title: Enhancing teachers' use of web-based resources: A case study of secondary technology teachers

authors: Mangan, Jennifer

subjects: web-based resources

abstract: The need for teachers to develop their content knowledge and understanding of the nature of technology remains an issue for technology education in New Zealand, and although web-based resources (WBRs) offer an effective means of supporting teachers in this endeavour, and have acknowledged potential to transform education, teachers are not necessarily well prepared to integrate WBRs effectively into their pedagogy.
This research set out to investigate how teachers could be supported to enhance their classroom use of WBRs in secondary school technology education. This involved investigating the nature and extent of the participants’ existing classroom practice using WBRs, designing and implementing a sustained intervention programme to support them to expand and enhance the ways in which they integrated WBRs into their technology programmes, and evaluating how and why this influenced their classroom practice. The participants – seven experienced secondary school technology teachers – were from three different schools, had a range of backgrounds, and taught a range of technological areas including food, textiles and structural technology.
The study employed an interpretive research design and qualitative research methods, and was underpinned by a sociocultural theoretical perspective. The design of the intervention was informed by literature on characteristics of effective teacher professional development in general, ICT professional development in particular, sociocultural theories of learning, and Bell and Gilbert’s (1994) model of teacher professional development which emphasises the importance of addressing three dimensions of teacher development (personal, professional and social). The intervention incorporated the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) as a tool for communicating the complex knowledge base required for effective integration of WBRs. The framework was also used to analyse participants’ developing knowledge as they integrated new ideas and approaches in the classroom.
This research concludes that when particular components are included in a professional development programme, teachers can be supported to enhance their classroom use of WBRs and to become empowered to continue their own ongoing development, even when they have limited skills and knowledge and face significant constraints. While the critical elements of the intervention were not new, the particular combination of components was unique. 
The study also draws attention to the complex range of variables that can influence individual teachers as they progress in their integration of WBRs and development of TPACK. It explores, using velocity as an analogy, how various factors, and their interactions, impacted on the degree, and rate, of change of the teachers’ integration of WBRs.
Findings indicate that in the current educational and ICT environment, and in technology education in particular, with recent curriculum and assessment changes, teachers are likely to acknowledge a need to increase and/or enhance their classroom use of ICT and are therefore willing to engage in professional development that appears relevant and manageable in their particular teaching context. 
Although examples of transformative use exist, the overall impact of ICT in education remains limited despite government funding for ICT initiatives and increasing use of ICT in education. Therefore the conclusions of this study are particularly relevant in the current educational environment. Although the research is limited in scope to integrating WBRs in technology education, it is likely that the key principles of the intervention can be more broadly applied to ICT professional development in other subject areas.

text: Enhancing teachers' use of web-based resources: A case study of secondary technology teachers The need for teachers to develop their content knowledge and understanding of the nature of technology remains an issue for technology education in New Zealand, and although web-based resources (WBRs) offer an effective means of supporting teachers in this endeavour, and have acknowledged potential to transform education, teachers are not necessarily well prepared to integrate WBRs effectively into their pedagogy.
This research set out to investigate how teachers could be supported to enhance their classroom use of WBRs in secondary school technology education. This involved investigating the nature and extent of the participants’ existing classroom practice using WBRs, designing and implementing a sustained intervention programme to support them to expand and enhance the ways in which they integrated WBRs into their technology programmes, and evaluating how and why this influenced their classroom practice. The participants – seven experienced secondary school technology teachers – were from three different schools, had a range of backgrounds, and taught a range of technological areas including food, textiles and structural technology.
The study employed an interpretive research design and qualitative research methods, and was underpinned by a sociocultural theoretical perspective. The design of the intervention was informed by literature on characteristics of effective teacher professional development in general, ICT professional development in particular, sociocultural theories of learning, and Bell and Gilbert’s (1994) model of teacher professional development which emphasises the importance of addressing three dimensions of teacher development (personal, professional and social). The intervention incorporated the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) as a tool for communicating the complex knowledge base required for effective integration of WBRs. The framework was also used to analyse participants’ developing knowledge as they integrated new ideas and approaches in the classroom.
This research concludes that when particular components are included in a professional development programme, teachers can be supported to enhance their classroom use of WBRs and to become empowered to continue their own ongoing development, even when they have limited skills and knowledge and face significant constraints. While the critical elements of the intervention were not new, the particular combination of components was unique. 
The study also draws attention to the complex range of variables that can influence individual teachers as they progress in their integration of WBRs and development of TPACK. It explores, using velocity as an analogy, how various factors, and their interactions, impacted on the degree, and rate, of change of the teachers’ integration of WBRs.
Findings indicate that in the current educational and ICT environment, and in technology education in particular, with recent curriculum and assessment changes, teachers are likely to acknowledge a need to increase and/or enhance their classroom use of ICT and are therefore willing to engage in professional development that appears relevant and manageable in their particular teaching context. 
Although examples of transformative use exist, the overall impact of ICT in education remains limited despite government funding for ICT initiatives and increasing use of ICT in education. Therefore the conclusions of this study are particularly relevant in the current educational environment. Although the research is limited in scope to integrating WBRs in technology education, it is likely that the key principles of the intervention can be more broadly applied to ICT professional development in other subject areas.

year: 2016

title: When does it get any easier?: Beginning teachers' experiences during their first year of teaching.

