scholarly journals The Impact of Teacher Training Using Mobile Augmented Reality Games on Their Professional Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 404
Author(s):  
Margarida M. Marques ◽  
Lucia Pombo

Ongoing technology progress sustains innovative teaching approaches. Mobile devices, augmented reality (AR), and games are a few of the new resources that teachers have at their disposal to promote student learning. However, their effective integration into practices requires training, so there is a need to analyze the impact of training initiatives on teacher professional development. A case study is being conducted on the development process of mobile AR games for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning by 14 Portuguese in-service teachers in a 50 h workshop. This contribution refers to the analysis of this training’s impact on teacher professional development through a questionnaire filled in at the beginning and end of the workshop. This study registered a higher impact on teachers’ understanding of AR educative use, the less-known approach, compared to mobile and game-based learning. Moreover, teachers became more experienced with these approaches as learners, and reported having explored them with their students during the workshop period. Teacher ability to identify benefits and barriers in these approaches increased with the workshop, particularly the learning that could be promoted with mobile AR games. The presented set of barriers to implementation is relevant to future teacher professional-development initiatives.

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Ilona-Elefteryja Lasica ◽  
Maria Meletiou-Mavrotheris ◽  
Konstantinos Katzis

The current article provides an overview of a Teacher Professional Development (TPD) program that has been designed, pilot tested, and implemented to investigate the impact of augmented reality (AR) on: (a) Teachers’ level of technology (AR) acceptance, adoption of inquiry-based instructional approaches, and confidence towards teaching twentieth-first century skills in STEM-related courses; and (b) students’ potential enhancement of specific twentieth-first century skills and motivation and interest during a STEM- (science, technology, engineering, mathematics)-related course supported with AR. This article focuses on the teachers’ points of view concerning the impact of their STEM-related interventions on their students’ motivation and learning, as well as the factors that influence the teachers’ technology acceptance. The TPD program has been implemented in Cyprus and Greece with twenty-five lower secondary school teachers (20 in Cyprus and 5 in Greece). The research methodology applied is Educational Design Research (EDR), including an initial phase of the TPD program and a second (improved) phase. The data collection tools consisted of questionnaires, interviews, and observation of classroom interventions. Initial findings and their implications for teaching and future research are discussed, indicating the potential benefits and challenges surrounding the integration of AR within the educational process.


Author(s):  
Tania Heap ◽  
Ruthanne Thompson ◽  
Adam Fein

AbstractFrom a design perspective, this paper offers a response to the impact, value, and application of a manuscript published by Philipsen et al. (Improving teacher professional development for online and blended learning: A systematic meta-aggregative review. Educational Technology and Research Development, 67, 1145–1174. 10.1007/s11423-019-09645-8, 2019). Philipsen et al. (2019) reviewed what constitutes an effective teacher professional development program (TPD) for online and blended learning (OBL), with our response focusing on its value and application in light of an emergency shift to digital to address a global pandemic. This paper also proceeds to examine limitations in previous research into the subject and future research opportunities to investigate important components that inform the design of a resilient and scalable TPD for OBL.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Goodale

The focus of this article is on the evaluation and outcomes of a professional learning opportunity that focused on 13 current K–12 public school science educators in the United States. This teacher training concentrated on sustainability education that utilized marine sciences as a unifying concept. Findings from this training helped to identify models within teacher professional development in marine science that lead to comprehensive adoption of presented curricula. Four established models/frameworks of professional development were identified and their subsequent classroom implementation was evaluated. Results include adoption rates of the various session materials, the impact and effect size of differing variables (such as deliverables or standards alignment) among the four models and their frameworks and changes in perceptions towards sustainability initiatives. These outcomes underscore several methods and strategies for successful science teacher professional development implementation in regard to marine sciences.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 38-49
Author(s):  
Pamela Moen ◽  
Kelley Walters

Data collected within this qualitative, multiple-case study included teachers' knowledge building preferences for written speech in a virtual community of practice (VCoP), blended learning, teacher professional development program. This data was analyzed using the theoretical tenets of Vygotsky's social constructivist learning theory. Through heterogeneous sampling, six sites were selected from 11 program participating schools, with 11 participating teachers purposively selected from these sites. Following semi-structured participant interviews, data were coded and analyzed, where the findings indicated that participants preferred the audiovisual learning content to the written activity format in the blended learning, VCoP teacher professional development program. Program developers may use the research findings to guide the development of VCoP content alternatives to singularly text based online professional development delivery models. Recommendations for future research include studies that address the impact of audiovisual VCoP content on knowledge building.


2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Sinclair ◽  
Ron Owston

Blended learning is a promis- ing model for supporting teacher professional development that combines the advantages of tradi- tional face-to-face interaction with the flexibility of online learning. In this study, we examine the impact of two one-year blended learning programs on teachers’ attitudes, knowledge, and classroom practices. These professional development programs were designed to enhance middle school teachers’ subject matter knowledge and pedagogical skills in mathematics and science/ technology. Our results indicate that the programs positively affected teacher attitudes and content knowledge in these curricular areas and motivated many teachers to transform their classroom practices. Increased teacher collaboration and involvement at the school level sug- gest that the experiences contrib- uted to the emergence of fledgling communities of practice. At the same time, the lack of cohesion in online groups and the drop off in participation suggest the need to rethink some aspects of the design of blended learning environments.


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