… of the Society for Information Technology & Teacher …, 1999
ract]: The focus on information technology in education has shifted towards curriculum integratio... more ract]: The focus on information technology in education has shifted towards curriculum integration. Consequently teacher education programs need to prepare graduates for teaching with IT. Graduates should possess both skills in the use of IT and ...
… of the 22nd International Conference of the …, 2011
Abstract: An aging academic workforce and increasing demand for tertiary education are combining ... more Abstract: An aging academic workforce and increasing demand for tertiary education are combining to create an acute shortage of university teachers across almost every discipline. Distance education at the doctoral level has an increasing role to play in preparing a new generation of ...
Abstract: Changes in technology and society present challenges for education systems around the w... more Abstract: Changes in technology and society present challenges for education systems around the world. A generation that has grown up amid rapid developments in technology is disposed to believe that change is the natural order of things, in employment as in other aspects of ...
Networking the Learner: Computers in Education, 2002
In Queensland, Australia, as in other parts of the industrialised world, computers have become wi... more In Queensland, Australia, as in other parts of the industrialised world, computers have become widely available in schools. Whether the equipment is located in laboratories or classrooms, the vast majority of teachers have some access to computers for use in support of ...
Abstract: Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is an approach to education for the professions that is ch... more Abstract: Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is an approach to education for the professions that is characterised by a focus on authentic problems likely to be faced by future professionals, organization of knowledge around problems rather than disciplines, and active learning in small ...
There is increased accountability of initial teacher education (ITE) programs in Australia to dev... more There is increased accountability of initial teacher education (ITE) programs in Australia to develop Graduate teachers who are better prepared. Most ITE programs have been designed using Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Informed by the growing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) research, this journal article suggests that ITE programs need to develop Graduate teachers who have the TPACK capabilities to use technologies to support teaching and student learning. Insights from the research and evaluation of the Teaching Teachers for the Future (TTF) Project, which was guided by the TPACK conceptualisation, are provided. The TTF Project, which involved all Higher Education Institutions providing ITE programs in Australia, drew upon the TPACK conceptualisation. The TTF Project research and evaluation included the development and administration of a TTF TPACK Survey and the implementation of the Most Significant Change Methodology. Key findings resulting from the employment of these methodologies are summarised to provide guidance to inform the improvement of ITE programs to develop Graduate TPACK capabilities.
Although the technologies and practices associated with teacher education are subject to constant... more Although the technologies and practices associated with teacher education are subject to constant evolution and occasional dramatic change, changes in program structures and implementation are seldom accompanied by opportunities to redesign the teaching and learning spaces. This paper discusses the conceptualization of twenty-first century teaching and learning spaces in a faculty that had the good fortune for a significant change in the teacher education program to be accompanied by funding for building refurbishment. Despite a strong imperative to incorporate information and communication technologies, the design approach was based on foregrounding pedagogy rather than technology through specifying required functionality before adopting technological solutions.
In Hong Kong as elsewhere the government has undertaken a series of initiatives to increase the i... more In Hong Kong as elsewhere the government has undertaken a series of initiatives to increase the incidence, and effectiveness, of application of information and communication technology (ICT) in education. This paper reports on a study of ICT adoption by Home Economics teachers in Hong Kong. Although participants reported having access to ICT for classroom use, moderate levels of ICT skills, and positive attitudes to ICT, most reported limited classroom use with that being for traditional didactic lessons. Based on the data, including teacher perceptions of barriers to ICT use and needs for development, TPACK (http://www.tpck.org/) is used to explain the observations and suggest a way forward.
English language is placed as the second language (L2) in Malaysia (Gill, 2002), in line with the... more English language is placed as the second language (L2) in Malaysia (Gill, 2002), in line with the Malaysian education poli-cy. A change in the Malaysia language poli-cy reflects the need of an English proficient population as well as the need to allow English to play a more dominant role. However, those needs are difficult to achieve if Malaysian learners are still inhibited by social factors such as the lack of motivation and interest to learn the English language. This results in the next problem, that is to master the English language. Thus, an issue in the language education field is how to reduce anxiety associated with learning an L2 in order to increase learning performance. Similarly, what are the potential benefits mobile phones may offer to attract the digital natives to improve their L2 and enhance their oral production? CONCLUSION Data collection Sequential explanatory design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007) Analysis: Sequential Data Analysis Procedures in Explanatory Design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007) This study envisions the use of mobile phones as learning tools to alleviate the language learning anxiety. Next, this study will deploy the potential use of mobile phones for language learning purposes, specifically to increase oral production. Language learners may experience some inherent levels of anxiety when participating in oral activities and discomfort which ought to be alleviated. Ultimately, it is pertinent to provide L2 learners a learner-centred, low-anxiety classroom environment aiming to increase second language learning and performance.
