Resources

The world is changing. Students are increasingly attuned to the demands of living in a technology-driven world and fully expect 24/7 connectivity, be it by e-mail, text or mobile internet access.

For some students, this can create a gap between their experiences outside school and within it - leading them to feel that they are powering down once they enter the school gates. Some teachers, meanwhile, are struggling to find the time to keep up with new teaching methods and the practical acquisition and use of the new learning technologies available.

As Professor Rosamund Sutherland of the University of Bristol's School of Education puts it, "Children are pretty experimental. Often it is the teacher who is more cautious - we have to change that. We want them to do things that are creative and that help with learning."

Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for teachers has the potential to bring about this change - as well as being vital for morale and personal development, and for creating a vibrant and discursive professional environment. Until the introduction of five compulsory annual INSET training days in the 1980s, most professional development took place during initial teacher training. However since then, in this age of connectivity, the ongoing development of teachers' CPD has been inextricably linked to new technologies and the use of ICT in the classroom.

ICT really does assist learning, as the University of Bristol's InterActive Learning project is finding out. Built around the adaptation of existing software to develop innovative tools for learning purposes, many of the participating teachers found that the 'wow factor' of the technology draws children in - and after that, they are more likely to develop a genuine interest in the subject, whilst also improving their life skills such as communication and team-working. Instead of replacing traditional teaching methods - which some teachers fear - the use of ICT can augment their possibilities for engaging and teaching young learners.

So, many teachers are looking to CPD to help them to acquire the skills they need to make use of technology in this way. Some of the options, many of which have been developed by the DfES (Department for Education and Skills), include:

• Internet forums and online learning modules on Teachernet - available to all teachers, the site provides resources and useful links for all aspects of teaching from planning to supporting children with medical needs. It includes links to useful sites, such as museums, and has a broadband video channel which plays a host of topical clips including key discussions with Ministers and experts. It also guides teachers through the various elements of CPD, be it national strategy and standards or individual case studies and resources.
• Teacher's TV - launched in February 2005 and linked to Teachernet, this digital TV channel for teachers offers unique support, facilitating the sharing of experiences and eliminating the need to reinvent the wheel. It shares best practice, news round-ups, documentaries, debates and other resources, including CPD information.
• Online publications - with all the latest news and reports on subjects of interest to teachers, such as the exploration of learning behaviours and new pedagogies.
• Digital video to capture classroom interactions, enabling teachers to analyse their techniques.
• Teaching software, such as the BETT 2006 award-winning MediaStage that puts creative and collaborative learning at its core (www.immersiveeducation.com/mediastage).

However, use of these types of resources is voluntary, as is participation in the CPD scheme itself. "At present, it's up to schools to decide what resources they allocate to teacher development," says Fisher. "Ideally, the online resources would be backed up by a mentor system and the programme would be rolled out to all schools. For now, at least all teachers should be aware of them and able to access them."

In practice, £8 million has been allocated for developing ICT in schools to help teachers during their initial training, and subsequently most existing teachers have been given access to laptops as part of their continuing development. "It sounds simple, but it has made a huge difference," says Tim Tarrant, ICT specialist at the Teacher Development Agency (TDA). "The best way of equipping teachers to work with new classroom technology is to have them using it. Teachers' understanding has grown exponentially, and with that, so has their willingness to use technology in lessons." He goes on to explain further about the CPD scheme: "It also extends into leadership and management, with training for teachers at the National College of School Leadership which was set up six years ago."

Tarrant contends that solid progress is being made in terms of teachers' ongoing development. Some 75% of schools - 23,000 - and 35,000 teachers in the UK are involved in training at any one time, some of which will be ICT-based and some more general. "I've seen amazing results from teachers using building blocks on an interactive whiteboard to teach algebra, and equally from the simple use of puppets in role-play at Key Stage 2," he says, "whilst the use of computer-aided design has had a big impact at secondary level. Most teachers are keen to try new techniques which enable children to learn more effectively."

