Using technology in the development of a collaborative approach to feedback and more active reflection: An exploration of trainee teachers’ views

Abstract

This study is driven by two separate but interrelated issues. First, it is driven by the desire to explore the effectiveness of technology devices in the structure of professional development of trainee teachers. Second, it seeks to explore the extent to which such technologies, as reflected in the use of digital recordings in the process of self-reflection by trainee teachers, can contribute to a shift to more collaborative feedback and active reflection. The anchor for this exploration is the desire to move away from the teacher (educator)–centred role (Copland, 2010) that is prevalent in the use of feedback in contemporary teacher training programmes.The study surveyed the views of trainee teachers in two colleges through the use of a questionnaire and through a focus group discussion in consonance with the integrative approach to action research which acknowledges the importance of the voice of the third person (Coghlan and Brannick, 2010). The findings were subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analysis, the former through the use of the SPSS statistical analysis tool and the latter through an ethno-linguistic approach (Copland, 2010). The study found that in the views of trainee teachers (third person), the use of technology devices can significantly facilitate the promotion of more collaborative approaches to giving and using feedback in their professional development if certain conditions were met. The study concluded that while these approaches are highly desired by trainee teachers who see them as more helpful than the prevalent teacher-centred approach, there is the need to develop a conceptual framework for its implementation.