Cognition

School leaders need to :
●    lead the development of a long-term school specific vision for ICT integration
●    develop, refine and re-visit ICT Plans which need to be aligned with school strategic plans
●    address their own professional learning needs
●    encourage attendance at relevant conferences
●    share relevant professional readings
●    participate in online learning communities

Twenty years of attempts at teacher development in technology use has produced, at best, mixed results. However, those attempts have shown us what works and what does not work in terms of  teacher development in eLearning.
Our approach to professional learning is guided by the following principles:
●    Participants need to be aware of the need for education to adapt to a rapidly changing world – learning to change, changing to learn
●    The model must be flexible enough to meet the different needs of each school and each teacher within the schools; it must also be adaptable to changing needs; the model cannot be “one size to fit all”.
●    professional learning should focus on the use of eLearning tools to achieve curriculum driven objectives and to engage learners, not on the use of the tools for their own sake
●    a “just in time” model of professional learning, whereby the focus is on eLearning strategies which teachers can use almost immediately in their planned programmes has more impact than a “just-in-case” model, in which skills and approaches are learned which may or may not have immediate application in the classroom. However, programmes must also recognise the place of workshops to:
o    introduce or reinforce concepts (especially pedagogical concepts) to a wider group before more individualised professional engagement
o    introduce new tools which will have immediate application
o    meet the identified needs of groups of teacher
Work with teachers needs to include:
●    working alongside individual teachers as they plan forthcoming units of learning, identifying where ICTs and digital resources could help engage learners and enhance learning outcomes and then reflecting on the impact of the use of ICTs
●    workshops where there is an identified generic need (eg using laptops in a differentiated learning environment) or where there is a more specific need for a group of teachers (eg thinking skills in science) or where a key tool is being introduced. The form of any workshop needs to be determined by the focus and audience and could range from presentations to hands-on explorations, from short drop-in sessions to more structured presentations, from face-to-face events to online webinars and workshops utilising Web 2.0 tools
●    alerting teachers to relevant conferences and seminars
●    the ongoing provision of relevant professional readings and learning tools
●    arranging where practical, inter-school visits to enable the sharing of effective emerging practice.

Educational reforms which rely on simply getting ICT resources in place without sufficient focus on supporting teachers to use those resources effectively has not succeeded in the past. Computers and digital resources are important but how teachers and students use them to enhance learning is the primary focus. That is why the professional learning of teachers is at the heart of change. Cognition’s approach acknowledges that before ICTs can be successfully integrated, firm pedagogical foundations need to be in place, including effective lesson planning to scaffold learning, active and engaging learning strategies and the use of feedback and formative assessment approaches to guide learning. ICTs can support these educational fundamentals:

Students could be:
●    discussing, exploring and selecting different ways ICT can support their own learning
●    recording and reflecting on their learning in dynamic and evolving digital portfolios
●    making increasing use of the full range of smart tools, including mobile phones and handheld devices to support their learning
●    using a range of ICTs to collaborate in the creation of authentic projects and webquests which have real-world application
●    taking on the role of experts who support others in their use of ICTs
●    using appropriate tools  to peer review other students' work
●    acting as socially responsible e-citizens

Teachers might be:
●    creating virtual learning environments to meet the individual and collective needs of their students
●    designing classroom programmes that encourage students to use ICT to build and share their own knowledge, through selected Web 2.0 tools
●    utilising ICTs to enhance and broaden the scope of student assessment tasks, eg through having an assessment presented as a website or weblog
●    using ICTs to link parents to the classroom
●    undertaking action research to extend personal development in the uses of ICT
●    using educational games to enhance learning and engage learners
●    collaborating with other teachers in online professional learning communities
●    maintaining a digital professional portfolio  which highlights innovative ICT use
●    assisting with the planning of ICT professional learning opportunities
●    exploring emerging technologies

Schools and School Leaders might be:
●    sharing their understanding of the need for schools to change to a pedagogy for the 21st century
●    sharing the principles of change management with other leaders in other schools
●    storing and using assessment data to develop individual and group targets for students
●    taking a leadership role in ICT related professional learning communities
●    ensure planning for ICT is seamlessly integrated into all other school planning
●    designing research to evaluate the impact of ICTs on learning and administration
●    providing state of the art ICT infrastructure, including access to high speed internet (Internet 2.0), customized technical support and deployment by teachers and students of a range of smart devices in smart classrooms