Teachers play crucial roles in realising the potential of ICT in teaching and learning processes. Their ongoing professional learning underpins their capacity to respond to the needs of learners (Alboin et al., 2015). In this section of the Handbook we examine the knowledge required by teachers and how that can be developed. A casual observer of education might wonder why both ‘learning’ and ‘development’ appear in the title of this section, assuming that professional learning naturally flows from professional development. However, as argued by Timperley (2011) and others, the link is not so clear in practice, with much professional development resulting in little or no change in the professional behaviours of teachers. Moreover, much teacher professional learning that does produce effective change in teacher behaviours occurs outside of formal professional development. Similarly, because the focus of the handbook is on the application of ICT to enhance learning in education, teacher learning about the use of ICT is the appropriate focus of this section. In the first chapter, it is observed that education and the work of teachers must evolve in response to rapid development of ICT and concurrent changes in society. The solution proposed is to promote teachers’ agency to engage in appropriate teacher learning. In the second chapter, Angeli and Valanides explore the knowledge required by teachers for effective integration of ICT. Forkosh-Baruch, in the third chapter, considers the pre-service preparation of future teachers to transform education with ICT. Prestridge and Main, in the fourth chapter, examine how teacher professional learning occurs in the context of teams, communities and networks. The relationship between research and practice in education, including the application of ICT, is tackled by McKenney and Pareja Roblin in the fifth chapter. They consider the opportunities presented by engaging practicing teachers in research modes such as teacher inquiry and design-based research separately or together. In the final chapter, Baran explores how teachers engaging in pedagogical inquiry can become the agents of their own transformation to work effectively with online and mobile learning. Models such as mentoring and design-based learning resonate with the ideas presented in the previous chapters, but the practical recommendations for implementation are specifically related to the field of mobile learning. Taken as a whole, the six chapters in this section attest to the need for teachers to be empowered to operate as professionals who can take substantial responsibility for their own professional learning.

Albion, P. R., Tondeur, J., Forkosh-Baruch, A., & Peeraer, J. (2015). Teachers’ professional development for ICT integration: Towards a reciprocal relationship between research and practice. Education and Information Technologies, 20(4), 655-673. Timperley, H. (2011). Realizing the power of professional learning. New York: McGraw Hill companies.