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Mid-Atlantic Regional Technology in Education Consortium
1301 Cecil B. Moore Ave.
Ritter Annex 9th Floor
Temple University - CRHDE
Philadelphia, PA 19122
800-892-5550
215-204-5130 (fax)
General Inquires:
Laurence Peters
Judith Stull
Technical Assistance:
Barry Mansfield
Professional Development:
Joan Pasternak
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Temple University Center for Research
in Human Development and Education |
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From Online Tools to Transformative Interactions: Computer-supported Collaborative Environments for Teachers’ Reflective Practice
153
by
Johann W. Sarmiento
Drexel University
The viewpoint that technology is just a tool has been widely used to reaffirm the critical role of pedagogy and assuage educators’ concerns with computer systems intruding too much in their pedagogical practice. However, some analysts think that there is always a deeper interdependence between technology and its context or culture (Kling, 1980). The development and use of ReflectionConnnection (RC), MAR*TEC’s technology support for teachers’ professional development (Sarmiento, Schifter, Pasternak, & Mansfield, 2005), illustrates how culture and technology interact to define possible new forms of participation that can lead to increased engagement and enhanced knowledge and skills.
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For decades, the perceived isolation of teachers’ professional practice was seen as an impediment to schools’ success, and the idea of transforming schools as learning communities has been offered as a solution. However, Pomson's (2005) recent review highlights how attempts to seed and develop school learning communities stumble upon numerous cultural, ideological, organizational, and psychological factors that make it difficult to cultivate community in schools. These factors include the subtle nature of teacher privacy and the need for individual private spaces. Similar findings have been highlighted by reviews of programs designed to support the development of reflective practitioners (Pugach & Johnson, 1990). It would be naïve to expect technology-based systems to singly resolve these challenges. Socio-technical research (Brown & Duguid, 2000) suggests that successful technology “usually draws on social resources, even while helping them change” (p. 87). MAR*TEC’s intent with RC was to explore this co-evolution between teachers’ practices and technological supports for reflective practice.
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