Page 142 - Innovative Professional Development Methods and Strategies for STEM Education

Teachers’ Professional Development in the Digitized World

Table 4. The experienced impact areas immediately after the training

Pedagogical I am feeling more competent in technology now.
technological My knowledge increased about different technological tools.
knowledge
I learnt a low and feel competent to make interdisciplinary connections. I also developed ideas about what I can do in
the lessons.
I feel that I am more equipped with educational technologies
I have overcome the fear of using technology after the training.
I feel that I have developed new ways of using technologies.
I feel that I want to learn more of educational technologies.
I feel that I can actively use these tools autonomously
I realized that there is still more to learn about educational technologies.
I think the training made me feel that I am promoting my pedagogical technological further skills.
Change I have started to change my perspective of teaching via technology.
I feel that I am changing in terms of personal development and views about teaching.
I feel impressed and satisfied with new skills I have learnt.
I have more alternative ideas about new applications when I make lesson plans.
I feel that I am learning and developing skills that I lacked before.
I feel synergetic and happy to equipped new ideas about technology use in the classroom.
Technology I have been part of a network where I can find support and share my ideas
network
I now know that teachers can make difference in the way they use technologies when they are connected to others.

DISCUSSION

ETUSP 2 was designed as a digitized in-service teacher training program to enhance the integration
of technology into teaching such various subjects like Maths, Science, English,Turkish. Teachers were
given the online content and guided feedback on their lessons to have better outcomes in teaching and
learning. The participants had the chance to work in groups and could visit other groups to see how
they integrate various tools into their subjects. This worked well and teacher had to share their group
work with some other teachers during the training. It created a positive atmosphere to exchange ideas
for the same goal. Similarly, Overbauch and Lu (2008 in Potter & Rockinson-Szapkiw, 2012) came up
with the idea that an increased emphasis on technology integration was positively correlated to col-
laborative efforts. Moreover, Potter & Rockinson-Szapkiw (2012) state that as teachers’ technological
competence and confidence increased, so did their self-efficacy. Overbaugh and Lu (2008) state that
the increase in self-efficacy resulted in more experimentation with technology in the classroom and in
the teachers’ immediate environment i.e. their colleagues and the school. This was also observed in the
answers teachers provided about the short-term impacts of the course. The teachers who participated
the online course expressed that they felt themselves more knowledgeable after seeing and practicing
various technological tools into their teaching during the training. This encouraged them to continue
learning and disseminate their knowledge to other teachers through conferences and social platforms
(writing posts on Twitter, on technology blogs, Facebook).
Another positive impact of the digitized course ETUSP 2 was teachers spending more time on plan-
ning before integrating any kind of technology in their lessons. One of the modules in the training was

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