How different are ICT-supported pedagogical practices from extensive and non-extensive ICT-using science teachers?
Joke Voogt
0
) University of Twente
, P.O. Box 217, 7500AE Enschede,
The Netherlands
This paper aims to understand the differences between characteristics of ICT-supported pedagogical practices of grade 8 science teachers of extensive and non-extensive ICT-using science teachers. The differences of the pedagogical practices are described in terms of innovative and traditionally important practice orientations. The innovative practice orientation reflects a demand for education in an information society (e.g. communication skills; ability to learn at own pace), while the traditionally important practice orientation (e.g. subject-matter knowledge) reflects teaching and learning in an industrial society. The purpose of this study was to explore differences between the ICT-supported pedagogical practices of extensive and non-extensive ICT-using science teachers. As part of the SITES 2006 study extensive ICT-using science teachers nominated their most satisfying pedagogical practice. Perceived student outcomes and teaching practices have been analyzed using the SITES 2006 database. In addition, the regular pedagogical practices of these science teachers were, using the SITES 2006 database, compared with the regular pedagogical practices of non-extensive ICT-using science teachers. The results show that although traditionally important practices within the context of ICT are still dominant in science education, changes in the equilibrium between traditionally important and innovative practice orientations are taking place across educational systems.
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society the main focus of education is to contribute to the development of factual and
procedural knowledge, in the information or knowledge society the development of
conceptual and meta-cognitive knowledge is increasingly considered important
(Anderson 2008). This change should have implications for our education systems.
There is a need to drastically change curricula so that students develop competencies
which are often not addressed in the industrial societys curricula, but are needed in
the 21st century (e.g. Anderson 2008; Voogt and Pelgrum 2005). According to the
European Commission, for instance, all citizens of the European Union should have
the opportunity to acquire a number of so called key skills, which include digital
literacy and higher-order skills such as teamwork, problem solving, and project
management (European Commission 2002). Key skills are often also referred to as
lifelong learning competencies. The education ministers of OECD countries (OECD
2004) embraced the concept of lifelong learning, which covers all purposeful
learning activities in a persons life. A major feature of lifelong learning is
developing meta-cognitive knowledge and skills.
Developments in the learning sciences (see, for example, Bransford et al. 2000)
show the benefits of learner-centered forms of instruction. Students are expected to
be more actively involved in their own learning process, which asks for different
teaching strategies and a change in the responsibilities that students and teachers
traditionally have held within the learning process. These findings from research are
consistent with the importance policymakers attach to lifelong learning and
learning-to-learn competencies. Voogt (2003), based on a review of the literature,
projected pedagogical approaches consistent with the expectations and values of the
information society and showed how these might differ from those consistent with
the expectations and values of the industrial society (see Table 1). According to
Voogt the pedagogical approaches which are expected to be important in the
Table 1 Overview of pedagogy in an industrial society versus an information society (source Voogt 2003)
Less (pedagogy in an industrial society)
More (pedagogy in the information society)
information society have, amongst others, more to do with providing variety in
learning activities, offering opportunities for students to learn at their own pace,
encouraging collaborative work, focusing on problem-solving, and encouraging
student involvement in assessment. Voogt (2003) argues that education needs to find a
new balance between the pedagogical approaches that are considered useful in the
industrial society and those that are deemed relevant for the information society. For the
present study, however we make a distinction between the two pedagogical approaches.
IEA conducted from 1998 till 2006 the Second Information Technology in Education
Study (SITES). This study consisted of three modular studies with the purpose to study
to what extent and how education is responding to the requirements of the information
society, and how ICT is impacting on these changes. Several terms have been used in the
three SITES studies to distinguish between educational practices that are associated with
the information society and the industrial society respectively. An overview of the
terminology used in the different SITES studies (...truncated)