Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemA beliefs centred professional development program to support the use of educational technology( 2019)Out of the many professional development (PD) models described in the literature to support technology integration practices in higher education, only a small number report visible influences on enhanced uses of technology for teaching (Kane, Sandretton, and Heath, 2002; Lawless and Pellegrino, 2007). This is often attributed to the lack of resources, time, competencies or to teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and attitudes which may present a barrier to PD outcomes (Ertmer, 2005). This study set out to design and implement a PD program based on reflective practice, which aimed to enhance the use of educational technology in higher education. The influence of the PD program on teachers’ beliefs, Pedagogical Technological Content Knowledge (TPACK) and use of educational technology was investigated. The program of research began with a thorough literature review from which six critical elements were identified that informed the design of the beliefs centred PD program. TPACK was then used as the conceptual framework to understand and guide the investigation into the technology integration practices of university teachers. The overarching goal of this PD program is to create awareness about the beliefs that inform the pedagogical decisions of university teachers, so they could identify improvement areas, and subsequently motivate them to enhance their teaching practice and uses of technology. The PD program was implemented over three iterations following a Design-Based Research approach and mixed methods were employed to assess the outcomes of the PD program. Nine case studies were examined and the findings of each case study were integrated into a comprehensive narrative to determine the alignment between what teachers think, what they know and what they do in their individual teaching practice. The findings of the cross-case analysis, suggest a positive influence of the PD program in teaching practice towards more student-centred approaches, an increase in self-efficacy of participants regarding their own teaching abilities, and an improved quality of technology integration in curriculum designs. It was also revealed that beliefs and knowledge have distinct influences on teaching practice. Because teacher beliefs can act as tacit and often unconscious filters of information (Ertmer, 2005; Pajares, 1992), teacher beliefs may have a greater influence on teaching practice than knowledge alone. It is, therefore, argued that an oversight of teacher beliefs in the design of PD programs to support the use of educational technology, may have detrimental effects to successful PD outcomes to be sustained in the long term.
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ItemUneasy lies the head : the repositioning of heads of English in independent schools in Victoria in the age of new learning technologies( 2004)This study explores the discursive practice of six Heads of English in Independent Schools in Victoria during a period of major cultural change. This change has been associated with huge public investment in New Learning Technologies and shifting perceptions and expectations of cultural agency in communities of practice such as English Departments in Schools. In this social milieu tensions exist between the societal rhetoric of school management and marketing of the efficacy of NLTs as educational realities and discursive practices at a departmental level, embodying and embedding academic values and attainments. In their conversations with the author, the Heads of English reveal much about themselves and the nature and distribution of their duties and responsibilities within the local moral order of their schools and with their individual communities of practice. A model is developed of the dual praxis of the Heads of the Heads of English, mediated by autobiography and historically available cultural resources in a community of practice. As agents concerned to both maintain and transform their local culture of English teaching, and consequently the whole school culture, the Heads of English account for themselves as responding to their own `sense of place' in their own community of practice, but also the `structure of feeling' of the period by which their achievements and standing are known. This study of the persons of the English co-ordinators draws upon both Positioning Theory and critical realism to reveal the dynamic nature of both their identity and the social organization of English teaching in schools.
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ItemThe impact of information technology on the development of literacy skills in a secondary school( 2001)This study reports on a relationship between the increased use of Information Technology (IT), in both domestic and school environments and the development of literacy in reading comprehension and vocabulary skills in a sample of 52 students in a junior high school. The study was prompted by a perception based on my own personal observation as a classroom teacher in the computer studies area, that the increased availability of personal computers was coinciding with a decline of literacy skills demonstrated in submitted written work by my students. Other teachers also expressed their concern that students were displaying more interest in using IT and a coinciding reduction in reading and writing in class. The study reveals that a majority of students has access to personal computers at home and that they spend more time playing computer games than they do reading the kind of variety of printed text that would benefit the development of their basic comprehension, vocabulary and writing skills. Some correlations were found between high computer use and low scores on Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading (Vocabulary and Comprehension) as well as with low scores on other written exercises. These findings indicated that a high use of personal computers impacts on the development of literacy in reading (comprehension and vocabulary) and writing skills. The parents of the children studied were also surveyed and their comments indicated that the majority felt that their children spent more time on computers than they did on reading any type of printed text or practising their handwriting skills. Despite this, parents were convinced of need for the computer technology in their domestic environment for the educational development their children require. A majority of teachers who were interviewed also expressed their concern at how students were not developing literacy skills at this age. They felt that the acquisition and the development of basic literacy skills should occur at this stage of schooling. It was felt that it was crucial that students, growing up in the "Information Age", developed language literacy skills as well as computer literacy skills. Further study on a wider scale is necessary to specifically identify whether the decline in language literacy is directly tied to the advancements in Information Technologies and their increased use by students. In reality there may be a transformation of literacy that is occurring faster than society and schools can adapt to it. Literacy is a relative concept that must be set in the context of economic and social demands.
