Teachers, pedagogy and professional development - Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide - page 107

Teacher's beliefs, knowledge about technology and theories of learning
Research shows that teacher's beliefs, knowledge about technology, and theories of
learning affect their use of technology. In considering the relevance of technologies
to their subject area, teachers may wish to:
· think about how their pupils learn and critically reflect on the underlying
theories that influence their work, and
· review their beliefs in light of new evidence regarding opportunities technol-
ogy affords for learning.
Teacher's technology knowledge
A challenge for teachers is to know how to keep up to date. All teachers need to know
how to:
· find out about technology innovations and what other teachers are doing
with technology in their subject/age phase
· locate the latest knowledge about the affordances of a range of technologies
related to their teaching and subject areas
· contact their professional/subject association for further information on
using technology to enhance learning in their curriculum area
· find what other professional development networks they can join to facili-
tate developing a more detailed knowledge of technology for learning.
Conclusions
With respect to developing technology knowledge, teachers need to understand
the capabilities of a range of technologies. It is not enough to know about a range
of technologies, in and for themselves. What teachers need to understand is how
these technologies interact with, and provide opportunities for, learning. It is the
relationship of the technology to the wider learning environment, which consists
of other resources, learners and teachers. It is the totality of the environment and
ways of organizing interaction with technology in that environment that gives rise
to new affordances for learning (Webb 2010). This requires teachers to develop a
much deeper understanding of technology capabilities if they are to be used effec-
tively. However, 'enabling teachers to adapt their pedagogical reasoning and prac-
tices in response to learning opportunities provided by technology is likely to be
very difficult and complex process' (Webb and Cox 2004: 278). Consequently, the
role of professional development is increased, making it necessary to look at dis-
tributed cognition, situated learning and communities of practice in order to
understand how teachers develop new knowledge about technology for pedagogic
practice.