The TDA is clearly moving things forward but there is still much more to be done to empower teachers to work with technology in the classroom. Tarrant again: "We are closing the gap. We are trying to create the environment where schools have the time and resources to develop their staff, and the CPD scheme has a crucial role to play in this."

There are others too that are helping to develop teachers' CPD for the 21st century. Tony Fisher, who, having been a geography teacher for 18 years, now works as ICT coordinator and teacher trainer in the School of Education at Nottingham University, expands: "We are definitely equipping teachers for the technological age, and our current focus is to enhance subject teaching using ICT. We have developed numerous online resources and modules for teachers to use as part of their ongoing development, providing help with lesson planning and learning software designed for classroom use - and of course ICT has the potential to greatly assist CPD through online forums, virtual communities and so forth."

These developments are welcome, but John Morgan, an ex-teacher and now a Senior Researcher at Futurelab, adds a note of caution. "There is a difference between the rhetoric and the reality," he says. "Of course it's good that these resources are available, but it is also essential to make sure that they match teachers' actual needs. There has been a sense in the past that training has been imposed - hopefully, with these new initiatives and the choices they bring, this situation will improve."

So, do these measures go far enough? There remains an overarching question over the potential need for transformation of the education system - the actual way we teach. Current initiatives in CPD mostly facilitate current methods and thinking but, for real development, more wholesale change might be needed. If the first step, from the 1980s to the present, has been essentially about giving teachers the tools and skills they need to teach, then maybe the next step should be more transformational - CPD which encourages and supports teachers to think outside the box and to learn from the technology which can help them to teach more effectively.

Tony Fisher sees some difficulties in introducing wholesale change and in bringing teachers on board. "Cynicism can be a problem," he said. "It's not just about a fear of new technology, either. Trends come and go - in the 80s, many teachers were very much in favour of project-based, cross-curriculum teaching, which is now being put forward again, but then along came the Education Reform Act of 1988 and slapped them back. So they may ask themselves, is this just a fad being imposed on them, or something they own? Of course it's our goal to bring on board new technology, and to use CPD to cross-fertilise ideas and get teachers talking to each other - but we mustn't lose sight of the teachers themselves; why they became teachers, how they see themselves in the role. They are fundamentally 'people people', and I would argue that a vibrant staffroom can be more helpful than an online CPD forum. It is not a cure-all."

Like Fisher, Tim Tarrant does not see CPD as a panacea which alone can transform a system often considered to be over-reliant on assessment and examination. "We need to take one step at a time, and not reinvent the wheel. You can't force the pace if you want to bring teachers with you," he says. "CPD is an important part of the future, as is classroom technology, but not the whole of it."

But there are many who suggest that teachers' CPD does need to move forward if we are to keep pace with changes in the way we prefer to learn and, indeed, the wider world. In their research in 2002 McLaughlin and Talbert found that there are two types of learning communities. In the first, teachers interact around their traditional teaching practices to reinforce those things that aren't working in the first place. However, in the second, they work together to innovate to improve their teaching practices. This would suggest that we need far more intensive professional learning within a culture of continuous deliberation, and that it has to be continually tested by external best practice standards - in other words, we need to be innovative with teachers' CPD.

An example of innovative teacher training, involving the use of video-conferencing facilities and other interactive technology such as remotecontrolled cameras, can be found at the Teaching and Learning Observatory (TLO), University of Nottingham School of Education. The TLO enables student teachers to observe innovative teaching live by linking the University's education department with a network of remote national and international secondary leading (or 'beacon') schools. This same technology has also enabled a 'virtual meeting' of school students and student teachers in order to discuss what is effective and what is not, in relation to teaching practice.

Whilst currently not common practice, it may not be long before innovative ideas like this are being used by all teachers, not just at the beginning of their career, but throughout. Some teachers will welcome these developments with open arms, while others will get on board more slowly. Either way, it is imperative that teachers' CPD is relevant, useful, rewarding, and improves practice in both teaching and learning - as well, of course, as preparing them for a world with ICT.

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