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ItemMentoring as a model for developing teacher confidence in the use of interactive whiteboards( 2008)This project aimed to capture, analyse and explore the complexity involved when teachers begin to integrate the use of Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) into their pedagogy and daily classroom practice. Utilising a case study approach, this paper follows the experiences of four teachers involved in an Information Communication Technology (ICT) mentoring program designed to develop confidence in the use of IWBs. The qualitative research design describes the individualised learning and pedagogical development that can be encouraged in a mentoring relationship. The case studies of the four teachers and the school principal illustrate the general challenges that teachers and schools are presented with when IWBs are installed in classrooms and promoted as successful in improving teaching and learning. The project found that from the first day of using an IWB, a teacher will over time adapt and alter their pedagogy to make the best use of the technology. It is this required shift in pedagogy which demands a carefully planned and individually tailored professional development approach such as mentoring. Forward planning and special consideration of the teacher support needed is essential in order to encourage teachers to adopt IWBs into their daily routine. This paper shares a successful approach to developing teaching confidence in the use of IWBs in the hope that other schools will benefit from these stories.
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ItemInformation technology : policies and practices( 1998)This paper suggests that policy is the appropriate planning structure through which schools are empowered to act when new conditions arise that impact upon education. Further, that policy on the part of the Government and Departments provides indicators for schools about prioritising those conditions. Policy in action is often triggered by events which pre-empt policy in planning, and that such is the case with Information Technology (I.T.) The paper recounts the research undertaken within a rural regional area where access through Information Technology might be seen to have added value to students and teachers. The purpose was to establish a benchmark of readiness for the impact on schools of Information Technology. The findings are grouped according to the nature of the schools, the current practices of those schools which did have policies in place, and the expectations and perceived requirements of schools which did not currently have a final policy in place. The paper examines current uses of programs delivered by satellite, and those opportunities offered by the Internet. It also examines the way in which decisions are made about obtaining basic information, seeking assistance and managing the balance between school income and school technology. It seeks information on the needs for professional development, and conditions which affect decision choices. The findings are related back to current literature, and some recommendations are highlighted which should be included in further research. A collection of considerations has been included, along with a list of relevant Internet /World Wide Web sites suitable for education. A copy of the questionnaire is also included.
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ItemLearning technologies and enhanced learning : an evaluation of the learning technologies policy and implementation strategies of the Victorian government 1994-2001( 2002)The Victorian government has embarked on a major initiative to introduce computers (New Learning Technologies) into state education system over the past eight years. This initiative has involved the commitment of expenditure from the education budget to the purchase of computers for use in schools and has been undertaken on the premise that the use of new learning technologies in schools will enhance student learning. It is the contention of this thesis that the manner in which the new learning technologies policy has been implemented is at cross purposes with the stated goal of enhancing learning. The thesis will develop this contention through an exploration of the stated goals of four Victorian government reports released in the past seven years. This exploration reveals that key elements in the Victorian government's policy on the use of new learning technologies was centred on a notion that these technologies would support enhanced learning through a constructivist teaching and learning approach. The initiatives that were implemented in response to these policies are reviewed and are found to focus predominantly on the installation of various network and computer technologies but are lacking in the attention they pay to the key teaching and learning issues associated with the stated policy of supporting the initiatives by encouraging a shift to constructivist teaching and learning practices. Constructivism, as a key condition to the realisation of the Victorian government's new learning technology policy, is a far broader concept than is indicated in the descriptions provided in the Victorian government documents referred to in this thesis. The breadth of Constructivism and the philosophical links it has with post-modernist thought are contrasted to the behaviourist practices that still predominate in teaching practice. These philosophical links make change from behaviourist to constructivist strategies more than just a methodological change, being cultural in nature. As such they are harder to make than is indicated in the Victorian government documents, which fail to acknowledge the cultural dimension of the change that they are suggesting. The implementation strategies that have been adopted from these policies also fail to address the requirement for a cultural shift to a more constructivist approach. The failure to address the need for a change in the culture of teaching has meant that school based cultural issues continue to stand in the way of the successful adoption of new learning technologies. The thesis concludes with a number of recommendations, key amongst them, the adoption of situated, authentic professional development of teachers in the use of new learning technologies in a constructivist manner.
