I can u can: six strategies for building teachers’ ICT confidence and capability through metacognitive discussion and reflection: experiences from Technology Together

When people are prompted to think about their values, beliefs and their past experiences they will often start to recognise factors that impact on their learning and this recognition can bring key insights into how they can help themselves to change. It can assist them to realise the strengths and limitations of various learning strategies and change their perspectives and behaviours. Computer learners can also be prompted to see that becoming a proficient computer using teacher is more about their attitudes and learning strategies than it is about having some ‘magic’ personal quality or set of skills. Technology Together, the ICT professional development approach that forms the basis of this paper, employs a metacognitive approach to teacher learning and fosters discussion and reflection within the whole school community. This paper describes and provides evaluative feedback on six strategies that can be implemented within a whole-school context. The paper provides evidence of the value of such strategies in building school cultures that are supportive of teachers’ ongoing learning.