Chiasson, K., Terras, K., Smart, K. (2015) 'Faculty Perceptions Of Moving A Face-To-Face Course To Online Instruction', Journal of College Teaching & Learning, Third Quarter 2015 Volume 12, Number 4. [Online]. Available at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1067275.pdf (Accessed 02 June 2020).
The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine "the experiences of 10 faculty members who developed and taught an online course" (Chiasson et al, 2015, p. 231) that they had earlier developed for and taught in a classroom setting. The study sought "to identify and document faculty members’ experiences to inform strategic planning while meeting market demands" (Chiasson et al, 2015, p. 231). It examined "the perceptions of the faculty members” (Chiasson et al, 2015, p. 231) after teaching that same course in a new online format.
In this case study, based on an increasing demand for online teaching and enrolments, teaching staff needed to develop and teach their existing course in an new online format. This transition caused "some emerging issues and concerns for faculty" (Chiasson et al, 2015, p. 231).
Formulation of research question:
“What are the perceptions of faculty members who developed and taught an online course after teaching it in a face-to-face format?” (Chiasson et al, 2015, p. 231)
Out of the "Review of literature" (p. 231), "development support and services" (p. 232), "faculty considerations" (p. 232) they found the following:
Support:
Support from institutions and offer of services to faculty "vary widely" (p. 232).
Partnerships and collaborations "with others in their discipline or with faculty in other academic departments" (p. 232) were welcomed, also "with the institutional informational technology staff and instructional designers." (p. 232).
Experience with tools:
It needs practice when teaching staff start teaching online, as well as using new "technology tools in a proficient manner takes time" (p. 232). It found that although "technology tools make teaching and learning more accessible and efficient, but rarely are there improvements in learning by simply adding technology" (Twigg (2003) cited in Chiasson et al, 2015, p. 232). Therefore, "technology tools need to be provided by the institution in combination with collaborative support to shift the focus from teaching to learning" (Bishop and White (2007) cited in Chiasson et al, 2015, p. 232).
Workload:
On page 237, Chiasson et al (2015) cite “work intensity” as a major issue, "increasing faculty workload". Chiasson et al (2015) cited a study by De Gagne and Walters (2009) where "[f]aculty believed they “spent more time on planning, designing, delivering and evaluating online instruction” (De Gagne et al, 2009, p. 581) and thought that their workload increased" (p.232). The process of redesigning the courses for the online modus introduces not only "new ways to think about learning" (p. 232), but "that process and experience changes [faculty] as well." (p. 232).
The study included 10 participants working at a university, where each developed and taught an online course that was previously taught in the classroom setting. It was a quite new experience for the majority of participants (p. 232).
Three conclusions emerged:
Planning (pp. 234-235):
Developing an online course requires more time.
Faculty worked with an instructional designer to learn how to effectively use technology.
Some participants needed regular contact with the designer, while others were just using "them for troubleshooting technology problems" (p. 234), where "time spent with the instructional designer was focused on exploring tool options or learning how to use the chosen tool." (p. 234).
It "took a significant amount of time to learn the technology and to place content into their course site" (p. 234).
Some sought help with "pedagogical concerns" for their online course from already experienced colleagues (p. 234).
Implementation (pp. 234-235):
Teaching roles changed to guiding students = facilitator in an online setting (p. 235).
Although participants "instructional strategies [were] similar to their face-to-face courses, [faculty] made adjustments to the course based on student understanding and feedback, as well as on time management" (p. 234).
There was a difference "for those who delivered it synchronously, online did not require different instructional tools like it did asynchronously" (p. 235). For synchronously teaching mode, it was like "building a community" and "being a facilitator of a community" (p. 235). For asynchronous online teaching, they had to adapt instructions, as the immediate feedback mechanisms are not present in asynchronous online setting (p. 235).
Reflection (p. 234 and 236):
The study revealed that "[a]s a result of teaching online, faculty increased their confidence and believed they became better instructors in their face-to-face courses" (p. 236).
It was also felt that faculty "had less control teaching an online course resulting in students taking more responsibility in their own learning" (p. 236).
Although it was published before Covid-19, it helps to understand the challenges and demands faculty staff face when suddenly transition from the classroom setting to an online format, as happens in a lot of institutions with the Covid-19 settings.
