Professional development for iPad integration in general education: Staying ahead of the curve

This faculty development case study focuses on a team of 16 General Education faculty at an urban women’s college during the initial 6 months of the college’s comprehensive implementation of an iPad teaching and learning environment. This article traces the effectiveness of an iPad professional development program through analyses of critical feedback, and makes recommendations for learner-centered faculty development for iPads in Higher Education. We present our conceptual framework, guiding principles and iPad professional development program. The effects of the program were measured using thematic and content analysis of post-session interviews, participant observation, one-to-one interviews and an online discussion forum. The predominant themes were anxiety, having individual needs considered, time considerations, and fundamental questions about expectations in the mobile learning environment. The key recommendation are to attend to collaborative planning, intervention, facilitating authentic professional learning communities and timing of faculty development that is intended to result in integration of new learning tools and environments.     

How Tablets Are Utilized in the Classroom

New technologies are a large part of the educational landscape in the 21st century. Emergent technologies are implemented in the classroom at an exponential rate. The newest technology to be added to the daily classroom is the tablet computer. Understanding students' and teachers' perceptions about the role of tablet computers is important as this can provide information for future development and implementation of table technologies in the classroom. To gather users' perceptions, observations of eight classrooms and interviews with 23 students and three teachers were performed in a middle school that implemented 1:1 iPad program, toward the end of the first-year implementation. Themes elicited from the interviews included like/dislike of the iPad, iPad as an educational tool, iPad for play, iPad as a distraction and responsibility, and favorite apps and projects. Although most participants did like having the iPads and considered them useful for education, there were a number of concerns, particularly with learning to use the tablet technology and distractions created by having the device. The apps used in the classroom were limited, with the majority having been productivity apps. The need for teacher training for effective classroom applications of mobile devices is discussed. (Keywords: 1:1 iPad program, instructional use of tablets, student perceptions, tablet technology, teacher perceptions)     

The Impact of Mobile Technologies on Distance Education

This article considers the growing amount of research on using mobile technologies in education. As mobile devices become increasingly more prevalent, it is imperative to study their use and effect on the growing field of distance education. This brief review of existing literature indicates that traditional theories of learning, in both traditional and distance settings, are relevant and applicable to mobile learning, and that mobile devices can be brought thoughtfully into pedagogy at the distance level. Flexibility, portability, and accessibility contribute to an overall positive impression on students, while faculty concerns can be met with appropriate training and tailoring to the various teaching and learning styles present in distance education. Student and faculty expectations of a mobile-integrated distance education experience will continue to grow, while teaching and learning should thrive in this increasingly more connected environment.     

Teaching and Research: Identity Representations Among Teacher-Education Faculty Members,Decades After an Institutional Change

Recent emphasis on research productivity in teacher-education institutions has intensified the inherent tension in faculty members’ roles as both educators and researchers. We adopt the framework of social representations theory to explore identity perceptions among teacher-educators whose organization required them to take on the identity of “researcher.” The study relies on qualitative content analysis of data from eight focus groups (n?=?100) comprising faculty members at an Israeli teachers’ training college that transitioned into an academic research institution. We observe that, in the wake of the organizational change, participants abandoned the traditional hegemonic representation of the centrality of pedagogy and accepted new representations combining teaching and research. Yet few participants identified with the new representation on a personal level, and pedagogy continued to constitute the essence of their work.     

Examining the Role of Professional Development in a Large School District's iPad Initiative

This study examined 342 teachers' views of professional development (PD) provided by a large school district to support its iPad initiative. We were interested in investigating teachers' perceptions of this district-provided PD, any change in teachers' views, and how they used iPads in their instruction while/after receiving PD. The findings, using a mixed-methods design, showed although teachers held overall positive views regarding PD, their perceptions did not change over the 1-year implementation. Rather, certain teacher characteristics such as teachers' beliefs, technology self-efficacy, and school levels influenced their views. This study also provided an in-depth analysis of teachers' use of iPad to support their instruction. Findings revealed teachers used the iPad for a variety of purposes. From mid-year to end-year, there was a decrease in using iPads for class management and basic uses, but an increase in using the iPad to create instructional materials by the teachers and creating artifacts by their students. Such findings suggested a connection between the PD teachers received and their practices, indicating a shift to more interactive uses during the second half of the year. The findings highlighted the importance of providing situated PD and considering teacher characteristics when designing PD. (Keywords: professional development, mobile teaching and learning, iPad use, K–12 education, large suburban schools, technology integration)     

