivity, reliability, access
7. Curriculum content
8. Innovative assessment methods
The most important questions for schools
How does the use of ICT fit into our established learning culture?
Is this just sightseeing?
Is this a traditional classroom?
Confucius
- I hear and I forget
- I see and I remember
- I do and I understand
How do you use computers?
How do we expect ICT to impact on the school?
- as a catalyst to help students to be more independent learners;
- as a means of encouraging staff to think differently about teaching and learning;
- as a means of raising standards in traditional curriculum subjects;
- as a resource to promote new field of learning like citizenship, creativity and thinking skills;
- as a means of increasing contact with the home and national and international
communities?
Funding the programme
How much do we know about government and local authority funding
for teachers’ professional development?
Do we have a funded broadband infrastructure provided by the government and/or
the local region?
What funding channels could be used to increase staff links beyond the classroom?
What about the hardware costs?
Do we have enough hardware, e-content and staff access to make ICT CPD a viable
option?
Do we have enough money to pay for maintenance, repair and consumables if
we use the system more?
Can we invest in experimental projects with devices like wireless tablets
or interactive whiteboards?
Are we spending too much on hardware and software and not enough on training?
(Should be 50% of project)
Do we have community support?
Could our local community and experienced teachers and students provide
workshops and mentoring for staff?
Leadership
Which senior manager will
- lead the project purposefully
- involve the staff
- agree the pace of the project
- best manage its implementation?
Is the whole staff involved in the mission?
How will other members of staff be engaged in this debate?
Does our school development plan reflect our views?
What paths do we offer for teachers who do not wish to engage in the programme?
Can we use this CPD for research based practice into testing learning?
How will the implementation of an ICT CPD programme impact on performance in SATs and traditional exams?
Could this CPD programme lead to the identification of innovative and inclusive learning models?
Could this CPD programme lead to different kinds of evaluation of learning?
Teachers time and learning needs
Is there appropriate time and training for lead teachers and project managers?
Can adequate time be prioritised for full staff training?
How will we audit staff needs and deal with basic skills training?
How do we allow for different teacher’s learning styles?
How do we handle different learning styles?
Do teachers of different subjects require different approaches to CPD programmes?
How will this be pursued?
How many different kinds of accreditation will we offer to suit staff diversity?
Practice based evidence
How can we help staff to develop an action plan which identifies ICT directions that interest them and direct them to further consolidation of their practice or the development of new skills areas?
Follow up
How will we ensure that achievement of the project outcomes is discussed with individuals as a part of the cycle of professional review and development?
Evaluation
What will the feedback and reporting cycle be and who will be involved?
How will we know when we are achieving our ICT programme objectives in terms of the quality of implementation, the quality of achievement of the outcomes and the impact of the training on professional practice?
Celebration of achievements
Can we celebrate teachers and students learning achievements on our website?
How will we monitor the impact of continuing professional development across
the staff?
Modifying traditional practice
How will we integrate new way of working and innovative assessment methods
into traditional practice?
Will students be involved in the evaluation and self evaluation process?
Motivation and Rewards
How can we encourage staff who elect and run experimental and innovative ICT
projects ?
help them to build in milestones
develop a portfolio of achievement?
Which rewards matter to staff?
Long term courses
Access to online laptop computers
Support cover
Accreditation
International travel in curriculum exchange
Technical Support
Web publication of successful projects
Better exam results
Belonging to a supportive community of practice
Discussion:
What is your ICT vision for schools, teacher, pupil, community use in 3 years?
Are you avoiding the problems we have encountered?
What needs to happen now?
What decision making processes will help?
How can you empower your teachers?
Any questions about the UK experience?
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