Lessons are that it takes more time to develop an online course that was previously designed and developed for a classroom setting. There is a need for specific resources and support structures helping with pedagogical concerns and technological tools. It is also a major shift in how faculty teach.
The resources we develop for this platform need to be easy to find, relatively easy to adapt for other courses, without a need for instructional designers but maybe the chatbot could take on this role, guiding users through the OER and use of tools. Another option is to have guides about the repository and how to use and adapt the OER for other courses --> focus on reusability, tailorability (Retalis et al, 2006, p.4).
Chiasson, K., Terras, K., Smart, K. (2015) 'Faculty Perceptions Of Moving A Face-To-Face Course To Online Instruction', Journal of College Teaching & Learning, Third Quarter 2015 Volume 12, Number 4 [Online]. Available at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1067275.pdf (Accessed 02 June 2020).
Retalis, Symeon & Georgiakakis, Petros & Dimitriadis, Yannis. (2006) 'Eliciting design patterns for e-learning systems', Computer Science Education. 16. 105-118. 10.1080/08993400600773323 [Online]. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240953696_Eliciting_design_patterns_for_e-learning_systems (Accessed 02 June 2020).
This article presents a case study on how effectiveness of OERs can be enhanced when incorporated into learners' personal learning environments (and vice versa – if learners create / share own OERs).
Learners should both use existing OERs AND create their own because their own are going to target their need
AND the needs of their fellow students on the course.
These were master’s degree students in Information and Communication Technologies applied to language teaching and processing. The designers were the course faculty; these were their students.
The aim was to assess the potential of PLEs in the development of Higher Education.
− To analyze the usefulness of OER self-creation for the acquisition of competences.
It was hoped at the same time as assessing these things, students/teachers teaching/learning would be enhanced -specifically, support teaching staff in the creation of effective teaching and learning environments AND materials (the students Identify and develop learning resources staff and students can go on to use again); provide professional development opportunities for faculty – they learn what the students learn and also about OER pedagogy. Everyone involved enhance skills in decoding and encoding multimedia materials for developing their skills in Higher Education.
Teacher defined the goals and criteria of the study however, thereafter, the students take charge of their own learning.
An action research plan was devised; Students were asked to critically summarize 3 topics related to language learning using digital tools. Students looked for some OER related to any significant aspect of foreign language learning and created a video adapting, re-mixing and repurposing that OER to create a video that would be broadcast on YouTube. This video would then become a new OER to be linked to the student’s PLE in Symbaloo, as would happen with the other resources created in the rest of the course tasks.
According to the researchers, 'results show that the joint use of PLEs and OERs –designed by student themselves- improves their digital competence, predominantly in dimensions such as: accessing and searching for online information; articulating information needs; finding relevant information; selecting resources effectively; navigating between online sources; and creating personal information strategies.'
Quote from conclusion: The most successful OER initiatives will be those that can be used immediately and add educational value within the existing ICT infrastructure constraints of universities and other educational institutions. Sharing materials that others can adapt and use recognizes the value inherent in team work, and the cognitive improvements that will emerge from such collaboration. Moreover, this shift towards the implementation of PLEs and OERs in education has the potential to re-focus educational systems, restoring the core values of building and sharing knowledge that underpin quality education, and systematically encourage us to work with and learn from one another. '
Comas-Quinn, Anna and Fitzgerald, Alannah (2013). Open Educational Resources in Language Teaching and Learning. Higher Education Academy (HEA), York. [Online] Available at http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/37550
The case study on the LORO project by the Open University focuses on the development and adoption of an open repository for all language teaching materials used at the Department of Languages at the OU, as well as its subsequent use. It was designed to be used by educators but also for educators to contribute to it. It tracks the attitudes towards and ways of using the repository in a fully distance learning environment.
The project consisted of two parts. First, the creation of a repository itself. In the second stage educators were encouraged to use it and contribute to it themselves. LORO was created so that language teaching materials could be stored, managed, and published openly. It was also designed to enable knowledge sharing and encourage the use of OER for language teaching.
The data was collected through usage surveys, web analytics, focus groups, and narrative frames. It looks at the impact of using an online repository for resources on skills and professional development as well as the levels and types of engagement with it.