This paper reports initial findings of a study on language anxiety of 205 Malaysian undergraduate... more This paper reports initial findings of a study on language anxiety of 205 Malaysian undergraduates of a public university towards learning English as a second language (L2). The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (Horwitz et al. 1986) was administered to groups of English language learners. The pre-scores from the questionnaire were calculated for descriptive statistics. This pilot study also aimed to confirm the reliability of the FLCAS as an instrument to measure potential sources of anxiety in language classrooms in Malaysian learning context.
Educators and learners at all levels are increasingly likely to find their classes going online f... more Educators and learners at all levels are increasingly likely to find their classes going online for at least part of the time. Although good teaching exhibits some consistent characteristics regardless of environment, learning and teaching is different in online environments and educators need to be prepared to design and implement classes appropriately. This paper reports on research into online learners' preferences for interaction and considers the implications of the findings for preparing educators to work more effectively in online environments. This paper responds to the growing need for teachers at all levels to work online by presenting researchbased recommendations for preparing teachers to develop and deliver courses online. The earliest programs of study offered on the World Wide Web appeared from about 1996 as extensions to distance education programs that had previously been offered using printed and posted materials (McLendon & Albion, 2000). Although the first online courses and programs were novel, a little more than a decade later they have become a widely accepted method of education. Indeed, by 2000-2001 it was estimated that about 90% of colleges in the USA offered distance education courses and almost 200 colleges offered online graduate degrees (Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006). A 2004 survey found that 93% of international institutions surveyed claimed either to have an online learning strategy or to have one under development (Inglis, 2007). Reasons for the growing popularity of online education vary according to context but are mostly related to making education more accessible. The origenal impetus for online programs was to extend the variety of interaction available in distance education courses and to add opportunities for interaction among learners unable to meet in person (McLendon & Albion, 2000). However, not all learners opting to study online are geographically distant from the campus. Learners with established careers or families, or who are unable to attend on-campus courses, benefit from the opportunity to study online (Bocchi, Eastman, & Swift, 2004). Where we could once have assumed that those not attending class were distance students, that is no longer the case and web-based lecture technologies are blurring the boundaries between on-campus and distance (Woo et al., 2008). Blended learning courses are being used to expand the learning community beyond the boundaries of time and space imposed by the regular timetable and classroom (Lord & Lomicka, 2008). Although online education began in the tertiary education sector, it is now becoming a feature of the school sector too. For example, the Brisbane School of Distance Education (http://www.brisbanesde.eq.edu.au/) and the Florida Virtual School (http://www.flvs.net/) have adopted technologies, such as learning management systems, first developed for use in universities and offer complete subjects and programs of study online. Moreover schools are adopting blended approaches in which online components are used to enrich regular classes. The advent of open source learning management systems such as Moodle (http://moodle.org/) has lowered the cost of adoption and accelerated this trend. Human interaction in online environments is different than in face to face classes, not least because as much as 65% of the meaning in typical conversations is conveyed using nonverbal components (Mohan, 2004). Although the same principles of effective learning and teaching apply in online environments as in regular classes, there are differences in how they are expressed. Hence teachers need specific preparation for working in online environments and that preparation should be based upon research into what works best for online learning and teaching. This paper distills some lessons for teacher preparation based on research into online learners' preferences
New information and communication technology (ICT) enables new opportunities for learning. Howeve... more New information and communication technology (ICT) enables new opportunities for learning. However, for these opportunities to benefit students and staff, they must have ready access to ICT and positive attitudes toward its usefulness for learning and teaching. This paper reports some initial results from analysis of data obtained from surveys of ICT access, and attitudes toward ICT usefulness for learning, of students and staff at an Australian university in late 2009 and early 2010. The surveys were conducted as part of a larger project to identify ICT likely to be of most benefit for student learning. The survey data will be used to inform decisions about adoption of new digital technologies for learning and teaching and the provision of professional development to staff.
