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Session Submission Summary

Emerging trends in the use of technology for teacher professional development in low- and middle-income countries.

Thu, April 21, 6:00 to 7:30am CDT (6:00 to 7:30am CDT), Pajamas Sessions, VR 112

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Teacher quality is argued to be the most important determinant of learning outcomes for children and young people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which remain persistently low (⇡Education Commission (2019; ⇡Evans & Popova, 2016). While developing teachers’ expertise is crucial to address this, teacher professional development (TPD) opportunities in LMICs are often limited and unsustained, with mixed outcomes for teachers and students (⇡Allier-Gagneur et al., 2020; Haßler et al., 2018). Furthermore, the need for quality teacher professional development has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as teaching and learning has shifted to digital, remote and blended learning methods (⇡Crompton et al., 2021). Recent evidence has also suggested that the use of technology in teaching increases the need for, and complexity of, teacher professional development (⇡World Bank, 2018​​). Technology also has considerable value, if used appropriately, for both increasing access to TPD and resources, and for qualitatively improving teacher learning – and in turn, classroom teaching practices and student learning.

With this context in mind, our long-term programme explores the role that educational technology (EdTech) plays in ‘ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all’ (SDG4), especially for marginalised learners, at scale. In particular, our research focuses on the use of technology to support teacher professional development and ultimately raise learning outcomes for all students in LMICs. Our overall objective is to improve the evidence base, and for this evidence to then inform policy and practice on TPD in LMICs. In taking evidence to policy and practice, political, economic, social, cultural, linguistic, religious, and other factors intersect to shape the context-specific interventions we work on. These factors are thus central to our work.

In light of the ‘Beyond the Horizon - reimagine everything’ conference sub-theme, our panel of papers cover an array of new ideas, theories and ways of knowing in education and educational research that have emerged from our work on technology for TPD. These range from ‘unlearning’ teacher professional development models that attempt transmission of dense pedagogical and content knowledge through one-off or infrequent seminars, to ‘advocating’ for effective use of technology in continuous, school-based teacher professional development to increase effective communication, support peer learning and encourage critical reflection on teaching practices.

The three papers presented in this panel take diverse methodological approaches, which allows for different lenses to be taken on the topic of technology for TPD. Crucially, the theme that unites our papers is that technology is only effective if 1) it is used in a way that is appropriate to the context and purpose and 2) if it is built into and integrated with TPD implementation plans (as opposed to being treated as an additive layer).

The first (theoretical) paper is a comprehensive synthesis of the evidence that already exists on the use of EdTech in TPD in LMICs. The presentation reports the outcomes of a systematic literature review asking: How can EdTech support effective, scalable, sustained development of teachers in LMICs, including improving subject knowledge and/or classroom pedagogy? Analysis of the 170 papers emerging outlined the strengths, linkages, and gaps in the field, including limited attention to marginalised groups of teachers or learners.

The second (empirical) paper situates itself in the current moment of the COVID-19 pandemic and reports on the largest teacher survey of its kind, with over 20,000 responses from 165 countries. The paper assesses the impact of the pandemic on school teachers and learners and focuses on: a) access to and use of technology for teaching and learning, b) learning losses during the pandemic, and c) teacher professional development (TPD) experiences and needs. The findings illustrated how the digital divide further marginalised those with less access to technology, with analysis broken down according to urban/rural/other locations, type of school, and level of teaching experience. It also illustrates the heightened awareness of, and demand for, TPD that focuses on using technology tools for remote teaching and learning. The findings bring the essential teacher voice to the table, complementing the messages from the literature review about what works where and why, and offering crucial insights into what teachers need at this point in time.

The third paper (an applied study) takes a country-specific lens and focuses on Tanzania. It describes how the Government of Tanzania, supported by our team, is using existing and ongoing research and evidence on tech-supported TPD, including from our systematic review (Paper 1) and other sources, to directly impact its policy and practice. The paper outlines the current process of developing and implementing the national, tech-supported school-based teacher professional development programme in Tanzania. This TPD implementation plan shifts away from expensive, discreet, cascaded workshop models for TPD to a more cost-effective, scalable, continuous, school-based, tech-supported TPD model that centres on communities of learning. This pioneering model is being implemented by the government at a national level, unusually for a LMIC context. The paper also outlines the technical assistance and innovative sandbox approach that our team is using to support the iterative development and testing of the TPD implementation plan.

Through these three papers, we advocate for innovative ways of doing research that are locally-led, action-based, iterative and collaborative as well as new ways of envisioning the use of technology in TPD that is culturally relevant and context-specific. With such an approach, technology can be used to improve the equity and quality of TCPD across LMICs contexts, leveraging the specific affordances of technology such as radio/audio, tablets, videos, social media and OER, including in blended learning models. While our emerging research paves the way for tech-supported TPD initiatives that centre rural and marginalised communities, more research is needed to foster equitable and quality education systems for the most vulnerable countries and communities. Nevertheless, emerging evidence is already beginning to inform policy and practice in LMICs, such as in the Tanzanian national TPD plan. We draw out the messages for diverse stakeholders during this session.

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