The Digital Divide in Classrooms: Teacher Technology Comfort and Evaluations

A disconnect exists between students’ comfort with using technology for learning and teachers’ comfort in using technology for teaching. Students report the desire for more engaging technology-based assignments. Teachers cite multiple reasons for their hesitancy to use technology in their teaching. The current study investigates whether this disconnect has implications for students’ evaluations of their teachers. Using data from 101 high school students, researchers found that students’ perceptions of their teachers’ comfort with technology impacts their evaluations only when student affect for technology is high. Implications for how this might impact teacher evaluations and directions for future research are discussed.     

Teaching in a Digital Age: How Educators Use Technology to Improve Student Learning

A successful digital conversion for classrooms, districts, and states is not determined by the technology, but by how technology enables teaching and learning. The purpose of our multisite case study was to document digital instructional strategies teachers use to enhance and transform student learning, and align that use with learning research. We conducted focus groups and interviews, and observed classrooms in seven exemplary schools across the United States. We surveyed teachers' familiarity, use, and comfort with technology as well. We document six common strategies used across the seven sites and identify five roles that technology plays in enhancing teaching and learning, and discuss how these strategies benefit teachers and learners. (Keywords: technology integration, digital instructional strategies)     

Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of social media data privacy policies

Matters of data privacy related to social media are increasingly relevant for educators as happenings such as the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal have attracted public attention. Many educators use social media for professional purposes, including with their students and should, therefore, be knowledgeable regarding data privacy issues that impact education. This research explores this issue from an interpretive paradigm based on a mixed-methods approach derived from survey data from an international sample of 148 pre-service teachers who were studying education courses at three universities. Data suggest that pre-service teachers see both educational and distracting potential in social media, but lack knowledge regarding relevant policies and regulations, which reflects trends in the broader population. Attitudes toward educational social media use were not correlated with awareness of data privacy policies. However, comfort with companies’ use of personal and student data and faith in governments’ capacity to regulate social media companies were correlated. We discuss our findings in relation to the use of social media and related data privacy considerations and the need for data literacy training in teacher education programs. We include recommendations in light of the findings.     

Learning to be a culturally responsive teacher through international study trips: transformation or tourism?

Recent rapid changes in the ethnic and cultural make-up of school communities have highlighted the need for teacher education to prepare teachers for culturally diverse contexts. International study trips provide direct experience and interaction with culturally diverse ‘others’ as a way to extend pre-service teachers’ understandings of difference and diversity. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study that investigated the experiences of 15 Australian pre-service teachers who attended a short-term study programme in either Korea or India. Drawing on notions of the ‘comfort zone’ and ‘pedagogies of discomfort’, we discuss how the pre-service teachers were challenged to move beyond their comfort zone into new and unfamiliar territory, and into states of dissonance and discomfort. Three interrelated themes emerged from the interview data: (1) dissonance resulting from physical discomfort; (2) dissonance resulting from culturally different communication styles and expectations about appropriate behaviour and interaction and (3) dissonance resulting from incidents/events that challenged the pre-service teachers’ views of themselves and their own cultures. We suggest that many of the participants experienced levels of discomfort and dissonance that hindered effective learning, and limited the transformative potential of the experience. We conclude by discussing some implications for international experience programmes in teacher education.     

Perspectives on preservice teachers’ attitudes toward technology

Abstract

Technology, specifically the use of computers, is becoming more prevalent in K—12 classrooms. Constructivist and social learning theory were used to understand the way preservice teachers view technology and the extent of its influence on their current and future lives. This study employed both quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques to investigate the attitudes of a group of undergraduate education majors toward their use of technology. Survey and follow‐up interview data were used to explore changes in attitudes of competence, comfort, and knowledge regarding the instructional use of technology. Data revealed that preservice teachers’ comfort with the technology and attitude of competence did improve over time but that perceptions of knowledge about computers remained the same. Suggestions for further study are provided.     