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ItemEffects of teaching and learning atomic structure concepts through the use of constructivist influenced multimedia( 1997)The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of female students toward multimedia learning and the way in which they accessed information from an interactive CD-ROM. The CD was an award winning educational software aimed at improving students' understanding of the periodic table and atomic structure. Twenty year-10 (14-15 year old) female students from a girls school in Melbourne, Victoria, participated in the project. An ethnographic approach was adopted which included a pre and post questionnaire and some videotaped laboratory observations. Results indicated that female students were generally aware of the value of multimedia learning programs and showed strong interest toward multimedia learning though they did not register a special preference toward multimedia learning in comparison with traditional ways of teaching (teacher talking and using textbooks). After working with the CD-ROM, no significant change was noticed in students' interest toward multimedia learning, their confidence in ability to learn and use multimedia software packages, and personal preference of instruction mode. Direct observation of students' interaction with the CD-ROM revealed that there was a strong tendency by the students not to access unfamiliar topics/areas. They tended to choose aspects of the CD-ROM that offered little learning difficulty or presented quick responses to short term goals. They spent most (60%) of their available time on the quiz section and ignored the tutoring aspects of the CD-ROM. According to the result of an opinion poll, students stated that the quiz game aspect of the CD was the most interesting area. Overall, students were unable or unwilling to explore the contents of the CD-ROM in a judicious way when teacher instruction or guidance was absent.
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ItemLaptops and literature : a constructivist approach to teaching English through multimedia( 1999)Staff in the English faculty at Central College are part of a laptop program, but are reluctant to make use of the laptops for anything except word processing. In this thesis I propose that staff need models for using laptop computers in a Secondary English classroom. Using an Action Research (Kemmis and McTaggert 1982) approach, the author researched learning styles, multimedia and subject English to develop a model for use in a novel-based classroom. The first model was developed, created and used in class. Student reactions were collected and analysed, and a second model created in response to this data. Students' reactions were collected and the models, along with student responses were presented to staff. Conclusions and recommendations drawn from this project were two-fold: that multimedia resources for student laptops are best designed and created by classroom teachers; and that the development of these resources are time intensive, so schools should support staff in the development of these resources with time and training.
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ItemBeyond the transition : the microelectronic school( 1984)Society is currently experiencing a microelectronic based revolution in communications and information technology; the most visible sign of this revolution is the increasing role played by: the computer in everyday life. The evidence suggests that the impact will be even greater in future decades. Because the school will not be insulated from these changes, this thes is examines a potential outcome of the revolution; namely, the phenomenon of the 'microelectronic school'. The possible format of such a school is described and some of the educational issues that would need to be considered with the advent of such a format are analysed. In establishing criteria of desirable practice particular reference is made to the views of a number of educational theorists, especially Thomas Huxley, John Dewey and Martin Buber.
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ItemMaintaining the human touch : defining the boundaries of new learning spaces( 2001)Organisations are implementing online and multimedia training to remain competitive in a rapidly changing global environment. Yet technology based training has failed to improve learning in the past. The importance of educators to the success of technology- based training has largely been ignored. This study proposes that people, not technology drive learning improvement. Therefore, organisations need to provide appropriate professional development for training practitioners as they move from classroom-based teaching to an online environment. The fieldwork uses an ethnographic approach to investigate how training practitioners perceive online and multimedia training before they become involved in an innovative online training program. The training practitioners were interviewed to understand how the program challenged their roles and identities as educators. Issues raised by the training practitioners included their need to maintain a physical presence, coping with the changing social context for teaching, erosion of authority and the need for cultural acceptance of the program.