Game-Based Learning

Children and young people today are introduced to the virtual world via video games, and the way that they interact with technology is changing ways of learning and the production of knowledge. The design of a learning environment based on the educational properties of games seems to be an ideal way of increasing learning. Digital games offer a very good example of the principles of successful learning environments; they are users-centered, and they promote challenge, co-operation, engagement and the development of problem-solving strategies. Games can help students learn to collaborate, solve problems, collect and analyse data, test hypotheses, and engage in debate. But there are differences between using digital games for play and using them in a formal context. For this reason, methodologies must be developed for their use in the classroom. In this chapter, the author proposes examples of methods that can be applied to the use of video games in formal education.

Teacher Candidates Learning through the Creation of Podcasts

As teacher educators it is imperative that we model the sound use of technology to enrich the teaching and learning process. Podcasting is enjoying phenomenal growth in mainstream society, alongside other new media that enable users to author and distribute content quickly and easily. The project reported on in this chapter focuses on teacher candidates creating their own podcasts for distribution on iTunes. The chapter explains the what of podcasting and how podcasting is being used in higher education, then details the podcast creation process and describes how engaging in the podcasting exercise promoted collaboration and knowledge building among the teacher candidate producers. Thus the focus is on teacher candidates learning through creating podcasts, in contrast to learning from podcasts.

Increasing Teacher Candidates' Reflection with Technology

This chapter highlights the strategies that facilitated reflective thinking in teacher education through the integration of technology. Graduate students enrolled in a literacy course provided the data for the study. Major findings indicated that the reflective ability and quality of reflection among the teacher candidates increased because a structure that supported reflection was put in place. In addition, the teacher candidates engaged in a variety of multifaceted activities with new technologies in authentic contexts. The implications were discussed.

The Professional Handbook

The Professional Handbook is a teacher education assignment that allows preservice teachers to use technology to connect theory and practice while also developing their reflective skills and professionalism. The assignment involves compiling information in an easy-to-use website that preservice teachers can access while engaged in their semester-long student teaching experience and once they are employed as inservice teachers. This chapter describes the Handbook’s essential goals, discusses its use in an instructional methods course, and makes recommendations for modifying the Handbook’s format for use in any teacher education course while preserving the framework provided by the assignment’s essential goals. The chapter serves as a resource for teacher educators looking to use technology to enhance the quality of teacher preparation assignments.

Faculty Reflections on Decision-Making and Pedagogical Use of Online Activities in Teacher Education

Teacher educators preparing their students for 21st century schools are increasingly using online technologies in on-campus courses. While some teacher educators have used such activities for almost a decade and have migrated from learning management systems to wikis and blogs, others still struggle to structure and facilitate online activities effectively. Ten teacher educators’ decisions to use online activities in 23 face-to-face courses based on several criteria (class size, instructional goals, course type, students’ prior knowledge, and the content of classroom instruction) are described in this chapter. Faculty members’ reflections on their decisions, practical examples from different courses that they taught, and strategies they refined over time illustrated their focus on pedagogy as they migrated to newer technologies. The structure, design, and implementation of online activities discussed in this chapter could be useful to beginning educators, teacher developers, and instructional designers engaged in the integration of new technologies in higher education.

Web 2.0 Tools in Social Studies Methods

This chapter presents the theory and literature behind the integration of technology, particularly the Internet, in social studies teacher education. The authors have spent significant time studying the impact of technology in the K-12 social studies environment; the results of this research are summarized in the chapter and serve as a backbone for how technology is integrated into our teaching methodology courses with the context of preparing future teachers to utilize technology as a tool to enhance content, student learning experiences, and academic achievement of their future students. Specifically, we focus on three Web 2.0 tools; blogs, wikis, and podcasts. Specific examples, vignettes, practical applications for methods instructors, and directions for the future are provided.

Women and Technology, Upon Reflection

Two collaborating urban university educators document their evolving understanding of the ways in which technology, gender and social studies intersect to challenge traditional assumptions in teacher education. The “male” culture of computing, notoriously unfriendly to girls in schools, is part of a well-documented digital gender gap. Though teacher preparation curricula often make little reference to gender, most American education students are female, and are taught by females in a profession often referred to (derogatively) as “feminized.” Through their efforts to infuse technology in a course on global women’s issues, and in the surrounding pre-service master’s degree program, the authors learned to see the role of digital technology in new ways. Joining the subject of female empowerment worldwide to issues of technology access, use, and culture in schools, they used research on the digital gender divide to expand technology’s role in their curriculum from mere method to essential course content.

The Golden Apple

The success of any educational technology lies in how students interact with it in an educational setting. In the iLRN model (Lennex & Nettleton, 2009), the teacher provides instruction but through activity theory the students transform the learning to suit their own designs. The quality of teacher directions determines the extent to which students depend on the teacher for further feedback and technical assistance. If a teacher is perceived as not understanding even a small part of the technology, Lennex (2008) discovered that P-12 students are unlikely to ask for clarification of assignments or for any further assistance. Exploration and peer coaching replaced the teacher. Technologically literate teachers who interacted with their students and encouraged the scaffolding of knowledge discovered that final student projects demonstrated higher levels of critical thinking and creativity when compared to teacher-controlled projects.

Using Free Source ePortfolios to Empower ESL Teachers in Collaborative Peer Reflection

This chapter reviews literature in the domain of collaborative peer reflection and the concept of voice for English teachers and puts forward three stages that need to be followed when selecting a suitable free source technology to create ePortfolio networks that are sensitive to the local environment. This is achieved by comparing twelve free source technologies against ten separate criteria to aid the reader in selecting a free source technology for ePortfolio use. The chapter then goes on to put forward five stages for facilitating collaborative peer reflection and the dissemination of ePortfolio use. This is presented together with sound advice that is applicable worldwide to ensure that success at each stage is achieved. The authors also draw attention to the future direction of research in this field.

A Blended Learning Course for Teachers' Ongoing Professional Development in Greece

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the design, implementation and evaluation of a professional development program for teachers initiated by the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs in cooperation with the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The course focused on multicultural education and bullying in schools as it was realized through blended learning whereas the methodology applied was a face-to-face meeting and 250-hour web-based learning. The evaluation process aimed to involved teachers’ perceptions toward different aspects of the blended training process. The quantitative and qualitative results indicate that the teachers were satisfied both with the opportunity to learn at home at their own pace as with the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills in relation to their work. The results brought to light arguments, controversies, and problems related to the course. Finally, some recommendations that would improve the effectiveness of courses employing blended learning methodologies are given.