Teacher Professional Development to Promote Constructivist Uses of the Internet: A Study of One Graduate-Level Course

This article describes a graduate course entitled Using the Internet to engage children in constructivist offered as professional development for teachers at a large Canadian university. Course participants, who were practicing teachers, were provided opportunities to examine how computer technologies such as the Internet can be used to promote a more student-centered, constructivist approach to teaching and learning. An informal study was undertaken to examine what participants learned about constructivism and its influence on their thinking about the use of the Internet in their teaching. Data collected included field notes from class observations, informal interviews with selected students, daily reflective journal entries, and class assignments. Changes in the participants' understanding about the potential of the Internet as a constructivist learning tool are presented as well as those aspects of the course that were identified by the participants as being most effective in bringing about the change in their thinking. These aspects included the intensive full-week focus with ample computer lab time to explore a wide variety of preselected sites, modeling of a constructivist learning environment by the instructor, and repeated attention to making theory to practice connections. ********** Recent research on effective integration of computer technologies in schools points to uses that support constructivist learning principles (Jonassen, Howland, Moore, & Marra, 2003). Constructivism is being defined here as a learning theory that is guided by a number of principles, including: (a) learning is an active and social process in which the learner constructs new knowledge rather than acquiring information and instruction is viewed as a process of supporting that construction rather than communicating knowledge (Brooks & Brooks, 1993); (b) new learning builds on previously stored knowledge and as the learner elaborates upon and interprets the information, initial ideas are reshaped (Fosnot, 1992); and, (c) learning occurs most effectively when it is situated in experiences that are authentic and meaningful to the learner (Duffy & Cunningham, 1996). A critical factor in this successful integration of computers into teaching and learning is teacher training (Crocco, 2001). Professional development experiences that move teachers toward an understanding of constructivist learning principles and how to enact them through the use of technology are fundamental (Gibson & Oberg, 1998). This article describes one such professional development opportunity, a university-level graduate course, designed to involve participants in both an investigation of constructivist learning principles and in active engagement in activities that model the potential of the Internet for supporting those principles. LITERATURE REVIEW Although computers are now widely available in schools, their educational impact has been limited (Kleiman, 2000). Only a small proportion of teachers actively integrates computer technologies in their teaching (Albion & Gibson, 1998). The main barriers to adequate computer integration have been attributed to limited access to computer hardware and software, lack of support, lack of time for preparation, and perceived inadequacies in training (Downs & Rakestraw, 1997). However, recent studies have discovered that even though teachers have adequate access to and technological support for their use of computers, they are still not using computers as frequently or effectively as they could be (Cuban, Kirkpatrick, & Peck, 2001; Levin & Arafeh, 2002). One possible reason can be attributed to the type of professional development they have been experiencing (Gibson & Oberg, 1998). Much of the emphasis of teacher professional development with technology to date has been on learning about computer-based tools and acquiring the skills needed to work with those tools. …

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