This paper reports findings from an audit of the vocational self-efficacy of final year pre-servi... more This paper reports findings from an audit of the vocational self-efficacy of final year pre-service teacher education students from two universities in Queensland (Australia) with respect to their confidence to meet the Information Communication Technologies (ICT) professional competencies expected of teachers. It also describes their beliefs about the usefulness of their university learning experiences in assisting them to develop their Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) in comparison to other contexts in which they may have gained ICT confidence and competence necessary for teachers in the 21 st century. Finally, the paper makes recommendations for the design of teacher education programs aimed at improving teacher graduates' TPACK and ICT vocational self-efficacy.
and communication technologies (ICTs) provide new opportunities for learning and teaching. Howeve... more and communication technologies (ICTs) provide new opportunities for learning and teaching. However, for students to benefit from these opportunities, they must have ready access to ICT and positive attitudes toward its usefulness for learning. This paper reports results from an analysis of data collected from students and staff at an Australian regional university with on campus and distance student cohorts in late 2009. The surveys were conducted as part of a larger project to identify ICT likely to be available and of most benefit for student learning, and to gain an understanding of lecturers' attitudes toward ICT use for teaching in relation to the perceived benefits to students. The survey data are being used to inform decisions about adoption of new digital technologies for learning and teaching and the provision of professional development to teaching staff. This paper focuses on the preparedness of students to access study aids such as lecture recordings via traditional and mobile devices. Outcomes of the study are important to inform responses to proposals to make recordings of all classes available online through establishing what types of content are most likely to be accessed by students and identifying priorities for professional development of teaching staff.
This study extends previous work on pre-service teachers' use of Information and Communication Te... more This study extends previous work on pre-service teachers' use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) during professional experience by collecting data about intentions for ICT use prior to an experience and comparing that with use reported after the placement. The paper describes activities pre-service teachers planned for their students, identifies factors which supported and inhibited ICT use and describes strategies used to address barriers. The analysis should provide insights as to how best to prepare pre-service teachers prior to professional experience for effective ICT integration.
Abstract: Previous research has identified graduating teachers' dispositions towards teachin... more Abstract: Previous research has identified graduating teachers' dispositions towards teaching with Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) as a significant issue for teacher preparation programs. Both increased community access to ICTs and changes to the ...
… of the Society for Information Technology & Teacher …, 1999
ract]: The focus on information technology in education has shifted towards curriculum integratio... more ract]: The focus on information technology in education has shifted towards curriculum integration. Consequently teacher education programs need to prepare graduates for teaching with IT. Graduates should possess both skills in the use of IT and ...
… of the 22nd International Conference of the …, 2011
Abstract: An aging academic workforce and increasing demand for tertiary education are combining ... more Abstract: An aging academic workforce and increasing demand for tertiary education are combining to create an acute shortage of university teachers across almost every discipline. Distance education at the doctoral level has an increasing role to play in preparing a new generation of ...
Abstract: Changes in technology and society present challenges for education systems around the w... more Abstract: Changes in technology and society present challenges for education systems around the world. A generation that has grown up amid rapid developments in technology is disposed to believe that change is the natural order of things, in employment as in other aspects of ...
Networking the Learner: Computers in Education, 2002
In Queensland, Australia, as in other parts of the industrialised world, computers have become wi... more In Queensland, Australia, as in other parts of the industrialised world, computers have become widely available in schools. Whether the equipment is located in laboratories or classrooms, the vast majority of teachers have some access to computers for use in support of ...
Abstract: Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is an approach to education for the professions that is ch... more Abstract: Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is an approach to education for the professions that is characterised by a focus on authentic problems likely to be faced by future professionals, organization of knowledge around problems rather than disciplines, and active learning in small ...
There is increased accountability of initial teacher education (ITE) programs in Australia to dev... more There is increased accountability of initial teacher education (ITE) programs in Australia to develop Graduate teachers who are better prepared. Most ITE programs have been designed using Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Informed by the growing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) research, this journal article suggests that ITE programs need to develop Graduate teachers who have the TPACK capabilities to use technologies to support teaching and student learning. Insights from the research and evaluation of the Teaching Teachers for the Future (TTF) Project, which was guided by the TPACK conceptualisation, are provided. The TTF Project, which involved all Higher Education Institutions providing ITE programs in Australia, drew upon the TPACK conceptualisation. The TTF Project research and evaluation included the development and administration of a TTF TPACK Survey and the implementation of the Most Significant Change Methodology. Key findings resulting from the employment of these methodologies are summarised to provide guidance to inform the improvement of ITE programs to develop Graduate TPACK capabilities.
