Integrating Learning Technologies with Experiential Learning in a Postgraduate Teacher Education Course

Abstract

This paper discusses how a postgraduate certificate course in third-level learning and teaching for academic staff in the Republic of Ireland has adopted a particular approach in teacher education. An important aspect of the successful integration and use of learning technology is the way in which it effectively reflects and articulates a given learning model; this course has its theoretical basis in the Kolb Experiential Learning Cycle. The work illustrates that no one technology can support all types of tertiary-level learning and teaching; an effective approach is to combine a range of technologies. The self-study focuses on analyzing key experiences regarding the integration of a variety of learning technologies in an effort to determine how the teacher educator can integrate technology into the curriculum effectively. What I learned from this self-study will assist the course participants with some of the integration issues that they, in turn, will be dealing with as they move towards incorporating more learning technology into their own subject disciplines. Course tutors deliberately set out to model what we advocate to our own participants.