| Abstrakt: |
Few studies of iPad-supported teaching have been set in secondary school STEM contexts, and there is limited examination of teacher practice. This study examined how STEM teachers' pedagogical practices took shape when participating in a secondary-level innovation to use iPads to support critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication. This descriptive, multiple case study used criterion and homogenous sampling to select four STEM content area teachers who were committed to integrating iPad tablets into their teaching for a year. Educational change and technology integration theories conceptually framed technological integration as a form of teacher risk-taking. We used a technology integration framework, RAT (replacement, amplification, transformation), to analyze the developing technology-supported practices that emerged in these teachers' classrooms. Results revealed that teachers in elective STEM courses experienced more personal control of integration efforts than did the teacher of mathematics, an annually tested subject. Teachers used iPads predominantly to amplify general pedagogical practices for efficiency gains. Transformative and a few amplified practices drew students to engage with high-quality STEM content or processes through content-specific apps, authentic content created by experts, or student-created content. All teachers believed that more content-specific, professional development was warranted and that responsibility to find content-specific apps was extremely time-consuming, difficult, and expensive. Secondary schools establishing tablet-supported pedagogy and learning should (a) clarify responsibility for finding contentrelated digital learning resources, (b) invest in high-quality, professional learning opportunities that serve teachers' content area needs, and (c) host community conversations regarding visions and expectations regarding standardization versus transformation of teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
