Seeds of Possibility: Mentoring K-7 Teacher ICT Ecologies of Cognition (Ecologies of Learning Project)

URL: http://www.seedsofpossibility.ca/
This research investigates British Columbia (BC) K-12 administrators’ and teachers’ (education professionals) perspectives and practices, and local, provincial, and federal policies regarding the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in school cultures.

We collected and analyzed empirical, research-based evidence of the conditions of educational change that affect BC education professionals’ acceptance, resistance, or opposition toward using ICT across various subject areas and teaching situations. In particular we wanted to know: “What stops education professionals from using ICT? Since the 1980s, over $6 billion has been spent on ICT infrastructure and teacher training in schools across Canada and North America. Although ICT effectiveness has been assumed and promoted in BC education, it has not been critically assessed. This research will establish empirical research-based evidence on how BC K-12 education professionals’ use ICT and how they can study their own evolving knowledge, as a means to increase their efficacy with using ICT. Such efficacy will enable them to make informed decisions about ICT policies on how to sustain their own practices and on preparing students for learning in our ever-changing knowledge-based society.

Funds were provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.