Developing Innovative TEL Practice in Teacher Education

This interactive symposium will focus on the use of different technologies in developing innovative practice in teacher education at one university in England. Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) is a field of educational policy and practice that has the power to ignite diametrically opposing views and reactions amongst teachers and teacher educators, ranging across a spectrum from immense enthusiasm to untold terror. In a field where the skills and experience of individuals vary from those of digital natives (Prensky 2001) to lags and lurkers in digital spaces, the challenges of harnessing the potential of TEL are complex. The challenges include developing the IT skills of trainees and educators and the creative application of these skills to pedagogy in all areas of the curriculum. The symposium draws on examples from primary, secondary and post-compulsory teacher education to discuss issues and approaches to developing research capacity and innovative practice using different etools, many of which are freely available.

The first paper offers theoretical and policy perspectives on finding spaces in busy professional
lives to engage in research and develop
research-informed practice. It draws on notions of teachers as researchers, practitioner
research and evidenc-ebased practice to argue that engagement in research is integral to teacher
education and an empowering source of creative professional learning for teachers and teacher
educators. Whilst acknowledging the challenges of this stance, examples from our own research
practice illustrate how e-tools can assist us in building the capacity and confidence of staff and
students in researching and enhancing teaching, learning and assessment practice.

The second paper discusses IT skills development through the TEL pathway for trainee teachers in
secondary education across different curriculum subjects. The lead tutor for the TEL pathway will
use examples of activities developed with trainee teachers and university subject tutors to
enhance their skills in using e-tools, such as QR codes, Kahoot, Padlet, Pinterest and cloud based
learning. The paper will also focus on how these skills and tools can be used for action

Discussant - the wider use of technologies in a university centre for teacher education; course management, recruitment and mentor training.
research, evaluation and feedback and for marking and administrative tasks. The discussion will
finish with thoughts on widening trainee teachers’ horizons into the future direction of
educational technology.

The third paper considers institutional policies and strategies for promoting and embedding TEL,
including an initiative called ‘The Learning Conversation’, which aims ‘to share, highlight,
celebrate, discuss, problematise, find things out...’ about TEL through an online space. The
lead for ‘The Learning Conversation’ will offer reflections on this and other initiatives across
the institution involving trainee teachers, university subject tutors, librarians and staff in
student support services who are using TEL to engage, enthuse and support students on campus and
during placements in schools.

The fourth paper reflects on the use of TEL to engage with trainee teachers in post-compulsory
education. This sector of education and training is more fragmented than primary and secondary
schools sectors and so the challenges of building a community of practice that can support the
development of innovative practice are greater.