Factors Influencing Student Acceptance of Mobile Learning in Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to explore the acceptance of mobile learning by students in a higher education setting. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) was extended to include hedonic motivation, operationalized as enjoyment, as well as social influence in a field study involving the adoption of iPad mobile devices. Survey data were collected from 171 college students and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicated that enjoyment and performance expectations were important factors influencing the acceptance of mobile learning in this context. For those engaged in the mobile learning pilot project upon which this study was based, the use of the UTAUT and the results provided a theory-based empirical approach to support an assessment that the pilot project goals were achieved. Overall, students perceived iPads to be useful and enjoyable tools for accomplishing educational tasks and improving learning outcomes.     

Exploring the role of TPACK and teacher self-efficacy: an ethnographic case study of three iPad language arts classes

This ethnographic research study investigated three elementary teachers’ perceived self-efficacy beliefs and their attitudes toward mobile technology-enhanced instruction. Using technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) as a guiding theory, the authors sought to determine whether and how the three knowledge components that form the foundation of the TPACK framework– technological, pedagogical or content knowledge – have similar levels of influence on teachers’ language arts teaching practices. They also examined how each teacher incorporated iPad technologically enhanced pedagogical practices and made connections to their beliefs about the role of technology and education. Data collection consisted of classroom observation field notes, teacher interviews and teacher blogs. Findings reveal that the teachers’ attitudes toward the integration of iPad technology formed a basis for how they approached their pedagogy. Compared to their technological and content knowledge, teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and years of teaching experience strongly influenced their decisions regarding mobile technology integration. By the end of the study, all teachers identified stronger connections and awareness in relation to the components of TPACK. The implications of these findings will provide insight relevant to the development of professional development opportunities for teachers regarding TPACK that could ultimately lead to more successful technology integration by teachers.     

Case study: use of problem-based learning to develop students' technical and professional skills

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogy that has attracted attention for many biomedical engineering curricula. The aim of the current study was to address the research question, ‘Does PBL enable students to develop desirable professional engineering skills?’ The desirable skills identified were communication, teamwork, problem solving and self-directed learning. Forty-seven students enrolled in a biomedical materials course participated in the case study. Students worked in teams to complete a series of problems throughout the semester. The results showed that students made significant improvements in their problem-solving skills, written communication and self-directed learning. Students also demonstrated an ability to work in teams and communicate orally. In conclusion, this case study provides empirical evidence of the efficacy of PBL on student learning. We discuss findings from our study and provide observations of student performance and perceptions that could be useful for faculty and researchers interested in PBL for biomedical engineering education.     

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Theory–Practice Integration in a Faculty Certificate Program

There is growing recognition of the complexity of academic work and the need for university and college faculty members to develop scholarly approaches to teaching and learning. While structured programs of study have been initiated for faculty to address these issues in various higher education contexts, very little research has investigated the theory–practice relationship of the scholarship of teaching and learning within a faculty certificate program context. This article presents a program development and evaluation framework to enhance the theory–practice integration of the scholarship of teaching and learning in such a program. Data suggest that a broad range of institutional and programmatic strategies can enhance the scholarship of teaching and learning in a faculty certificate program. A scholarly approach to teaching and learning is viewed as both an individual and social contextual process.Dr Harry Hubball and Dr Helen Burt are faculty members at the University of British Columbia, BC, Canada. Harry Hubball's research focuses on curriculum and pedagogy in university settings. He coordinates the UBC Faculty Certificate Program on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Helen Burt is the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Her research interests include the development of novel polymer-based drug delivery systems.     

