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Supporting Teacher Technology Learning: Important Relationships in the Learning Ecology Karin S. Forssell • Stanford University • [email protected]
AcknowledgmentsWe are grateful to the teachers who contributed their time to this effort, to this research. This research was conducted with the support of members of the youthLAB research group and the LIFE Science of Learning Center.
http://youthlab.stanford.eduhttp://www.life-slc.org
Implications and Future DirectionsTaking a learning ecology perspective focuses our attention on how social networks support teacher learning. These analyses suggest that the network of learning supporters available to a teacher is an important factor in the teacher’s learning to use technology in the classroom. Equally or perhaps even more important than the number of people supporting teachers’ learning, is the roles that learning supporters play. Understanding the value of these roles will help us better design learning environments for teachers, inside and outside of schools.
The high SES, high-tech nature of this group of teachers may limit its generalizability to other groups of teachers. More research is needed to examine the support networks of teachers in low-tech environments.
The TPACK framework, which highlights the interactions between technology, pedagogy, and content, suggests that we pay attention to the content-relevant use of new tools. The subject-area colleagues named by high TPACK teachers suggest that learning to use technology with students does relate to the particular subject area taught.
2) What critical roles do these learning supporters play, for high and low TPACK teachers?
High TPACK teachers had more learning supporters overall (M=3.56, SD=1.45) than low TPACK teachers (M=2.23, SD=1.48), t(45)=3.12, p < .01.
Most common: “teaches me how to use technology”
High TPACK teachers more likely to report that someone lends them resources such as books (χ2(1, N=42)=5.40, p
