Creativity, Digitality, and Teacher Professional Development

This article describes the development of a trans-disciplinary framework for creative teaching using technology. In recent years, the authors of this paper (and collaborators) have sought to better understand the role of creativity in educational technology. Our approach seeks to inform theory, research, and practice. In this piece we step back to provide a big-picture view of the process of developing a theoretical framework for creative, transformational teaching with digital technology. We describe the development of our ideas over time, through research projects focused on highly creative teachers and their practices. We describe how we have applied these ideas in teacher education courses devoted to creativity and technology, and developed rubrics for evaluating creative products. At a meta-level we aim to provide a rich example of the reciprocal nature of theory, research, and practice in educational technology. Through this we hope to provide one example of how such a theory/research/practice development process works, with the goal of informing future work of this type.

Contextual Influences on Science Teachers' TPACK Levels

The contextual factors influencing teachers' use of technology as well as teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) levels were investigated through multiple embedded case studies of five science teachers who were regular users of technology in their teaching. The case studies reported in this chapter revealed that teachers used technology to support inquiry learning through a wide range of ways in lower levels of high school but mostly to clarify concepts and theories for senior level students. This chapter identified that teachers demonstrated different TPACK levels of expertise and engagement in the use of technology when transferring different types of knowledge from one teaching and learning context to another and for addressing differences amongst learners. The context of assessment driven teaching influences science teachers' TPACK for integrating technology in instruction. The chapter noted that having teachers actively evaluate the effectiveness of the technology on students' learning may help increase teachers' TPACK levels.

University Reading and Mathematics Clinics in the Digital Age

This chapter discusses the findings of an exploration to integrate iPads in a university reading and mathematics clinic impacting three groups of learners: preservice teachers enrolled in reading and mathematics practicums, the K-8 community students served by the clinic, and the teacher educators. The TPACK model was used as a conceptual framework for teacher educators to engage and support preservice teachers in a technology rich learning environment designed to enhance their literacy and mathematics content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and technology knowledge, and the complex intersections between each. The teacher educators expected their mostly digital native preservice teachers to recognize technology affordances and technology integration opportunities when provided content knowledge and pedagogical support. Although the K-8 tutees were engaged at high-levels, faculty's assumption of the digital native preservice teacher was disrupted. Teacher educators discovered that digital natives still need support in developing technological knowledge in an educational setting.

A Framework for Supporting In-Service Teachers to Use Domain-Specific Technologies for Instruction

Domain-specific technologies, which are used for analysis, representation, and production in real-world contexts, differ from basic technologies, such as word processing software and Internet search tools. They cannot be used effectively without adequate command of fundamental domain-specific content knowledge. They can be used to deepen students' understanding of content, but these technologies bring distinct classroom-integration challenges. This chapter presents a framework for supporting in-service teachers to integrate these technologies. The research team derived this framework from data collected during an extended TPACK-style (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) workshop that engaged 13 life science community college instructors in integrating bioinformatics technologies into courses. This chapter presents a case study about the challenges community college teachers faced in implementing these tools—and the strategies they used to address them. Challenges included activity translation, problem definition, implementation, and assessment.

Evolution of a Course for Special Education Teachers on Integrating Technology into Math and Science

This chapter describes a two-year development of a graduate pedagogy course for pre-service special education teachers to integrate technology into teaching mathematics and science. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework was used for the course design. The chapter discusses the modifications made to the course from semester to semester based on the analysis of lesson plan TPACK scores and information drawn from pre-service teachers' written feedback. The challenge was to determine an optimal balance between theory and practice and between guided and independent learning that leads to higher TPACK gains. Data analysis showed that in a semester when the instructor provided extensive instructional support coupled with a large amount of work required of the pre-service teachers, they achieved the highest TPACK level; however, this design resulted in unreasonable workload. Reducing the amount of work to a reasonable level produced lower TPACK; nevertheless, the gain in TPACK was still significant.

Taking Making Into the Schools

This chapter introduces professional learning (PL) challenges in a Digital Age and makes a case for an immersive, sustained, experiential approach including diverse groups of professionals. It explores how this approach informed novice and experienced educators to incorporate design thinking and making into their current practice. After providing background on the Maker Movement, an immersive PL model is explored. This model comprises an integrated series of PL experiences designed to encourage participants to actively engage in four distinct yet related elements. Drawing on a qualitative, iterative process, initial research findings and experiences suggest that such a model may support good PL and professional development for educators designing and developing 21st century learning environments. These findings suggest this model may allow for collaborative re-thinking of established course and curricular designs, while addressing significant social issues, encouraging participants to become thoughtful contributors in an increasingly complex, globalized economy.

“Pretty Good Practices” for the Design of Teacher Portfolio Courses

In this chapter, the authors argue that although portfolios are a popular means of teacher evaluation, they, like any other assessment, must be properly implemented if they are to realize their full potential. Accordingly, they offer seven “pretty good practices” (Mishra, 2008) for designing portfolio courses: peer feedback, authentic audience, diverse resources, learning by doing, open access, confidential spaces, and self-pacing. These practices were developed from the authors' extensive work helping teachers to develop portfolios that demonstrate their learning in their graduate studies, and they help students create portfolios that have value as both summative assessments and places for formative growth. In the spirit of “pretty good practices,” however, the authors invite others to modify these practices for other contexts or to carry out research that would help refine and improve them.

Technology Tools, Proficiency, and Integration of Physical Education Teacher Educators

Accredited Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) programs within the U.S. are bound by the implementation of national standards, which include a standard on the use of technology to meet lesson objectives. It is the responsibility of PETE faculty and program management to include technology within the program and insure that physical education pre-service teachers are well prepared to integrate technology into their teaching. This chapter investigates the perceptions of PETE faculty towards their technology proficiency, their use of technology in their courses, and the approaches PETE programs use to integrate technology and address the preparedness of pre-service teachers. Results show that PETE faculty use technologies such as computer technologies, pedometers, heart rate monitors and digital cameras most often, yet in general, perceive their proficiency and integration levels to be low. Their technology proficiency levels significantly predicted their level of integration. The chapter also includes recommendations for technology integration in PETE.

The Transference between Elementary Preservice Teachers' Courses and Technology Use in Teaching

This mixed-method study explored a cohort of 18 preservice elementary teachers' perceptions of technology and their abilities to integrate technology in their teaching. Data sources included blog postings, a confidence survey, lessons plans and observations. Results showed a disconnect between the blog postings and confidence survey (their perceptions) and their lessons plans and observations (their abilities). Five case studies were examined, using the TPACK framework, to determine where the disconnect was occurring. Although Technical Knowledge seemed to be an issue for some, the majority of the preservice teachers struggled with Pedagogical Knowledge. Suggestions for how to address this issue are included. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

Developing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Elementary Education Programs

The digital age requires teacher education programs to constantly evaluate and revise their programs and courses, particularly with reference to guiding teacher candidates towards integrating current and emerging technologies. This designed-based research study demonstrates how state-wide mandates to revise teacher education programs were used in promoting subsequent revisions influencing the course components and teacher candidates' development of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). Cases of four undergraduate elementary education courses and the advanced licensure elementary education program are described. The cross case analysis reveals the subsequent influence on the program for improving the TPACK preparation of the teacher candidates. The chapter concludes with implications for teacher educators and leaders of teacher education programs.