English

Adèle Botha,Marlien Herselman

doi:10.15700/saje.v35n4a1218

Abstract

This article draws upon the experiences gained in participating in an Information and Communication Technology for Rural Education (ICT4RED) initiative, as part of a larger Technology for Rural Education project (TECH4RED) in Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The aim of this paper is to describe the conceptualisation, design and application of an innovative teacher professional development course for rural teachers, enabling them to use tablets to support teaching and learning in their classrooms. The course, as outcome, is presented as a T eacher Tablet Toolkit , designed to meet the challenges inherent to the 21st century rural technology enhanced teaching and learning environment. The paper documents and motivates design decisions, derived from literature and adapted through three iterations of a Design Science Research Process, to be incorporated in the ICT4RED Teacher Professional Development Course. The resulting course aims to equip participating teachers with a toolkit consisting of technology hardware, pragmatic pedagogical and technology knowledge and skills, and practice based experience. The significance of game design elements such as simulation and fun, technology in need rather than in case, adequate scaffolding and a clear learning path with interim learning goals are noted. Keywords: classroom practice; gamification; mobile learning; teacher professional development; technology integration; toolkit

Highlights

Teacher professional development (TPD) aimed at technology-enhanced rural teaching environment in a developing context has been identified as a specific challenge (Buabeng-Andoh, 2012; Lawless & Pellegrino, 2007)
The aim of this paper is to describe the conceptualisation, design and application of a TPD course designed for rural teachers and to highlight the design decisions taken towards relevant teacher knowledge and proficiency so as to enable classroom practise to portray a 21st century technology enhanced classroom engagement in rural classrooms
The main research question that guided this research is: how can a Teacher Professional Development intervention guide the development of a Teacher Tablet Toolkit to address the challenges of the 21st century rural technology enhanced teaching and learning environment? This study, undertaken in a rural South African context as part of a larger project, addresses a concern raised in literature about the availability, quality and rigour of TPD programmes in general, and those aimed at teachers in rural resource constrained settings (Lawless & Pellegrino, 2007)

Summary

Introduction

Teacher professional development (TPD) aimed at technology-enhanced rural teaching environment in a developing context has been identified as a specific challenge (Buabeng-Andoh, 2012; Lawless & Pellegrino, 2007). The course, as outcome, is presented in the form of a Teacher Tablet Toolkit designed to meet the challenges posed by 21st century technology-enhanced rural teaching and learning environments. The main research question that guided this research is: how can a Teacher Professional Development intervention guide the development of a Teacher Tablet Toolkit to address the challenges of the 21st century rural technology enhanced teaching and learning environment? The study envisages contributing to a broader understanding of TPD designed for rural resource constrained teachers It aims to pragmatically facilitate educators’ endeavours to integrate technology into their classroom practice within their challenging working environment. The study further highlights some very positive initial results, and offers a demonstrated innovative artefact, and methodology, for practitioners working in the field to adapt and use

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Conclusion