First the researchers found out user expectations and training needs through an online questionnaire followed by focus groups. Then the technical side of the repository was created, and resources were uploaded onto it. All resources were labelled, described, tagged, and organised in collections corresponding to courses to ease navigation. In the second phase, tutors were encouraged to contribute to the repository with their own materials. Training sessions on using and contributing were available throughout. Usage statistics were collected through an online survey as well as through Google Analytics over time (2010-2012). Qualitative data was obtained through focus groups and narrative frames (2011-2012). The LORO project further developed to focus on open practices through staff development sessions.
User engagement – how much
The data showed the repository was widely used by the OU language teachers. This may have been initially aided by the fact that the repository became the only place to find said resources, but engagement with the materials remained high later on (70%+ for their courses and 30%+ for other courses). In addition to the initial 700 resources uploaded by the OU, more than 2500 user generated materials were added.
User engagement – how
The main ways teachers used LORO were to find resources for their classes, find inspiration and idea, to standardise their practice.
Additionally, data showed teachers also used the repository to look for resources related to their own learning.
Benefits
The main benefits of using LORO, as discussed in the focus groups, were: increased confidence in their own teaching, freeing up time developing resources, value of receiving feedback on resources from peers, increased quality of materials shared by other educators (people want to share their best work)
Timing – the timing of implementation was crucial as the teaching was moving to another platform completely. This forced teachers to engage with the repository in order to access the materials.
Involve teachers from the start and continuously encourage – teachers need to be a part of the design process to be invested in it. Stress the benefits of sharing and collaborating for their own teaching practice.
Ongoing guidance and support – Teachers need continuous support in developing skills and effectively using the tools given. Without support, the less technically savvy can feel left behind and give up
Discipline – There is a need to be specific. As each teaching discipline has different teaching needs, it should not be “one size fits all” approach if focusing on more than one discipline. Having a homogenous sharing community creates a higher level of resources and innovation.
Organisation – For teachers to engage with a repository repeatedly the overall organisation and navigation needs to be simple and intuitive. Tagging and categorising can further improve engagement. The easier it is to find or share something, the more likely people are to return.
Authors
Bao, W. (2020) ‘COVID-19 and online teaching in higher education: A case study of Peking University’, Human Behaviour and Emerging Technologies, vol. 2020, no. 2, pp. 113-115 [Online]. Available at https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.191 (Accessed 29 May 2020).
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic Chinese universities are experiencing ‘unprecedented massive ‘migration’ from face-to-face to online education (Bao, 2020, p. 113). China’s government has enforced a requirement on educational institutions for ‘nonstop teaching and learning’ and many universities are currently offering online education in response to this challenge (Bao, 2020, p. 113). The case study focuses on six instructional strategies identified as solutions to the challenge based on observations from current online university instructors’ teaching practices at Peking University. The study concludes with a summary of five principles suggested for delivering online education as examples of best practice.
Key characteristics of the context in which the case study is situated, in terms of material, social and intentional factors.
Material
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic Chinese universities had already adopted policies to offer online education as part of an open education network based on information and network technologies mainly in the form of Massive Open Online Courses.
Peking University is a predecessor of online education in Chinese universities and currently offers 100 of the 500 online courses offered by all Chinese universities. Although most of the courses have not been taken up by registered university students.
2,613 undergraduate and 1,824 graduate online courses had to be launched live from faculty members computers screens through the internet to students computer screens and mobile technology within a few days, catering for 44, 700 students who were either living at home or in University dorms (Lei, 2020, cited in Bao, 2020).
All faculty members have access to a computer at home.
Students have access to mobile phones or computers at home - tool design needs to be accessible across all platforms,
Most students are competent users of social media.
Many students lack home environments conducive to learning when self-isolating - 24 hour accessibility and assistance needed to meet individual circumstances.
Students lack suitable learning materials. - OER reppository will address this issue.
Possible traffic overload of data on online learning platform - Chatbot could advise visitors in advance and traffic use to be monitored.
Social
Many faculty members lack online teaching experience and were used to traditional teaching pedagogies and practices so were unprepared for the demands of online teaching such as the need for audio and video content of materials in regard to the importance of voice - OER materials to address this issue.
Faculty are not trained to support or operate online education platforms and also lack support from educational technology teams. - Social media and blog could assist with sharing experiences and offering advice on current practices.
