ABSTRACT

In this yearlong qualitative study, situated within cognitive and social constructivist theory, the authors investigate the adoption of tablets (iPads) by a group of nine teacher educators for use in pre-service teacher instruction. Using data gathered from focus groups following each of three teaching terms, the authors examined how teacher educators represent their experiences in using tablet technology and the ways they integrate tablets into their teaching and mentoring practices. Participants were generally positive in their appraisal of tablets, citing promising applications for inquiry-based and collaborative learning, reflective teaching, exploratory pedagogy and authentic student assessment, among others. Several challenges to tablet use were identified, including technical infrastructure issues, a requirement for instructor support, concerns about equity in student access, cross-platform compatibility and the general pedagogical shift to iPads as a teaching platform. Recommendations and implications for practice are discussed.

摘要

在这项为期一年的定性研究中，作者基于认知和社会建构主义理论，研究了九名教师教育者对平板电脑（iPad）的采用，以用于职前教师教学。作者使用来自三个教学术语中每个主题的焦点小组收集的数据，研究了教师教育者如何代表他们使用平板电脑技术的经验以及如何将平板电脑集成到他们的教学和指导实践中。参与者对平板电脑的评价总体上是积极的，他们引用了基于探究和协作学习，反思性教学，探索性教学法和真实的学生评估等方面的前景广阔的应用。确定了平板电脑使用方面的一些挑战，包括技术基础设施问题，对教师支持的要求，关注学生访问权的公平性，跨平台兼容性以及向iPad作为教学平台的一般教学方法的转变。讨论了建议和实践意义。