School-based professional development for interactive teaching with technology: lessons learned from initiatives in UK and Africa

This talk will focus on school-based teacher professional development (TPD) in the area of interactive pedagogy in technology-supported learning contexts. It is illustrated with examples based on contemporary TPD models that encourage peer learning, experiential tasks and classroom trialling, using lesson video exemplars of practice to stimulate discussion, critical reflection and lesson planning. The presentation explores how we can assist teachers in understanding and exploiting the potential of using digital technology to support subject learning, critical thinking and inquiry – especially through classroom dialogue. At Cambridge we have developed a theoretically informed workshop programme plus multimedia resource bank (http//tinyurl/OUPIWB) for sustained, school-based TPD. My team investigated its impact on the quality of classroom dialogue in contexts using digital technology – especially the ubiquitous interactive whiteboard/display screen. Outcomes of the research include multimedia professional development resources to support effective digital technology use and dialogue.

Colleagues and I have also created and trialled multimedia professional learning resources for interactive primary teaching of mathematics and science – with and without technology – in sub-Saharan Africa (www.oer4schools.org). The OER4Schools project introduced interactive teaching methods, Open Educational Resources and mobile devices into Zambian primary schools through school-based TPD.  The presentation will consider what lessons can be learned from this very different context and how resources can be adapted to be culturally appropriate.

Biography

Sara Hennessy is a Reader in Teacher Development and Pedagogical Innovation in the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge. She has a PhD in Psychology and previously worked at the Open University. She has researched in the areas of interactive pedagogy, teacher professional development and educational technology use for three decades, leading 12 funded projects and producing around 60 international peer-reviewed publications, 2 books and 70 conference presentations. She is co-editor of British Journal of Educational Technology and on the editorial boards of International Journal of Science Education and Journal of Computer-Assisted Learning. Much of her research focuses on school-based professional development of teachers in using classroom technologies more effectively to support subject teaching and learning, mainly in mathematics and science. This work includes practitioner-researcher partnerships and collaborative theory building with teachers through video review and workshop discussions. Her recent focus is on classroom dialogue and she is a founding member of the interdisciplinary Cambridge Educational Dialogue Research Centre. A current ESRC-funded project explores the relationship between dialogic teaching and student attainment in the three core subjects, reasoning and attitudes to school. Some of her research is focused on improving the quality of science and mathematics learning and teaching in sub-Saharan African schools and teacher education.