Students accustomed to spending more time studying in class than outside class - Participation in group discussion to be encouraged through the use of social media. The chatbot could direct the visitor to this area.
Student support required by faculty and teaching assistants to provide ‘timely feedback’ (Bao, 2020, p. 115) including video tutorials and follow on guidance - Chatbot could provide immediate feedback and guidance.
Provide opportunities in the form of discussion spaces for students to share their understandings of reading materials. This will avoid ambiguity and access to surface knowledge by encouraging deep learning through discussions - Social media and blog.
Intentional
More than 60% of students have no planned career trajectories.
Students have a poor attitude to self-directed learning which also requires self-discipline- Peer-to-peer interaction and chatbot assistance could help.
Student anxiety raised with the fast transition to online learning - Ease of use of new technological tools could assist in the process.
To suggest effective instructional strategies and high impact practice principles to support online higher education faculties in China and around the world with the immediate transition to online learning, as well as assisting in breaking down the barriers to negative learning attitudes of students towards online learning.
Bao (2020) suggests that faculty need to take a number of strategic actions to support the transition to online learning:
Large scale access to the online education platform may suffer from overload, so universities should have an alternative plan and students should be informed of the plan.
To assist student’s concentration, online learning content should be broken down into small chunks by topic requiring no more than 25 minutes expected reading time - resource/ chatbot could advise of the expected reading time for the resource.
Some forms of online teaching , for example, lectures can restrict the use of body language and facial expressions. This has implications for faculty to maximise the voice function and slow down their natural speech for learners to take notes.
Teaching assistants should provide additional support needed by some students, as well as answering questions and providing feedback opportunities through a social media platform or chat facility.
Faculty should make use of a discussion space. Examples could include a forum, blog or social media for students to connect online and share their understanding of the materials they have read or accessed in order to avoid ambiguity and surface learning. Discussions will provide a deep learning experience.
Faculty should design materials that require active learning to motivate and engage learners. - Provide resources that are inactive such as quizzes and tests.
Bao (2020, p. 113) highlighted the following principles for a smooth transition to online learning:
‘(a) a high relevance between online instructional design and student learning, (b) effective delivery on online instructional information, (c) adequate support provided by faculty and teaching assistants to students, (d) high-quality participation to improve the breadth and depth of student’s learning, and (e) contingency plan to deal with unexpected incidents of online education platforms.’
Some lessons learned from the case study are:
To provide a range of accessible materials to suit different levels of ability to match the differing needs of learners.
Ensure students are supported in online environments to assist with negative attitudes to online learning experiences, which could be addressed through the use of chatbot.
Create a collaborative space to encourage learner participation and support deep learning opportunities. This could be through the use of social media and a blog.
Bao (2020, p. 115) concludes that faculty need to implement effective strategies to improve students concentration and engagement to facilitate online learning. She also adds that ‘students’ anxiety needs to be relieved in various ways to ensure that they can actively and effectively engage in online learning’.
Authors
Carayannopoulos, S. (2018) 'Using chatbots to aid transition', The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 118-129 [online]. Available at https://search-proquest-com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/docview/1990762819/fulltextPDF/FBD93D59DF1E4193PQ/1?accountid=14697 (Accessed 01 June 2020).
There is a great deal of research into the challenges faced by students when they first start university, mainly as it during this time that the retention rate is low (Jones et al., 2009, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018) and therefore retention of students is a high priority for all universities. The main issues identified from research concern the disconnection from other students and the instructor as well as the difficulty of navigating, vast amounts of information in a new environment (Jones et al., 2009, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018). It has been suggested that large quantities of information may have negative effects leading to anxiety which affects performance (Eppler and Mengis, 2004, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018). Chatbots have been identified as an innovative technological tool that can connect with and assist students academically and socially (Rau et al., 2008; Lauricella and Kay, 2013, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018). Chatbots offer the potential to provide assistance without the individual having to download another app or learn to use a new interface, app or website. The conversational interface of the app also humanises the experience to make it feel more like having a natural conversation with another person. Tools such as e-mail and text-messaging or instant messaging have addressed some of the issues raised in regard to sharing information, answering questions and connectivity with instructors (Rau et al, 2008; Lauricella and Kay, 2013, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018). However, students do not have 24 hour access to instructors and can feel frustrated and anxious when there is no immediate online response. In addition, students may not feel comfortable with this form of communication as it crosses private/public boundaries.
