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This book presents a fresh approach to bridging the perceived gap between academic and classroom cultures. It describes a unique form of research partnership whereby Cambridge University academics and school teachers together grappled with and reformulated theory – through in-depth case studies analysing practice using interactive whiteboards in five subject areas. The inquiry exploited the collaborators’ complementary professional knowledge bases. Teachers’ voices are particularly audible in co-authored case study chapters. Outcomes included deeper insights into concepts of sociocultural learning theory and classroom dialogue, more analytical mindsets, sustained new practices and ways of working collegially. The book reflects upon the power of lesson video review and details how the co-inquirers negotiated “intermediate theory” – bridging educational theory and specific settings – framed in mutually accessible language and embodied in interactive multimedia resources for teacher development. These include video clips, analytic commentary from multiple perspectives, lesson materials, plus optional prompts for reflection and critique – not models of “best practice”. The resources make pedagogy explicit and vividly illustrate the book’s ideas, offering theory-informed yet practical tools designed with and for practitioners. Hennessy and colleagues have tested a model of ongoing, teacher-led development and innovation, professional dialogue and classroom trialing stimulated by discussing selected multimedia resources. The book will interest academic and teacher researchers, initial teacher educators, professional development leaders, mentors, plus practitioners interested in using interactive whiteboards and dialogic teaching. It explores widening approaches to collegial development to reach educators working in other contexts (with and without technology). This could involve intermediate theory building or shortcutting by sharing and adapting the outcomes – springboarding teachers’ further critique and professional learning. “I cannot recommend this book too highly … it weaves a complex developmental story with a range of facets. It emphasises clearly the rigour of the research that was conducted, while demonstrating the complexity of the inter-relationships, practices and issues for both teachers and researchers in developing practical and theoretical knowledge. Its graphic insights through text and associated media provide exemplars for teachers and those who work with teachers as a rich resource. It shows us all what can be achieved and the means of achieving it.” Prof. Barbara Jaworski, University of Loughborough

Problem Analysis. A Global Public Good produced by the EdTech Hub (https://EdTechhub.org, #EdTechHub). (Working Paper No. 5)

Hennessy, S., Jordan, K., Haßler, B., … Sabates, R. - 2020 - EdTech Hub

An output by the EdTech Hub - #EdTechHub, https://edtechhub.org

Keyword inventory (version 1) (Working Paper - Research Instrument No. 08–1)

Haßler, B., Adam, T., Brugha, M., … Walker, H. - 2019 - EdTech Hub

The document contains the keyword inventory used for automated searching. This file is now superseeded by DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3908363, see https://docs.edtechhub.org/lib/55A44ZRB.

Country list with HDI, iHDI, MPI and Gini (version 1) (Research Instrument No. 08–2)

Haßler, B., Adam, T., Brugha, M., … Walker, H. - 2019 - EdTech Hub

This is pdf of a country list with HDI, iHDI, MPI and Gini. This file is now superseeded by DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3908363, see https://docs.edtechhub.org/lib/55A44ZRB (which will also be available as a data file).

Developing sustainable and scalable educational initiatives is a key challenge in low-income countries where donor-funded short-term projects are limited by both contextual factors and programme design. In this commentary we examine some of the issues related to in-service teacher development in the context of sub-Saharan Africa, grounded predominantly in our work of over five years of iteratively developing, refining and evaluating an intensive school-based professional learning programme for primary school teachers. ‘OER4Schools’ integrates interactive pedagogy, Open Educational Resources (OER) and the use of mobile devices (where available). Our focus here is on identifying what the main factors are perceived to be in sustaining and scaling up such a programme, from the perspectives of participating teachers, workshop facilitators and the research team. Synthesising our previous research and drawing on recent work in the field, we identify the key characteristics of effective and sustainable professional learning in low-resourced contexts. Such characteristics include effective peer facilitation, school-based active learning, explicit programme structure, appropriate scheduling and resourcing, and mitigating resource constraints through the use of OER. Our conclusions offer insights concerning the importance and impact of wider influences on participation and engagement of stakeholders and lead to recommendations for future programme design and implementation.

This paper synthesises the research literature on teachers‟ use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in primary and secondary schools in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular emphasis on improving the quality of subject teaching and learning. We focus on the internal factors of influence on teachers‟ use, or lack of use, of technology in the classroom. Our discussion attends to perceptions and beliefs about ICT and their motivating effects, technological literacy and confidence levels, pedagogical expertise related to technology use, and the role of teacher education. These factors are discussed in light of significant infrastructure and other external issues. We conclude by drawing out a number of pedagogical implications for initial teacher education and professional development to bring schooling within developing contexts into the 21 st century.

Supporting and upskilling teachers are essential to enhancing the quality of learning in developing contexts – the focus of Education For All – yet little evidence exists concerning what kinds of teacher education are actually most effective and what changes in ‘quality’ are desired and feasible. This paper illustrates how a concrete, research-informed school-based, model of professional development in sub-Saharan Africa can address the quality agenda. It reports on a trial of a pioneering, multimedia programme supporting interactive mathematics and science teaching using open educational resources and classroom digital technology, where available. The programme was carefully adapted to the Zambian context and ran weekly for one school year with 12 teachers in a low-resourced primary school. The study examined the impact on teachers' thinking and classroom practices. Data were derived from observations, lesson and workshop recordings, teacher interviews, portfolios and audio diaries. Through a teacher-led workshop approach and trialling new pedagogical strategies, teachers raised their expectations of pupils, adapted to learners’ knowledge levels, used more practical and group work, and integrated technology use. Pupils built deeper understanding of subject matter, were actively engaged, worked collaboratively and used digital technologies for problem-solving.

Developing sustainable and scalable educational initiatives is a key challenge in low-income countries where donor-funded short-term projects are limited by both contextual factors and programme design. In this concept paper we examine some of the issues related to in-service teacher development in the context of sub-Saharan Africa, grounded predominantly in our experiences of over 5 years of iteratively developing, refining and evaluating an intensive school-based professional learning programme for primary school teachers. “OER4Schools” integrates interactive pedagogy, Open Educational Resources (OER) and use of mobile devices (where available). The focus of this paper is on identifying what the main factors are perceived to be in sustaining and scaling up such a programme, from the perspectives of participating teachers, workshop facilitators and the research team. Synthesising our previous research and drawing on recent work in the field, we identify the key characteristics of effective and sustainable professional learning in low-resourced contexts. Such characteristics include effective peer facilitation, school-based active learning, explicit programme structure, appropriate scheduling and resourcing, and mitigating resource constraints through use of OER. Our conclusions thereby offer insights concerning the importance and impact of wider influences on participation and engagement of stakeholders and lead to recommendations for programme design and implementation, that should be taken on board by future initiatives.