authors: Lang, Catherine Margaret

subjects: first year teachers

abstract: Studies of beginning teachers' readiness to teach indicate a range of areas in which these teachers feel nervous about teaching, prior to beginning their first teaching position. Studies of the first year of teaching demonstrate that the reality shock of teaching is something that affects beginning teachers in a variety of ways. The literature on the stages of teacher development tells us that the "survival" stage in teaching can last throughout the whole first year of teaching. This New Zealand study follows seven beginning teachers through their first year of teaching and identifies the points at which the teachers began to say, "I'm getting on top of it now".

text: When does it get any easier?: Beginning teachers' experiences during their first year of teaching. Studies of beginning teachers' readiness to teach indicate a range of areas in which these teachers feel nervous about teaching, prior to beginning their first teaching position. Studies of the first year of teaching demonstrate that the reality shock of teaching is something that affects beginning teachers in a variety of ways. The literature on the stages of teacher development tells us that the "survival" stage in teaching can last throughout the whole first year of teaching. This New Zealand study follows seven beginning teachers through their first year of teaching and identifies the points at which the teachers began to say, "I'm getting on top of it now".

year: 2001

title: Eke panuku, eke tangaroa! How Black Ferns 7s athletes navigate Instagram and inspire the next generation in Aotearoa

authors: Keet, Thandiwe Maia

subjects: Gender

abstract: This thesis considers the role of Instagram in the lives of players on the New Zealand Black Ferns 7s rugby team, and audience engagement with players’ social media accounts. Using a mana wāhine methodology, this study explores how Black Ferns 7s players utilize and navigate Instagram, through mixed-methods enquiry, including a social media analysis of 8 players’ accounts, interviews with 3 Black Ferns 7s players, and talanoa sessions with members of the women’s rugby community in the Bay of Plenty, supplemented by input from Black Ferns players and fans via direct messages on Instagram. The quantitative social media analysis identified 4 key themes in players’ Instagram posts: achievement, team & rugby, life outside rugby, and culture & vulnerability. The analysis reveals that players post the most regarding their “team & rugby”, generating an “athlete first” self- representation. It finds a statistically significant difference in the thematic content of Instagram posts based on squad seniority and the number of followers a player has. Followers were found to engage most with posts regarding “achievement”, and the least with posts regarding “culture and vulnerability”.
The interviews elaborate upon these quantitative differences by highlighting why athletes specifically use Instagram, insights into Black Ferns aspirational team dynamics, and the importance of a player’s life outside of rugby. The thematic analysis also reveals the digital economic and collective labour involved in producing social media content as a member of this team, and what it means to be culturally “authentic” online in Aotearoa. It reveals the unique elements generated by the team-sport context of this study, including intra-team differences in social media usage. Furthermore, hauora, Indigenous role modeling, and Tall Poppy Syndrome emerge as factors particularly unique to the cultural context within which this study takes place. The discussions culminate in the establishment of a layered understanding of the external, internal, and individual factors which shape Instagram posting habits, and the features which most significantly impact why audiences follow the curated displays Black Ferns 7s athletes provide online.
This project contributes to international literature on sportswomen’s use of social media, demonstrating the powerful ways that players support one another in what, when, and how they post, and the importance of cultural identity in Māori and Pasifika players’ social media engagement. It further reveals the importance of team culture in shaping individual players’ social media and audience engagement. This thesis also highlights the significance of sporting and cultural histories and intersectional identities in digital self-representation and fan engagement with sportswomen’s social media usage.

text: Eke panuku, eke tangaroa! How Black Ferns 7s athletes navigate Instagram and inspire the next generation in Aotearoa This thesis considers the role of Instagram in the lives of players on the New Zealand Black Ferns 7s rugby team, and audience engagement with players’ social media accounts. Using a mana wāhine methodology, this study explores how Black Ferns 7s players utilize and navigate Instagram, through mixed-methods enquiry, including a social media analysis of 8 players’ accounts, interviews with 3 Black Ferns 7s players, and talanoa sessions with members of the women’s rugby community in the Bay of Plenty, supplemented by input from Black Ferns players and fans via direct messages on Instagram. The quantitative social media analysis identified 4 key themes in players’ Instagram posts: achievement, team & rugby, life outside rugby, and culture & vulnerability. The analysis reveals that players post the most regarding their “team & rugby”, generating an “athlete first” self- representation. It finds a statistically significant difference in the thematic content of Instagram posts based on squad seniority and the number of followers a player has. Followers were found to engage most with posts regarding “achievement”, and the least with posts regarding “culture and vulnerability”.
The interviews elaborate upon these quantitative differences by highlighting why athletes specifically use Instagram, insights into Black Ferns aspirational team dynamics, and the importance of a player’s life outside of rugby. The thematic analysis also reveals the digital economic and collective labour involved in producing social media content as a member of this team, and what it means to be culturally “authentic” online in Aotearoa. It reveals the unique elements generated by the team-sport context of this study, including intra-team differences in social media usage. Furthermore, hauora, Indigenous role modeling, and Tall Poppy Syndrome emerge as factors particularly unique to the cultural context within which this study takes place. The discussions culminate in the establishment of a layered understanding of the external, internal, and individual factors which shape Instagram posting habits, and the features which most significantly impact why audiences follow the curated displays Black Ferns 7s athletes provide online.
This project contributes to international literature on sportswomen’s use of social media, demonstrating the powerful ways that players support one another in what, when, and how they post, and the importance of cultural identity in Māori and Pasifika players’ social media engagement. It further reveals the importance of team culture in shaping individual players’ social media and audience engagement. This thesis also highlights the significance of sporting and cultural histories and intersectional identities in digital self-representation and fan engagement with sportswomen’s social media usage.

year: 2022