Material
· Accessibility to technology
· Technical skills of programming language required
Social
· Some students are used to traditional, face-to-face structured systems but now feel disoriented in an independent system and ‘often struggle to motivate themselves’ (Harley et al., 2007; Briggs et al., 2012, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018, p. 119).
· Instructors in the case study used the chatbot to send jokes to students when they sensed students were suffering with stress and anxiety. This also helped to make the experience more social and keep the learners motivated.
· Informal communication assists social bonding, social learning and can increase ‘student motivation and reduces student pressure’ (Rau et al., 2008, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018, p. 121).
· Students feel frustrated when their professors are not online (Rau et al., 2008, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018).
· Students are more likely to persist in finding solutions to their transitional challenges if there are frequent and good quality interactions with instructors. Rau et al., (2008), cited in Carayannopoulos, (2018) states that social presence created by immediate and intimate interactions influences and increases motivation.
Intentional
· High volumes of information to sort through can be confusing and frustrating for students ‘leading to information anxiety and diminished performance’ (Eppler and Mengis, 2004, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018, p. 118) and affect quality of life (Edmunds and Morris, 2000, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018).
· Some students resisted taking ownership of their learning as identified by Carayannopoulos (2018) when the push notifications became less prescriptive over a period. Indicating a need for technology and support to be used judiciously to allow students to learn ‘to self-organize to ensure their success’ (Briggs et al., 2012; Jones et al., 2009, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018, p. 126).
· Learners often suffer from ‘app overload’ as there are too many apps for too many uses and there may be a reluctance to download yet another (Carayannopoulos, 2018, p. 122).
The designers’ role
The designers were required to identify, design and implement a tool based on background research that was convenient, easy to use, responds quickly and was customisable. The tool was also required to feel social and personal as well as enabling connectivity between students, courses and instructors.
Parallels and divergence with our project.
The challenges identified in the case study are not dissimilar to the current challenges faced by students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canadian case study explores the transition from a prescriptive, structured school system to an independent university system which requires new skills and adjustments to the new learning and teaching environment. In the same way students and instructors in higher education share similar experiences in the virtual transition from face-to-face to online education during the pandemic. They also face similar issues of disconnection with others as many students, including those with disabilities can no longer receive the social academic human support they previously received. Exploring ways to provide support to these groups is important for our project as a chatbot will assist our design challenge by enabling access to all in terms of accessibility and inclusivity, as well as providing assistance through automated responses. The ‘push technology’ provided by the chatbot pushes pre-selected information to the user as an alert (Edmunds and Morris, 2000, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018, p. 122). This could help with time management by navigating through vast amounts of information to find useful and relevant materials. Furthermore, the chatbot will assist with well-being as it can provide immediate feedback alleviating the frustration of having to wait for an asynchronous response. Unlike the chatbot in the case study, which will provide connectivity between peers and instructors, our chatbot is intended to help with navigation and provide automated responses to commonly asked questions. There is no need for the chatbot in our context to provide connectivity between peers or students and instructors as social media and a blog within the site will be used for this purpose.
To provide a techno-pedagogical solution to the challenges of social disconnection and information overload faced by first year students transitioning from a traditional school system to an independent university system.
The designers wanted to provide a tool for easy retrieval of information accessed through the convenience of a mobile phone. In addition, the chatbot interface was intended to make the student feel socially connected without adding to the instructor’s workload.
Qualitative data from anecdotal evidence and quantitative data from surveys would indicate success or highlight problems with using the chatbot.
The chatbot was designed by two business program students and implemented in a large business class that teaches 1,900 students. The goals and criteria for the study were set by the School of Business and Economics at Wilfred Laurier University, Canada.
The design was also informed by the following points identified by scholars:
Humans interact with media in social ways (Veletsianos and Miller, 2007, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018).
The design of information retrieval should reduce the risk of failure by the user and increase their self-efficacy (Wilson, 1999, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018).
When there are vast amounts of information available it is often difficult to find useful and relevant information (Edmunds and Morris, 2000, cited in Carayannopoulos, 2018).
Teaching includes lectures and laboratory work. Course requirements include online assignments, group presentations, research and project work.
