A Framework for Promoting Teacher Self-Efficacy with Mobile Reusable Learning

ObjectsDissertation Proposal Candidacy Exam Presentation

Robert PowerInstructional Developer, College of the North Atlantic-QatarEdD Student, Athabasca University

The Question:“What is the single greatest barrier to the widespread

adoption of mobile learning strategies in K12 and higher education institutions?”

The Response:“Teachers’ confidence in the technology and their

ability to use mobile learning in their own practice.”

Paraphrased exchange between Robert Power (moderator) and Dr. Mohamed Ally (panelist) at the Panel Discussion on Tablet Deployment Initiatives at the 12th World Conference on Mobile and

Contextual Learning (mLearn 2013), Doha, Qatar

The Problem with Teacher Training

The current educational model is outdated because it was developed before the advent of information and communication technologies. The current model, based on classroom-based face-to-face delivery, is geared towards educating a certain segment of the population. Also, teachers are being trained for the current model of education, and will therefore continue using the model when they become teachers. Teacher training must be re-invented to prepare teachers for the technology-enhanced educational system.

(Ally & Prieto-Blazquez, 2014)

The Problem with Our Understanding of Teacher Efficacy

Lack of training in the pedagogical considerations for the integration of a specific type of technology can have a negative impact upon teachers’ perceptions of self-efficacy (Kenny, et al, 2010). However, Kenny et al. (2010) note that:

While a significant body of research exists on learners’ feelings of self-efficacy concerning computer technology, online learning, and even podcasting… this concept does not yet appear to have been examined in any detail in a mobile learning context (p. 2).

The Essential Intervention in this Study

• Remove the “new technology” element from the equation in so much as is possible.

• Put the focus on pedagogical decision-making.

• Determine if that approach has an impact on teachers’ perceptions of self-efficacy with mobile learning.

Conceptual Framework

Research Questions

1. Does the Collaborative Situated Active Mobile (CSAM) learning design framework provide teachers with an increased sense of self-efficacy in the use of mobile reusable learning objects (RLOs) to facilitate or enhance collaborative learner interactions?

a) Do teachers perceive greater self-efficacy when using the CSAM framework?

b) Do teachers perceive their use of mobile RLOs be more effective when using the CSAM framework?

HOW?

• Use the CSAM Learning Design Framework as the focus of pedagogical decision making and self-reflective practice in a short, online professional development course on creating mobile reusable learning objects.

• Measure the impact of that training on participants’ perceptions of self-efficacy.

• Get feedback from participants on their perceptions of self-efficacy and the use of CSAM to help make instructional design decisions.

What is CSAM?

(Power, 2012, 2013a, 2013b, 2013c)

Origins of CSAM

• CSAM is:– A summarization of the key pedagogical elements present in

recent case studies of the use of mobile RLOs to facilitate collaborative learning.

– A framework to guide instructional design decision-making.– Consistent with Activity Theory, the zone of proximal

development, Transactional Distance Theory, and FLOW Theory.

• CSAM is not:– A new learning theory.– A new model of instructional design.

Research Methodology

How will I measure effects on perceptions of self-efficacy?

• Mixed-methods research:– Mix of quantitative survey data and qualitative feedback

from follow-up interviews

• Design-Based Research:– This proposed study would constitute the first phase of a

longer-term DBR project. Subsequent phases would build upon this research to inform iterative improvements to the professional development course, and the eventual development of an OER RLO (Anderson & Shattuck, 2012; Cohen et al., 2011; Design-Based Research Collective [DBRC], 2003)

Research Instruments

• Combined Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) and Mobile Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale (mTSES) survey instruments (Benton-Borghi, 2006; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001a, 2001b)

– Pre and post-intervention surveys

– General sense of self-efficacy vs self-efficacy with using mobile RLOs before and after the training

• Follow-up Interviews

– Qualitative feedback regarding the training, and participants’ perceptions of self-efficacy with mobile RLOs

Research Design:A Framework for Promoting

Teacher Self-Efficacy with Mobile Reusable Learning Objects

Participant Selection

• Interested Faculty and Graduate Education Students from:– Confirmed:• Ohio State University• Athabasca University• College of the North Atlantic-Qatar

– Possibilities:• College of the North Atlantic• Memorial University of Newfoundland• Tennessee State University

A Snapshot of the Intervention• Online Professional Development course called

Creating Mobile Reusable Learning Objects Using Collaborative Situated Active Mobile (CSAM) Learning Strategies.

• Hosted on the Canvas open LMS

• Can be accessed via computer or mobile device.

• Five modules, run over ten days (two days per module).

• Research survey instruments are embedded as learning activities (to reduce extra time commitments for participants).

• Beta-testing to include a review of course design elements by a group of professional instructional developers from College of the North Atlantic-Qatar.

ReferencesAlly, M. & Prieto-Blázquez, J. (2014). What is the future of mobile learning in education? Mobile Learning Applications in Higher Education [Special Section]. Revista de Universidad y Sociedad del Conocimiento (RUSC), 11(1), 142-151. doi http://doi.dx.org/10.7238/rusc.v11i1.2033

Anderson, T., & Shattuck, J. (2012). Design-based research: A decade of progress in education research? Educational Researcher, 41(1), 16-25. DOI: 10.3102/0013189X11428813. Retrieved from http://edr.sagepub.com/content/41/1/16.full

Benton-Borghi, B. (2006). Teaching every student in the 21st century: Teacher efficacy and technology (Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University). Retrieved from http://www.pucrs.br/famat/viali/tic_literatura/teses/BentonBorghi%20Beatrice%20Hope.pdf

The Design-Based Research Collective (2003). Design-based research: An emerging paradigm for educational inquiry. Educational Researcher, 32(1), 5-8. Retrieved from http://www.designbasedresearch.org/reppubs/DBRC2003.pdf

Kenny, R.F., Park, C.L., Van Neste-Kenny, J.M.C., & Burton, P.A. (2010). Mobile self-efficacy in Canadian nursing education programs. In M. Montebello, V. Camilleri and A. Dingli (Eds.), Proceedings of mLearn 2010, the 9th World Conference on Mobile Learning, Valletta, Malta.

mLearn 2013 (2013). mLearn 2013 panel discussion (Part 1). Retrieved from http://youtu.be/9b7u7QBWDEk

Power, R. (2012). Effective learning strategies with mobile devices: Collaborative situated active mobile learning. Unpublished manuscript, Center for Distance Education, Athabasca University, Athabasca, Canada.

Power, R. (2013a). Collaborative situated active mobile (CSAM) learning strategies: A new perspective on effective mobile learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, 10(2). Retrieved from http://lthe.zu.ac.ae/index.php/lthehome/article/view/137

Power, R. (2013b, April). Collaborative Situated Active Mobile (CSAM) learning strategies: A new perspective on effective mobile learning. Presentation at the Mobile Learning: Gulf Perspectives Research Symposium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 25 April 2013.

Power, R. (2013c, April). Create your own mobile RLOs (reusable learning objects) for situated active learning. Workshop presentation at Technology in Higher Education 2013, 16-17 April, 2013, Doha, Qatar.

Tschannen-Moran, M., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2001a). Teacher efficacy: Capturing and elusive construct. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(7), 783-805.

Tschannen-Moran, M., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2001b). Teacher’s sense of efficacy scale. Retrieved from http://people.ehe.osu.edu/ahoy/files/2009/02/tses.pdf