Religious Education in a Liberal,Pluralist, Democratic State

This study presents the cases of two teachers in a Jewish supplementary school whose experiences as learners in a year-long professional development (PD) program shaped their teaching practice. The PD program, based in a theory of havruta text learning, immersed the faculty in the very pedagogy they were being encouraged to use in their teaching and gave them tools to enact it to meet their classroom learning goals. In one case, the teacher learned to share “control” and give students a direct encounter with biblical texts; in another case, the teacher supported students to engage in interpretive play with the text. This study demonstrates the potential of the pedagogy of havruta learning to harness the religious educator's role as both learner and teacher and how the continuity between these roles can affect teaching practice in multiple ways.     

The Relationship Between Students’ Perceptions of “Good Practices for Undergraduate Education” and the Paradigmatic Development of Disciplines in Course-Taking Behavior

Our study uses data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education to interrogate the affinity disciplines hypothesis through students’ perceptions of faculty use of six of Chickering and Gamson’s (AAHE Bull 39(7):3–7, 1987) principles of good practice for undergraduate education. We created a proportional scale based on Biglan’s (J Appl Psychol 57(3):195–203, 1973) classification of paradigmatic development (with higher scores on the scale corresponding to students taking a higher proportion of courses in ‘hard’ fields compared to ‘soft’ fields), our study tests differences by the paradigmatic development of the disciplines or fields in which students take their courses within the first year of college. Our findings suggest that as paradigmatic development increases (toward a higher proportion of courses taken in hard disciplines), student perceptions of both faculty use of prompt feedback and faculty use of high expectations/academic challenge decrease, while student perceptions of cooperative learning increase. Further, no statistically significant differences were found between the paradigmatic development of fields in which students’ take their courses and students’ perceptions of faculty use of student-faculty contact, active and collaborative learning, or teaching clarity and organization. This study replicates the findings from Braxton et al. (Res High Educ 39(3):299–318, 1998) using student-level rather than faculty-level reports of faculty use of good teaching practices.     

Linking faculty development to community college student achievement: a mixed methods approach

Using a mixed methods, multilevel research design, this pilot inquiry explored the relationship between college faculty professional development and the academic achievement of diverse students by coupling two separate links: (a) the effects that professional development activities have on improving teaching strategies, and (b) the effects these teaching strategies have on student learning. Data were collected from administrators, faculty, and students to discover what teaching strategies are being used and, in their view, how these strategies affect learning outcomes. Data sources included a survey, documents, interviews, and observations. The case study institution is a New Mexico community college, and the research focuses on two academic programs with 145 students enrolled. Data analyses revealed three main themes: (a) faculty development and its link to teacher effectiveness and student learning outcomes are embedded in the mission, goals, and policies of the institution; (b) faculty development is considered vital, funding is always available, and faculty participate in on- and off-campus development activities to enhance their teaching effectiveness and student learning outcomes; and (c) the institution focused on collecting and analyzing student learning outcomes data, but no data-driven means for assessing the effectiveness of faculty development activities existed.     

Transforming clinical imaging and 3D data for virtual reality learning objects: HTML5 and mobile devices implementation

Web deployable anatomical simulations or “virtual reality learning objects” can easily be produced with QuickTime VR software, but their use for online and mobile learning is being limited by the declining support for web browser plug‐ins for personal computers and unavailability on popular mobile devices like Apple iPad and Android tablets. This article describes complementary methods for creating comparable, multiplatform VR learning objects in the new HTML5 standard format, circumventing platform‐specific limitations imposed by the QuickTime VR multimedia file format. Multiple types or “dimensions” of anatomical information can be embedded in such learning objects, supporting different kinds of online learning applications, including interactive atlases, examination questions, and complex, multi‐structure presentations. Such HTML5 VR learning objects are usable on new mobile devices that do not support QuickTime VR, as well as on personal computers. Furthermore, HTML5 VR learning objects can be embedded in “ebook” document files, supporting the development of new types of electronic textbooks on mobile devices that are increasingly popular and self‐adopted for mobile learning. Anat Sci Educ 6: 263–270. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

基于TAM模型的大学生移动学习行为意愿研究

随着无线通信技术的高速发展和各式各样移动通信设备的普及应用,移动学习成为近年来教育技术学领域研究的热点。整体上,感知有用性、感知易用性和感知趣味性对大学生移动学习行为意愿有直接显著的影响。因此,教育工作者在开展移动学习活动和开发移动学习资源的过程中应当充分考虑移动通信设备的易用性、有用性与趣味性等潜在的影响因素,以提高大学生对移动学习的接受度和使用意愿。     