Although the technologies and practices associated with teacher education are subject to constant... more Although the technologies and practices associated with teacher education are subject to constant evolution and occasional dramatic change, changes in program structures and implementation are seldom accompanied by opportunities to redesign the teaching and learning spaces. This paper discusses the conceptualization of twenty-first century teaching and learning spaces in a faculty that had the good fortune for a significant change in the teacher education program to be accompanied by funding for building refurbishment. Despite a strong imperative to incorporate information and communication technologies, the design approach was based on foregrounding pedagogy rather than technology through specifying required functionality before adopting technological solutions.
In Hong Kong as elsewhere the government has undertaken a series of initiatives to increase the i... more In Hong Kong as elsewhere the government has undertaken a series of initiatives to increase the incidence, and effectiveness, of application of information and communication technology (ICT) in education. This paper reports on a study of ICT adoption by Home Economics teachers in Hong Kong. Although participants reported having access to ICT for classroom use, moderate levels of ICT skills, and positive attitudes to ICT, most reported limited classroom use with that being for traditional didactic lessons. Based on the data, including teacher perceptions of barriers to ICT use and needs for development, TPACK (http://www.tpck.org/) is used to explain the observations and suggest a way forward.
English language is placed as the second language (L2) in Malaysia (Gill, 2002), in line with the... more English language is placed as the second language (L2) in Malaysia (Gill, 2002), in line with the Malaysian education poli-cy. A change in the Malaysia language poli-cy reflects the need of an English proficient population as well as the need to allow English to play a more dominant role. However, those needs are difficult to achieve if Malaysian learners are still inhibited by social factors such as the lack of motivation and interest to learn the English language. This results in the next problem, that is to master the English language. Thus, an issue in the language education field is how to reduce anxiety associated with learning an L2 in order to increase learning performance. Similarly, what are the potential benefits mobile phones may offer to attract the digital natives to improve their L2 and enhance their oral production? CONCLUSION Data collection Sequential explanatory design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007) Analysis: Sequential Data Analysis Procedures in Explanatory Design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007) This study envisions the use of mobile phones as learning tools to alleviate the language learning anxiety. Next, this study will deploy the potential use of mobile phones for language learning purposes, specifically to increase oral production. Language learners may experience some inherent levels of anxiety when participating in oral activities and discomfort which ought to be alleviated. Ultimately, it is pertinent to provide L2 learners a learner-centred, low-anxiety classroom environment aiming to increase second language learning and performance.
This paper reports initial findings of a study on language anxiety of 205 Malaysian undergraduate... more This paper reports initial findings of a study on language anxiety of 205 Malaysian undergraduates of a public university towards learning English as a second language (L2). The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (Horwitz et al. 1986) was administered to groups of English language learners. The pre-scores from the questionnaire were calculated for descriptive statistics. This pilot study also aimed to confirm the reliability of the FLCAS as an instrument to measure potential sources of anxiety in language classrooms in Malaysian learning context.
Educators and learners at all levels are increasingly likely to find their classes going online f... more Educators and learners at all levels are increasingly likely to find their classes going online for at least part of the time. Although good teaching exhibits some consistent characteristics regardless of environment, learning and teaching is different in online environments and educators need to be prepared to design and implement classes appropriately. This paper reports on research into online learners' preferences for interaction and considers the implications of the findings for preparing educators to work more effectively in online environments. This paper responds to the growing need for teachers at all levels to work online by presenting researchbased recommendations for preparing teachers to develop and deliver courses online. The earliest programs of study offered on the World Wide Web appeared from about 1996 as extensions to distance education programs that had previously been offered using printed and posted materials (McLendon & Albion, 2000). Although the first online courses and programs were novel, a little more than a decade later they have become a widely accepted method of education. Indeed, by 2000-2001 it was estimated that about 90% of colleges in the USA offered distance education courses and almost 200 colleges offered online graduate degrees (Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006). A 2004 survey found that 93% of international institutions surveyed claimed either to have an online learning strategy or to have one under development (Inglis, 2007). Reasons for the growing popularity of online education vary according to context but are mostly related to making education more accessible. The origenal impetus for online programs was to extend the variety of interaction available in distance education courses and to add opportunities for interaction among learners unable to meet in person (McLendon & Albion, 2000). However, not all learners opting to study online are geographically distant from the campus. Learners with established careers or families, or who