Technucation - a learning tool for technological literacy in Teacher Training
Author(s):
Vibeke Schroeder (presenting / submitting) Lene Storgaard Brok (presenting)
Conference:
ECER 2013
Network:
10. Teacher Education Research
Format:
Research Workshop

Session Information

10 SES 13 A, Technucation - A Learning Tool for Technological Literacy in Teacher Training

Research Workshop

Time:
2013-09-13
11:00-12:30
Room:
COURT
Chair:
Vibeke Schroeder

Contribution

At ECER 2012 we presented the paper "Understanding and Developing Technological Literacy Through Living Labs in Teacher Vocational Training". The paper discussed how Livings Labs as a part of the research project Technucation were going to be used in the development of a learning tool.

The Living labs should involve lectures at the teacher training colleges in testing a prototype in a real life setting.  A prototype that already had the form of a board game involving cases from the everyday life of the basic school gained through our extensive field studies and interviews.

In the living labs the lectures should test the learning tool with a class of students and in this way both contribute to the development process of the learning tool and at the same time produce ownership to the tool and the project as such.

We were then encouraged to give a session in ECER 2013 where the learning tool could be tried out by the participants.

Our plan for the research workshop is therefore to establish a kind of living lab environment.  First, we will  introduce the learning tool in form of the board game. The intention of the learning tool is to give the lectures and student teachers a collective experience and shared understanding when it comes to handling and using technology and it involves discussion of cases concerning the use of technologies in basic school. Also we will present the theoretical framework that lies behind the construction of the board game. Second, we will test the game with the participants working in small groups – a process that involves both playing the game as well as working with game-development. Finally, we will all together evaluate the game as a learning tool and the living lab methods as a process of developing teacher training instruction and bringing results of research into the teacher training colleges.

 

 

Technucation: Technological Literacy and New Employee Driven Innovation through Education is a four-year researchproject funded by the Danish Council for Strategic Research.Through a qualitative study of 75 interviews with teachers andfield observations in 10 schools, the aim is to examine how newtechnological innovations change teachers’ working practicesand understanding of their own profession.

 

Teachers’ working practices must change in response to the implementation of new digital technologies. The new artifacts have already created new conditions for education and new learning possibilities for the children.

These developments and changes in the classroom clearly ought to be reflected in the curricula of teacher training colleges. Unfortunately, it is evident that Denmark’s teacher training colleges are not up to date when it comes to technological-pedagogical innovations. One of the Technucation Project’s main challenges is, therefore, to transmit knowledge gained in everyday practice in the country’s schools to the teacher training colleges in a form that can foster curiosity, dialogue, and learning with regard to working and interacting with technologies.

Method

The purpose of the game is to contribute to discussion and debate about the use of technology in the classroom by introducing a series of case stories representing various professional tasks and dilemmas. The students must then discuss, in groups, the various values and perceptions of technological and pedagogical issues that have bearing on each case. The cases are derived from empirical material in the Technucation Project. The rules of the game are as follows: four students sit around a game board and discuss the case story, and a game master facilitates. The first stage is a process of clarification, in which the students collaborate in trying to figure out what kind of a situation they are dealing with. Second, the students start to discuss what – particularly technological dilemmas are present in the case. Third, the students must discuss a plan of action. How should they respond to the given situation? Finally, they must reflect on how the case contributes to an understanding of the complexity of working with technology in a classroom context. Apart from the game we will present the practice- and culture oriented theories of technology that lies behind the configuration of the game.

Expected Outcomes

The game helps create a common language for talking about technology and didactics in relation to each other, and creates shared collective experiences through the act of reflecting on the case stories. The final question, then, is this: can the Technucation Project develop a learning tool in which all the knowledge and experience gained in the process of development are embedded and taken into consideration? How can we make sure that the learning tool will give prospective teachers a technological literacy that will both challenge the professional practice and become a part of it, while retaining focus on the Bildung ideal of the Danish school system? The challenge, therefore, is to convey the knowledge and experiences amassed in the everyday practice in the classroom to Denmark’s teacher training colleges in a form that will inspire examination, dialogue, and learning.

References

Arstorp, A.-T. & Schrøder, V. (2012): Læreres teknologiforståelse – anskueliggjort gennem fire teknologi-perspektiver. IN Hasse, C. & Søndergaard, K. D. red. (2012, in press): Teknologiforståelse – på lærere og sygeplejerskers arbejdspladser. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag Bourdieu, P. & Passeron, J.-C. (1977): Reproduction in education, Society and Culture. Sage Publications. Bristol. Brok, L. S. (2012): Teknologier former tidsopfattelser I skolen. IN Hasse, C. & Søndergaard, K. D. red. (2012, in press): Teknologiforståelse – på lærere og sygeplejerskers arbejdspladser. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag Edwards, A. (2010): Being an expert professional practitioner. The relational turn in expertise. Dordrecht: Springer. Garmire, E., & Pearson, G. (Eds.). (2006) Tech tally: Approaches to assessing technological literacy. Washington: National Academy Press. Hammond M., Reynolds, L. & Ingram, J. (2011): How and why student teachers use ICT? Journal of Computer Asssisted Learning(27), pp. 191-203. Hasse, C. & Søndergaard, K. D. red. (2012, in press): Teknologiforståelse – på lærere og sygeplejerskers arbejdspladser. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag Hedegaard, M. (2009): A Cultural-historical theory of children´s development. In: M. Hedegaard & M. Fleer (eds): Studying Children: A Cultural-historical approach (pp. 10-29). Buckingham: Open University Press. Jensen, Tine, Jo Krøjer og Kirsten Grønbæk Hansen (2010): InDelta- Inklusion i interaktiv deltagelse i folkeskolen – et forskningsprojekt om køn, teknologi og læring. Roskilde Universitet. Nielsen, K. A. & Lennart Svensson(2006): Action and Interactive Research. Beyond Practice and Theory. Shaker Publishing. Paaby, Kirsten, Kurt Aagaard Nielsen, Birger Steen Nielsen (1988): Fremtidsværksteder som foregrebet utopi. In: KOntext 51, Politisk Revy. Peltomäki, A. Sestini, F., Tselentis, G., Kolodziejski, M. Babot, J. (2009): Living Labs for user.driven open innavation. An overview of the Living Labs Methodology, Activities and Achievements. Information Society and Media: European Commision. Sørensen, Estrid (2009): The Materiality of Learning. Cambridge University Press.

Author Information

Vibeke Schroeder (presenting / submitting)
University College Capitol
Research and Development
Soeborg
Lene Storgaard Brok (presenting)
University College Capital
Copenhagen

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