Technological, pedagogical and content knowledge in one-to-one classroom: teachers developing “digital wisdom”

Abstract

One-to-one (1X1) laptop initiatives become prevalent in schools aiming to enhance active learning and assist students in developing twenty-first-century skills. This paper reports a qualitative investigation of all 7th graders and their 15 teachers in a junior high-school in Northern Israel gradually implementing 1X1 model. The research was conducted during a second year of 1X1 implementation at the school level, which was a first year of teaching and learning with laptops for all study participants. The study triangulates non-participant lessons’ observations and semi-structured interviews with 15 teachers. The data were collected twice: at the beginning and toward the end of the 2011–2012 academic year – in total, 30 observations and 30 interviews were conducted. The results were examined through phenomenological research techniques and discussed in terms of the technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) and “digital wisdom” approaches. The teachers showed significant increase of technological knowledge. However, only moderate connections between technology and pedagogy as well as between technology and content were found. Some of the teachers functioned as moderators, scaffolding students and supporting their individual or collaborative learning. However, many teachers struggled with effective management of 1X1 classroom. Neither conjunction of teacher TPACK nor facilitation of student digital skills was observed. The paper suggests an overlap of the TPACK framework and the digital wisdom approach and provides implications for curriculum developers and educational policy-makers.

Keywords:

• one-to-one laptop classroom
• the TPACK framework
• digital wisdom
• student digital literacy skills
• qualitative research

Acknowledgement

This study was supported by a grant from the Israeli Ministry of Education. The authors have no conflict of interests.

Notes on contributors

Dr. Ina Blau holds a Ph.D. in E-Learning and Cyber-Psychology. She is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Education and Psychology at the Open University of Israel. Her research interests include social aspects of e-communication and e-leadership, integration of innovative technologies in K-12, academia and organizations, digital literacy skills, online privacy in social networking, and psychological ownership in e-collaboration. http://www.openu.ac.il/Personal_sites/ina-blau/

Dr. Yehuda Peled holds a Ph.D. in Technology and Science Education. He is a Senior Lecturer and the Head of the Information Studies Department at the Western Galilee College, Israel. His research interests include the use of collaborative environments in teaching and learning, various aspects of online and F2F academic dishonesty, cyber-bullying, and organizational aspects of technology adoption in education.

Anat Nusan holds a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership. She works as teachers' mentor in the Israeli Ministry of Education and teaches in a regional school in Northern Israel. Her main interests are teacher professional development and training, educational technology, and educational leadership.