Using Emerging Technologies To Develop Professional Learning

Internationally, there is a growing body of research about learners’ responses to, and uses of, emerging technologies. However, the adoption of these technologies in teachers’ professional development is still largely under-researched. Much of the existing literature still positions teachers as playing ‘catch-up’ in terms of using technology for teaching and learning in an ever expanding and changing world, and ignores the roles that these emerging technologies can play in teacher, and teacher educator, development and learning. This book aims to address the lack of research in the area, and it contributes to the new knowledge area of how emerging technologies can effectively address professional learning, drawing on case studies and perspectives from across the world. Contributors use a wide variety of approaches to analyse the potential for emerging (and established) technologies, including digital, Web2.0, social media, and IT tools, to develop ‘effective’ or ‘deep’ professional learning for pre- and in-service teachers and teacher educators. This book was originally published as a special issue of Professional Development in Education.

This book addresses the issues confronting educators in the integration of digital technologies into their teaching and their students’ learning. Such issues include a skepticism of the added value of technology to educational learning outcomes, the perception of the requirement to keep up with the fast pace of technological innovation, a lack of knowledge of affordable educational digital tools and a lack of understanding of pedagogical strategies to embrace digital technologies in their teaching. This book presents theoretical perspectives of learning and teaching today’s digital students with technology and propose a pragmatic and sustainable framework for teachers’ professional learning to embed digital technologies into their repertoire of teaching strategies in a systematic, coherent and comfortable manner so that technology integration becomes an almost effortless pedagogy in their day-to-day teaching. The materials in this book are comprised of original and innovative contributions, including empirical data, to existing scholarship in this field. Examples of pedagogical possibilities that are both new and currently practised across a range of teaching contexts are featured. ​

This book explores the technologies that can be used in curricula to make education “smarter” and more adaptive in order to better meet the needs of today’s learners. The main emphasis is based on the theory and best practices of incorporating emerging technologies into curricula so as to educate learners in the 21st century. The book provides valuable insights into the future of education and examines which pedagogies are most suitable for integrating emerging technologies. It will help educators and stakeholders design and implement curricula that effectively prepare learners for the challenges of tomorrow.

This book provides contemporary examples of the ways in which educators can use digital technologies to create effective learning environments that support improved learning and instruction. These examples are guided by multiple conceptual and methodological traditions evolving from the learning sciences and instructional technology communities as well as other communities doing important work on learning technologies. In particular, the book provides examples of technology innovations and the ways in which educators can use them to foster deep understanding, collaboration, creativity, invention, and reflection. Additional examples demonstrate the ways in which emerging mobile and networked technologies can help extend student learning beyond the confines of the classroom wall and support student-directed learning and new media literacies.

Over the past decades a new form of professionalism has emerged, characterized by factors of fluidity, instability and continual change, leading to the necessitation of new forms of professional development that support agile and flexible expansion of professional practice. At the same time, the digitization of work has had a profound effect on professional practice. This digitization opens up opportunities for new forms of professional learning mediated by technologies through networked learning. Networked learning is believed to lead to a more efficient flow of complex knowledge and routine information within the organization, stimulate innovative behaviour, and result in a higher job satisfaction. In this respect, networked learning can be perceived as an important perspective on both professional and organizational development. This volume provides examples of Networked Professional Learning, it questions the impact of this emerging form of learning on the academy, and it interrogates the impact on teachers of the future. It features three sections that explore networked professional learning from different perspectives: questioning what legitimate forms of networked professional learning are across a broad sampling of professions, how new forms of professional learning impact institutions of higher education, and the value creation that Networked Learning offers professionals in broader educational, economic, and social contexts. The book is of interest to researchers in the area of professional and digital learning, higher education managers, organizational HR professionals, policy makers and students of technology enhanced learning.

Technology-Enhanced Professional Learning addresses the need for continuous workplace learning that derives from the emergence of new, specialized, and constantly changing work practices. While continuous learning is fundamental to enabling individuals to function in and productively shape contemporary workplaces, digital technology is increasingly central to productive workplace practice. By examining the intersection of human learning processes, emergent work practices, and patterns of use of digital technology to support learning and work, this edited collection brings the disparate fields of professional learning and technology-enhanced learning together to advance theory and practice in both realms.

Digital literacies are essential for managing information and communication in our rapidly changing world - but the old scattered approaches to introducing technology have left many teachers playing catch-up with their students. With this authentic, job-embedded professional development program, you'll help K-12 teachers incorporate digital literacies into their classrooms once and for all.

Highlighted are the pedagogical, organizational, cultural, social, and economic factors that influence the adoption and integration of emerging technologies in distance education. Advice is offered on how educators can launch effective and engaging distance education initiatives, in response to technological advancements, changing mindsets, and economic and organizational pressures.