树立健康理念 教材改革势在必行——对我省四所师范学院普通体育课教材存在问题及对策研究

通过对我省四所师范学院所用普通体育课教材进行分析,结合我省实际情况,指出了所用教材存在的问题和解决对策,旨在建立适合我省师范学院的体育教材框架,使我省的师范教育真正为我省的基础教育、经济腾飞做出贡献。     

孔子学院与国际汉语教育的公共外交价值

公共外交作为新形势下的一种外交形式,正越来越受到我们国家的重视。所谓公共外交,"指的是‘政府外交’以外的各种对外交流方式,包括了官方与民间的各种双向交流。这些交流的目的是直接促进外国公众对本国的了解,提升本国在其心目中的形象,进而促成外国政府对本国政策的改善"。孔子学院的宗旨与使命决定了它与我国的公共外交有着天然的联系,甚至可以说是其重要组成部分。孔子学院和国际汉语教育是中国文化走出去国家战略的重要举措,也是开展公共外交的有力平台。作为推广与传播中国语言和文化的使者,作为开展公共外交的"民间外交官",我们应该在新视角下重新审视国际汉语教育人才的培养,要在夯实语言知识与语言教学技能的基础上,更加重视文化传播能力与开展公共外交能力的培养。把孔子学院建设和国际汉语教育的人才培养放在公共外交的国家战略平台上看,是教育单位和教师应具有的大局观。     

The impact of peer collaboration on teachers’ practical knowledge

Due to changes in Dutch mathematics education, teachers are expected to use new teaching methods such as enquiry-based teaching. In this study, we investigate how teachers design, implement and evaluate new methods for statistics teaching for 7^th-graders during a professional development trajectory based on peer collaboration. We monitored teachers’ development in a network of four mathematics teachers from the same school. By using a mixed-methods approach in which we combined data from interviews, concept maps and classroom observations, we describe changes in teachers’ practical knowledge. We found how the nature of these changes highly depends on teachers’ personal concerns that emerge during the trajectory. Some teachers considered their concerns as challenges stimulating their learning, while other teachers experienced their concerns as a reason to fall back to previous teaching methods. Based on our results, we give some recommendations for organising teacher networks.     

Tracking the Rise of Web Information Needs for Mobile Education and an Emerging Trend of Digital Divide

In recent years, smartphones and tablets have been rapidly adopted by consumers worldwide. Within the United States, a growing number of school districts have incorporated tablets into classroom instruction. As mobile technology becomes further integrated into households and classrooms, parents, teachers, and students might need information for using the mobile devices for education. Yet little research exists to show the need. Using search query data from Google Trends, it was found that Internet users' information needs for mobile education have significantly increased since 2008. Moreover, Internet users in the United States, where fourth- and eighth-grade students were high performing in reading and mathematics in national assessments, demonstrated stronger information needs for mobile education. We also found a positive correlation between the Web information needs for mobile education and the achievement gap, suggesting an emerging trend of digital divide in mobile technology.     

Empirical Validity for a Comprehensive Model on Educational Effectiveness

Educational effectiveness research is often criticised because of the absence of a theoretical background. In our study we started out from an educational effectiveness model which was developed on the basis of educational theories and empirical evidence. We have tested the main assumptions of the model by reanalysing a large-scale longitudinal dataset which contains elementary school data of subsequent student cohorts, their teachers and their schools. We found some expected positive effects on achievement of individual classroom and school factors in the effectiveness model but these were not stable across school subjects and student cohorts. When factors were grouped into clusters the findings remained essentially the same. To interpret the clusters we made use of the concept of consistency, which refers to a balance between factors which may enhance effectiveness. Some teachers and schools are more consistent than others, but this does not affect the achievement of their students. Cross-level interaction effects were not found. The instability of effects makes it hard to suggest changes in the model at this moment.     

Primary School Sex Education Programs: Views and experiences of teachers in four primary schools in Sydney,Australia

This small-scale study draws on qualitative data from four government primary schools in Sydney, Australia to investigate the sex education given to grade five and six primary school children by their teachers. This article explores the sexuality issues teachers find difficult to discuss, and reports the concerns teachers have when teaching sexuality education. The practices teachers adopt to encourage parent-teacher partnerships in sex education are also reported. School programs varied in the coverage that was given to contraception and sexually transmitted infections while no school program formally addressed sexual identity and orientation, issues that were brought up by the children through their questions. Teacher concerns included what parents might think about the program and how to manage the different levels of maturity, knowledge and comfort among the children in their class. The article concludes that teachers need to continue fostering their partnership with parents and that many teachers require more opportunities for training so that they can address with comfort the sexuality issues of concern to children and their parents.     