Parallels and divergence with our project
Our project is similar to the case study in that it aims to use the chatbot to retrieve information but our project will focus on the Open Educational Resource repository only using a friendly user interface. Our chatbot will be provided on our repository platform which will be accessible through a computer and mobile technology, not just a mobile phone as described in the case study.
Identify the many challenges that first year students face.
Identify key research and complete a literature review that could address the challenges and identify problems.
Implement the use of a chatbot in a large first year business class.
Conduct a voluntary survey with students who chose to use the chatbot, for data collection.
Describe the findings by checking responses to the survey and usage patterns on the chatbots dashboard.
Identify areas for improvement from lessons learnt for future tool applications as well as considering alternative tool use.
Of the 1,700 students registered to use the chatbot only 315 responded to the survey. Although at 18.5% this was considered an acceptable response rate. It was also noted that use of the chatbot declined over the course term due to duplication of assignment instructions on the course website.
One unexpected advantage was seen in the chatbots ‘blast’ feature which allowed the instructor to send notifications to the student which was sometimes used to send jokes particularly during stressful times (Carayannopoulos, 2018, p. 124).
Overall the designers found the design of the chatbot challenging as the artificial intelligence capabilities of the chatbot are limited. This meant the ease and speed of providing answers or accessing answers or content were also limited. In addition, highly technical and specialist knowledge of a programming language is required with a great deal of time and money invested including later adjustments, which means it is an ongoing commitment.
As expected, students felt notifications and reminders about tasks and assignment requirements were most useful. Findings suggest 60% of students felt the chatbot was helpful in preparation for meeting course requirements and 50% found the chatbot aided time-management. This suggests the ease of access and time saved searching on a website for information needed was valued by students. In addition, instructors commented on the reduction of email queries concerning the inability to find information which ultimately decreased their workload.
The notifications on the chatbot were designed to increase learner autonomy over time to help ween the students off ready-made assistance and to support independent, self-directed learning. However, some students resented the lack of detail in the notifications although prompts were still offered.
Despite the chatbot not being human the findings confirm that 65% of students felt the chatbot made the interaction on the course more personal than other courses and 13% felt cared for when using the chatbot. A little under 50% of students were better motivated in their studies and 69% felt the chatbot aided their transition to university.
A balance needs to be achieved between transition and building dependence. Identifying an appropriate time and method to reduce the support provided is an important consideration in the design and an area for further research. Furthermore, technology and support structures should help students learn the skills required for problem-solving and searching for information.
Some students like receiving notifications while others did not so this suggests the concept of ‘overload’ is an individual thing. Future chatbot iterations will enable students to make decisions by subscribing or unsubscribing to notifications so it is personalised to meet their needs.
The next cycle of design is intended to improve the friendliness of the product by using photos, images, and faces rather than relying on text which is less aesthetically pleasing. This would also increase social bonding.
In addition, sustainability of the product needs to be considered as it requires money for essential, specialist knowledge and time for maintenance and adjustments.
Further research is required to explore whether the chatbot helps learners cope with searches or undermines their ability to find information when they cannot use the tool?
Guzey, S. S., and Roehrig, G. H. (2009). Teaching science with technology: Case studies of science teachers’ development of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1). Retrieved from https://citejournal.org/volume-9/issue-1-09/science/teaching-science-with-technology-case-studies-of-science-teachersdevelopment-of-technology-pedagogy-and-content-knowledge
The case study is four secondary science teachers’ participation in a professional development programme called Technology Enhanced Communities (TEC). The programme centres on creating a learning community where science teachers can learn to integrate technology into their teaching to support student inquiry.
The study design was carried out to track teachers’ development in technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) over a yearlong programme.
Probeware (e.g., pH, temperature, concentration of solutions, blood pressure, and respiration rate), mind-mapping tools (CMaps), and Internet applications (computer simulations, digital images, and movies) were introduced to the science teachers.
Data acquisition included interviews, surveys, classroom observations, teachers’ technology integration plans, and action research study reports.
The 4 teachers completed the programme successfully. The results show that contextual factors and teachers’ pedagogical reasoning affected their ability to enact in their classrooms what they learned in the programme. Nevertheless, varying degrees of positive impacts on teachers’ development of TPACK was found as a result of the programme’s implementation. Continuous training is consequently recommended.
Unremitting support is essential in overcoming the limitations in the incorporation of technology in training context.