Abstract:

Education across the world and South Africa currently face significant challenges. Whilst there is a wide appreciation that the use of technologies in education can have positive gains by “improving student achievement, improve access to schooling, increase efficiencies and reduce costs, enhance students’ ability to learn and promote their lifelong learning, and prepare them for a globally competitive workforce” (UNESCO, 2010), ICT in Education policies have focused on broad economic and social goals without adequate consideration for how to support education transformation (UNESCO, 2018). In South Africa, the Department of Basic Education’s White Paper on E-Education (2004) clearly identified “gaps in the ability of learners and teachers to use technologies effectively, to access high-quality and diverse content, to create content of their own, and to communicate, collaborate and integrate ICTs into teaching and learning” (DBE, 2004). Whilst there are now several policy documents and frameworks such as the ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (UNESCO, 2018), Professional Development Framework for Digital Learning (DBE, 2018), seventeen years since the White Paper (DBE, 2004), these gaps have not yet been resolved the same disparities existing with regard to access, use of ICT and digital content for learning and the call for professional development of teachers to go hand-in-hand with increased access to ICT resources for teaching and learning has not been foregrounded in teacher development programmes.

This study aimed to examine how a teacher professional development programme influences teachers' use of digital technologies in the classroom. Specifically, it aimed to establish what influence the teacher professional development (TPD) had on developing knowledge and skills necessary for the change in teaching practice through the use of digital technologies. The research plan was designed to describe teachers’ knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA) towards the use of ICTs for teaching and learning before the TPD, and to establish the extent to which teachers KSA’s towards ICT changed as a consequence of the TPD.

In this context, effective teacher professional development aligns to Darling-Hammond, Hyler and Gardner’s (2017) view that TPD must be content-focused, include active learning whilst supporting collaboration through modelling effective practice, sustained over time and provides coaching, mentoring support through feedback and reflection. The Professional Development Framework for Digital Learning (DBE, 2018) too supports the view that more must be accomplished within the TPD paradigm and suggests 13 aspirational skills and competencies for how teachers could be using digital tools, applications and curriculum resources for teaching and learning.

This study sought to show that carefully designed TPD can emulate the goals for educational transformation (UNESCO, 2010). The results showed a gain in skills, but also a change in expertise and teaching practice after the TPD. These results suggest that TPD when designed using adult learning principles, steeped in education theories and frameworks can have a positive gain in influencing teachers use, expertise and change in practice in the classroom.

Keywords:

Teacher development, professional development, digital learning, e-learning, TPACK, Pedagogy, Training.