Higher education inclusivity: when the disability enriches the university

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the perspectives of faculty members on disability in higher education. Their testimonies give value to the attitudes and qualities of university students with disabilities and show how they influence their professional and personal development. We carried out a qualitative study, through interviews with 119 faculty members of different fields from 10 Spanish universities, who were nominated by students with disabilities for developing inclusive pedagogy. We conducted a progressive analysis of the data using a system of categories and codes. The results describe the motivations that drove the participants to respond to the needs of students with disabilities, the personal and professional impact posed by the challenge of adjusting the teaching and learning processes, and the perceptions of the faculty members toward the contributions of these students to the university. In the conclusions section, we delve into the need of universities to embrace inclusivity. The data provided by this study reveal that disability can be a valuable asset in a university context that dissociates from the deficit lens and acknowledges that all students are important and able to learn when the attitudes and conditions are appropriate.     

Access,use and perceptions of teachers and students towards mobile phones as a tool for teaching and learning in Tanzania

This study explored the access, use and perceptions of teachers and students towards mobile phones as a tool for facilitating teaching and learning beyond the classroom walls. A total of 29 pre-service teachers and four college instructors from Dar es salaam University College of Education (DUCE) as well as 12 in-service teachers and 40 students from Kibasila secondary school in Tanzania, participated in the study. Data were collected by using pre-service teachers’ questionnaire, students’ questionnaire, and the instructors’, and in-service teachers’ interviews. Findings showed that all in-service teachers, college instructors and pre-service teachers had mobile phones. Also 60 % of school students owned mobile phones, or had access to mobile phones. Students, pre-service teachers and college instructors were in favour of the use of mobile phones for learning, but the majority of in-service teachers were against it. Since mobile phones are the most available technological tools in schools, this study, recommend a professional development programme for in-service teachers to help them develop a positive attitude towards mobile phones use in teaching and learning.     

Reshaping Teaching and Learning: The Transformation of Faculty Pedagogical Content Knowledge

A qualitative study of faculty members participating in a campus-wide problem-based learning initiative examined the process of transforming faculty pedagogical content knowledge. Researchers found that faculty existing knowledge and the institutional intervention influenced new knowledge of faculty roles, student roles, disciplinary structures, and pedagogy. Communicating new knowledge solidified the transformation.     

A new approach to personalization: integrating e-learning and m-learning

Most personalized learning systems are designed for either personal computers (e-learning) or mobile devices (m-learning). Our research has resulted in a cloud-based adaptive learning system that incorporates mobile devices into a classroom setting. This system is fully integrated into the formative assessment process and, most importantly, coexists with the present e-learning environment. Unlike many mobile learning systems, this system provides teachers with real-time feedback about individual and group learners. Its scalable and extendable architectural framework includes the server-side pedagogical recommendation of content adaptation based on the users?? knowledge-levels and preferences. Content is also automatically adapted to the end device that is being used. This context-aware delivery allows users to switch between e-learning and m-learning, and between devices, without any loss in personalized content. Our work builds on a web-based Adaptive Learning and Assessment System (ALAS) that is built on the Knowledge Space Theory model. At present, this system is used at school computer labs and our goal was to widen this user-base by enhancing this system to support personalized learning on mobile devices. This study describes our process of developing this technology, and contains an empirical analysis of students?? performance, perceptions, and achievements when using ALAS on both personal computers and mobile devices.     

新媒体终端iPad在儿童教育中的应用及发展趋势

随着信息化的发展,越来越多的儿童接触到移动数字化产品,新媒体终端iPad在儿童教育中的作用日渐凸显,发挥重要作用。本文结合iPad的基本特点和小学阶段儿童的基本特征,从儿童的生活学习和课堂学习两方面分析了iPad在儿童教育中的具体应用,同时也提出了iPad在教育应用中出现对儿童身体和心灵伤害等问题,最后提出iPad教育应用扩展到各类人群慢慢改革我们的学习。