Evaluating the potential of teacher-designed technology-based tasks for meaningful learning: Identifying needs for professional development

Abstract

With technology increasingly being introduced into classrooms worldwide, stakeholders are asking whether ICT provides educational value. It is not simply having access to technology but how teachers use it that will determine its worth to education. Thirty-three teacher-designed technology-based tasks from eight subject areas were analysed for their effective use of ICT, and their potential to involve students in constructivist learning. Few of the tasks made effective use of ICT for meaningful learning, for reasons associated with teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and missing TPACK components or competencies. These factors provide the basis for a model of areas to target when structuring professional development courses to help teachers better utilize educational ICT to design meaningful learning tasks.