A 'blended' in-service arrangement for classroom technology integration: Impacts on teachers and students

Abstract

Many studies report that the implementation of technology in education is a complex innovation. Particularly teachers lack skills to integrate technology in their instructional processes. Therefore the potential of technology in the classroom is hardly realized. Teacher learning on classroom use of technology is considered important. In this contribution a 'blended' in-service arrangement to support secondary school teachers in the integration of technology in their classroom is presented. The arrangement consisted of workshops, exemplary curriculum materials and computer mediated communication. The article describes and discusses two studies that applied and evaluated the 'blended' approach to teacher professional development. The results of both studies show that this seems a promising arrangement for supporting the integration of technology in education. However, realizing the potential of technology to create 'communities of practice' remains difficult because for most teachers this use of technology is yet not congruent with their daily routines. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.