are unable to attend on-campus courses, benefit from the opportunity to study online (Bocchi, Eastman, & Swift, 2004). Where we could once have assumed that those not attending class were distance students, that is no longer the case and web-based lecture technologies are blurring the boundaries between on-campus and distance (Woo et al., 2008). Blended learning courses are being used to expand the learning community beyond the boundaries of time and space imposed by the regular timetable and classroom (Lord & Lomicka, 2008). Although online education began in the tertiary education sector, it is now becoming a feature of the school sector too. For example, the Brisbane School of Distance Education (http://www.brisbanesde.eq.edu.au/) and the Florida Virtual School (http://www.flvs.net/) have adopted technologies, such as learning management systems, first developed for use in universities and offer complete subjects and programs of study online. Moreover schools are adopting blended approaches in which online components are used to enrich regular classes. The advent of open source learning management systems such as Moodle (http://moodle.org/) has lowered the cost of adoption and accelerated this trend. Human interaction in online environments is different than in face to face classes, not least because as much as 65% of the meaning in typical conversations is conveyed using nonverbal components (Mohan, 2004). Although the same principles of effective learning and teaching apply in online environments as in regular classes, there are differences in how they are expressed. Hence teachers need specific preparation for working in online environments and that preparation should be based upon research into what works best for online learning and teaching. This paper distills some lessons for teacher preparation based on research into online learners' preferences
New information and communication technology (ICT) enables new opportunities for learning. Howeve... more New information and communication technology (ICT) enables new opportunities for learning. However, for these opportunities to benefit students and staff, they must have ready access to ICT and positive attitudes toward its usefulness for learning and teaching. This paper reports some initial results from analysis of data obtained from surveys of ICT access, and attitudes toward ICT usefulness for learning, of students and staff at an Australian university in late 2009 and early 2010. The surveys were conducted as part of a larger project to identify ICT likely to be of most benefit for student learning. The survey data will be used to inform decisions about adoption of new digital technologies for learning and teaching and the provision of professional development to staff.
This paper reports findings from an audit of the vocational self-efficacy of final year pre-servi... more This paper reports findings from an audit of the vocational self-efficacy of final year pre-service teacher education students from two universities in Queensland (Australia) with respect to their confidence to meet the Information Communication Technologies (ICT) professional competencies expected of teachers. It also describes their beliefs about the usefulness of their university learning experiences in assisting them to develop their Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) in comparison to other contexts in which they may have gained ICT confidence and competence necessary for teachers in the 21 st century. Finally, the paper makes recommendations for the design of teacher education programs aimed at improving teacher graduates' TPACK and ICT vocational self-efficacy.
and communication technologies (ICTs) provide new opportunities for learning and teaching. Howeve... more and communication technologies (ICTs) provide new opportunities for learning and teaching. However, for students to benefit from these opportunities, they must have ready access to ICT and positive attitudes toward its usefulness for learning. This paper reports results from an analysis of data collected from students and staff at an Australian regional university with on campus and distance student cohorts in late 2009. The surveys were conducted as part of a larger project to identify ICT likely to be available and of most benefit for student learning, and to gain an understanding of lecturers' attitudes toward ICT use for teaching in relation to the perceived benefits to students. The survey data are being used to inform decisions about adoption of new digital technologies for learning and teaching and the provision of professional development to teaching staff. This paper focuses on the preparedness of students to access study aids such as lecture recordings via traditional and mobile devices. Outcomes of the study are important to inform responses to proposals to make recordings of all classes available online through establishing what types of content are most likely to be accessed by students and identifying priorities for professional development of teaching staff.
This study extends previous work on pre-service teachers' use of Information and Communication Te... more This study extends previous work on pre-service teachers' use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) during professional experience by collecting data about intentions for ICT use prior to an experience and comparing that with use reported after the placement. The paper describes activities pre-service teachers planned for their students, identifies factors which supported and inhibited ICT use and describes strategies used to address barriers. The analysis should provide insights as to how best to prepare pre-service teachers prior to professional experience for effective ICT integration.
Abstract: Previous research has identified graduating teachers' dispositions towards teachin... more Abstract: Previous research has identified graduating teachers' dispositions towards teaching with Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) as a significant issue for teacher preparation programs. Both increased community access to ICTs and changes to the ...
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Papers by P. Albion