Comparing Graphical and Verbal Representations of Measurement Error In Test Score Reports

Research has shown that many educators do not understand the terminology or displays used in test score reports and that measurement error is a particularly challenging concept. We investigated graphical and verbal methods of representing measurement error associated with individual student scores. We created four alternative score reports, each constituting an experimental condition, and randomly assigned them to research participants. We then compared comprehension and preferences across the four conditions. In our main study, we collected data from 148 teachers. For comparison, we studied 98 introductory psychology students. Although we did not detect statistically significant differences across conditions, we found that participants who reported greater comfort with statistics tended to have higher comprehension scores and tended to prefer more informative displays that included variable-width confidence bands for scores. Our data also yielded a wealth of information regarding existing misconceptions about measurement error and about score-reporting conventions.     

关于加强和改进高校青年教师培养的认识与思考

加强高校青年教师队伍建设,是当前高校思想政治工作和师资队伍建设的重要课题。新时期高校青年教师队伍建设出现了一些新情况,需要通过强化师德师风,夯实基本技能;重视师徒帮教,传承导师制度;鼓励教学创新,提高学术水平;提升学历层次,注重国际交流;健全评价体系,完善激励机制等来加强和改进高校青年教师培养工作。     

新时期高校档案管理人员素质刍议

随着科学技术的迅速发展，高校档案管理工作变得越来越复杂，要求也越来越高。为适应这种发展，高校档案管理人员必须在个人素质方面不断地进行加强，使档案管理人员在思想政治素质、职业道德素质、专业知识、计算机、外语等方面都有所提高。     

Exploring pre-service teachers’ justifications for one-to-one technology use in schools: implications for initial teacher education

ABSTRACT

Set against the backdrop of a succession of educational technology policies in Ireland, influenced by international discourses, this study aimed to explore how Irish pre-service teachers justify the use of mobile technologies in schools. In order to achieve this, 23 pre-service teachers were presented with a vignette that asked them to justify the use of a one-to-one tablet initiative in school. The research found that pre-service teachers tended to justify the initiative, as they saw the increasing technification of schools and society as an inevitable process. In addition, they presented pragmatic reasons for using the technology rather than highlighting their educational/pedagogic value. This study points to the need to challenge pre-service teachers’ innovation-centric and techno-centric attitudes towards technology use. It also highlights the need for teacher educators, as a whole, to take a more active role in addressing this issue in teacher education programmes.     

Flip This Classroom: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to compare the beliefs and attitudes of teachers using the flipped versus the traditional class model. Survey and interview data were collected from a matched sample of in-service teachers representing both models from a large suburban southeastern Texas school district. The Attitude Towards Technology Scale, the Frequency of Involvement in Technology Scale, the Technology Comfort Scale, and the Technology and Teaching Efficacy Scale were administered to compare the beliefs and attitudes of teachers. Additionally, one-on-one interviews further explored the teacher beliefs and attitudes associated with the impact of technology on student engagement. Findings suggest that flipped classroom teachers have higher technology and teaching efficacy, greater comfort levels using technology, higher frequency of involvement in technology, more positive attitudes toward technology, and greater levels of student engagement.     

TPACK in teacher education: are we preparing teachers to use technology for early literacy?

This study examines if and how five teacher education institutes are helping students to develop the technological pedagogical content knowledge needed to effectively use technology for early literacy. Focus group discussions were held with teacher educators in which their responses to expert recommendations were probed. Findings indicate that, currently, very little attention is specifically given to the knowledge that teachers need to foster early literacy through the use of technology. This is due to multiple factors, including the conviction that many new technologies (e.g. tablets) are not used much in schools. Additionally, teacher educators themselves struggle with effective use of technology in their own courses. And although technological and early literacy specialists are available in teacher training colleges, pre-service educators note a distinct lack of integrated expertise in their institutions. Based on these findings, recommendations are given for research, policy and practice.     

十堰地区高校资源整合势在必行

十堰地区进行高校资源整合组建多科性本科学院 ,是地方经济发展的需要 ,是优化高校布局结构的需要 ,是高等教育自身发展规律的需要。我院应抓好教学质量的提高 ,抓好师资队伍建设 ,在高校资源整合中发挥积极作用     

运用现代教育技术,深化教育教学改革

现代教育技术是当代教育改革的突破口.发展现代教育技术,应坚持技术服务于教学的思想,把提升教学系统功能、丰富教学活动模式和促进学生全面发展作为发展现代教学技术的基本宗旨.为深化教育教学改革,教师不但需要坚实的教学功底和精湛的教育艺术,而且更需要有现代教育观念和运用现代教育技术的能力.