The ITELab project is a one-of-a-kind, EU ERASMUS+ Knowledge Alliance key-action project, funded for 2017-19. It involves a consortium of universities from six European countries each offering initial/pre-service teacher education (ITE) and four technology companies that provide ICT & Technology solutions and related professional development for teachers. The ITELab partner-universities come from a variety of primary, secondary, and further /VET teacher formation contexts and our industry partners are all high-value ICT education sector companies. The project is co-ordinated by European Schoolnet (EUN), a pan-European network of 30 Ministries of Education (MoE) concerned with the transformation of teaching and learning in European schools.  

The consortium in ITELab came together to address the issue of how better to prepare new teachers to enter schools in which ICT is increasingly available and where students experience it as an essential part of their lives outside the classroom. As such, ITELab responds to the challenge of generating approaches, frameworks, resources, and case studies that highlight pedagogically-informed ways to meaningfully integrate ICT within ITE courses from within the vision, resources and capabilities of the ITELab consortium. To do so, we explore how to better build student-teacher pedagogical & digital capability and confidence, and how to boost knowledge transfer and shared values at the European level in this area within teacher higher education.

The symposium papers proposed offer critical readings of the activity of ITELab project to date. They report on the experiences of the consortium as we worked to design and resource – in a deeply collaborative way – a set of module frameworks and related pedagogical materials and approaches drawing on our singular and collective understandings of what is needed if student-teachers across Europe are to have opportunities to engage with more pedagogically-informed ways to meaningfully integrate ICT into their praxis.

The first paper details what we see as the need to innovate in ITE and the approach ITELab is taking to this. It outlines the thinking behind the project and how a unique ITELab vision & approach has emerged from our interactions as universities and companies. This was not without its difficulties. The paper charts both the challenges and our responses to this. It presents in detail the early work on ontology and design that led to ITELab’s generative, flexible, learning architecture and examines how this embodies an innovative and creative approach to enhancing learning & pedagogy and so results in more meaningful learning experiences for our student-teachers.  

The second paper outlines the experiences of ITELab university partners at the local level as we work with the project module frameworks and MOOC. This paper focuses on how inbuilt flexibility allows for meaningful – and necessary – adaption to the local while retaining the core ITELab values of being Innovative & pedagogy-focused; staying activity-driven, collaborative  & connected; and, reflecting a pan-European vision of what it is to become a teaching professional.

The third paper addresses the need for and the actions taken to ensure strong project orientation and scientific rigorous is in place so that monitoring & evaluating ITELab reflects  the unique vision of the consortium and also meets the assessment requirements of the European Commission, under ERASMUS+ Knowledge Alliance, Key-Action Two. It details the testing and decision-process that led to the selection and development of the European Research Centre’s DigCompEdu Framework as the underpinning reference frame. The paper considers the feasibility and usefulness of the evaluation materials developed in terms of their trans-national applicability and their relevance for the preservice teachers’ future careers, while also outlining the process  through which the pedagogical quality and effectiveness of ITELab materials was factored into the monitoring and evaluation process. 

Blamire, R (2017) OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH ON THE INTEGRATION OF ICT IN INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION. ITELab: Brussels. Conole, G. (2015) Slow and fast learning with contemporary digital technologies. Keynote AECT. Indianapolis. From: http://www.slideshare.net/GrainneConole/conole-aectkeynotefinal Cronin, C. (2017) Openness and Praxis: Exploring the Use of Open Educational Practices in Higher Education. International Review of Research in Open Learning, Vol.18, No 5, August 2017. From: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3096/4301 Enochsson, A., & Rizza, C. (2009). ICT in Initial Teacher Training: Research Review. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 38. OECD Publishing. Fullan, M. and M. Langworthy (2014). A rich seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning, London: Pearson. Kelly, F. (2013) The Professional Enquiry Process / A Short Guide for Teachers in Scotland. Edinburgh: GTC Scotland. (Mimeo) Korthagen, F. (2017) ‘Inconvenient truths about teacher learning: towards professional development 3.0.’ Teachers and Teaching Theory & Practice, Vol.23(4), 387-405 Krueger, R. A., & Casey, M. A. (2015). Focus Groups. A Practical Guide for Applied Research. London: Sage. Krumsvik, R. J. (2014). Teacher Educators' Digital Competence. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 58(3), 269-280. Redecker, C. (2017). European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators: DigCompEdu. Punie, Y. (ed). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.