Fostering an “Adaptive Nature” for Teacher Practice: Technology Supports in a Codesign Community

• In Event: Roundtable Session 128
  In Roundtable Session: Tech Uses and Teacher Practices, Attitudes, and Knowledge

Abstract

This research examines the notion of adaptive expertise (Schwartz, Bransford, and Sears, 2005) in a burgeoning community of teachers as they embark upon the co-design of an inquiry oriented and technology-enhanced curriculum unit. This paper reports on the initial stages of a three-year study including the initial measures of teacher knowledge, the design of professional development supports, and the outcomes of the first cycle of curriculum planning, enactment, and reflection. In particular, we emphasize the role of co-design to understand how teachers adopt innovative practices. We argue that the development of a technology tool to support teachers in understanding the curriculum, student knowledge and their own knowledge development would facilitate teachers’ adaptive nature and contribute to the larger educational research field.

Authors

• Cheryl Ann Madeira, OISE/University of Toronto

• Alessandro Gnoli, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Richard Messina, Institute of Child Study

• Tom Moher, University of Illinois at Chicago

• James D. Slotta, University of Toronto