Borthwick, A., & Pierson, M. (Eds.). (2008). Transforming Classroom Practice: Professional Development Strategies in Educational Technology. Reviewed by Michele Jacobsen, University of Calgary

Borthwick, A., & Pierson, M. (Eds.). (2008). Transforming Classroom Practice: Professional Development Strategies in Educational Technology. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education Pp. 190         ISBN 978-1564842466 Reviewed by Michele Jacobsen University of Calgary August 1, 2009 In their recent edited book, Transforming Classroom Practice: Professional Development Strategies in Educational Technology, Borthwick and Pierson capture a subtle but important emphasis on learning and teaching, rather than the technology, which has characterized effective professional development in the last decade. Reminiscent of Seymour Papert’s (1980) emphasis on children’s powerful ideas first, and computers second, the Editors of this book capture the complex interplay between instructional leadership, school vision, professional development, transformed pedagogy and the robust technological infrastructure needed to support meaningful and authentic student learning with technology. Transforming Classroom Practice: Professional Development Strategies in Educational Technology is published by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), an organization that has developed a good reputation for improving teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology in education. The editors, Arlene Borthwick, an associate professor of Instructional Technology, past president of ISTE’s Special Interest Group for Teacher Educators and member of the Editorial board of the Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, and Melissa Pierson, an associate professor of Instructional Technology, provide a well-referenced source of time-tested models for effective professional development. Twenty-six experienced and well-respected educators and researchers from across the United States, Australia and New Zealand have contributed research and documented experiences to this useful handbook. Along with an introduction, the twelve chapters in this book are organized into three sections: three introductory chapters, nine chapters on successful professional development models, and a concluding section in which the editors weave together key lessons from the professional development models and themes that have emerged across the chapters. In the first chapter, several well-known theoretical and conceptual models that have guided our understanding of changes in instruction over time, including stages of concern, concerns-based adoption model, diffusion of innovations, four-stage professional renewal cycle, and the new consensus model are presented. The authors cannot do justice to any of these models in one short chapter. However, the authors do reference more detailed theoretical works that will help readers who want to read further, and these models show up in several of the subsequent professional development case studies. The key call to action is “more and better research on the effects of professional development on teaching and learning”, which is a laudable goal (p. 21). The second chapter on adult learning theories and practices, and the third on organizational cultures and change, are detailed enough to be helpful, provide great questions and recommendations for action, and reference good research and theory throughout and at the end that enable interested readers to take their own inquiry further. The nine professional development chapters can be read in any order; however, I read the concluding chapter first, followed by the introductory chapters and then charted a unique path through the case study chapters using the handy “Professional Development Models at a Glance” table on pages 4 and 5. The editors have summarized the professional development activities, technologies, framework, assessment tools and selected lessons learned by each of the eight models into a large table that enables the reader to make informed selections about which chapters to read first. There is something for everyone in the professional development chapters, from a laptop initiative that employed student mentors as part of the PD strategy, to an ePortfolio Constructivist Learning Environment initiative that used case-based reasoning as sharing and learning strategy, to a digital storytelling project that involved teachers in learning circles and ongoing professional development and mentoring. One chapter explores the relationship between higher education and the classroom for professional development partnerships, while another explores the relative merits of both on-site and online teacher learning opportunities and connections in networked learning communities. A feature that I found particularly helpful in each PD chapter was the Literature Essentials, which are short lists of relevant literature and commentary that are directly relevant to, but visually separate from, the chapter. Rather than a literature review for each chapter, the Literature Essentials build and extend upon the specific model under discussion by referencing research and further reading. Each PD chapter concludes with a Getting Stated Resources section, which cites key texts, articles and online resources that chapter authors have identified as helpful to successfully implement professional development programs similar to the methods discussed in their case. Each year, I have fresh opportunities to examine the relationship between inquiry-based learning and the effective use of technology with student teachers on campus and in the field. As a research associate with the Galileo Network (www.galileo.org), a Canadian leadership and professional development organization, I work with hundreds of teachers and their students in classrooms across the province of Alberta to support and to better understand how educators become instructional designers for effective learning with technology. As an educational technology professor, I conduct research on the impact of well-designed, well supported technology rich learning environments on student engagement and success. As an academic journal editor, a question I think about as I review a newly submitted manuscript is, “who else should and might want to read this study?”. So, as I worked my way through Borthwick and Pierson’s new book, Transforming Classroom Practice: Professional Development Strategies in Educational Technology, I reflected on who might benefit most from this book. Borthwick and Pierson’s book is a valuable resource for classroom teachers and school principals who are focused on designing effective learning communities and providing rich professional development opportunities with technology. This text is a rich resource for professional developers and leaders who work closely with school jurisdictions, schools and school leaders to develop and deliver strong professional development initiatives that focus on inquiry-based learning and the effective use of technology. Finally, this book is useful for educational technology professors and teacher educators who are interested in developments in professional development research and practice. This book is a strong resource that should gain some traction in the classroom teaching community as well as in professional development organizations and classrooms across North America, Australia and New Zealand. However, to broaden the scope, a second edition of this text would benefit from inclusion of Canadian research on professional development programs that have demonstrated long-term success. For example, in the past ten years, the Galileo Network has worked in classrooms mentoring teachers, across school jurisdictions through leadership mentoring and action research, and online with educators across the country and around the work to design meaningful and authentic, technology-enabled learning environments (Jacobsen, 2006). Thus far, my review has determined that this is a useful and timely book that will appeal to several audiences. Therefore, I do not wish to dissuade people from purchasing and benefiting from all that is good in this volume. That said, I have one minor criticism and recommendation: the book should come with a tiny “myth alert” warning on page 20. First, Borthwick & Pierson claim that current research lacks proof that using technology leads to increased achievement. This claim tends to fall flat given that they cite a paper from 1991. The editors claim that the absence of causal effects of technology on achievement after considerable technology expenditures – despite a myriad of isolated positive descriptive studies – makes a continued focus on professional development for educational technology a challenge for districts. There are several reasons why the “no evidence” claim is be problematic. First, the “no evidence” claim is a myth because there have been thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of rich and detailed, “descriptive” studies of the learning gains that result when technology is used effectively for student learning published in the last decade. So, add these all up, and there is plenty of evidence to support continual investments in professional development and the acquisition of technology to support student achievement. Second, the persistent call for quantitative research that establishes a cause and effect relationship between the use of technology and higher academic achievement as measured by standardized tests is, quite simply, mis-guided. Educators are not asking for causal studies on the learning gains that they regularly observe when inquiry and technology come to school. The issue is not whether technology makes any difference in learning; educational technology researchers and classroom teachers are convinced that learners can use technology for imaginative and creative design work and that meaningful learning can result in well-designed and well supported learning environments (Jacobsen, 2006). The issue is not whether there is any credible evidence or enough “hard” research linking technology with meaningful inquiry. In my own work, I cite dozens of researchers who have provided example upon example upon example of meaningful learning with technology (Jacobsen, 2006). Further, Borthwick & Pierson (2008) cite dozens if not hundreds of studies that confirm that when teachers design meaningful and authentic learning opportunities that engage students in appropriate and effective uses of technology, then achievement increases. The problem is that after more than three decades of experience with technology in K-12 classrooms, we have not seen the meaningful uses of technology for interdisciplinary inquiry by children in some classrooms and some schools spread much beyond the enthusiastic early adopter teachers and visionary innovators (Jacobsen, 2006). The reason? School districts continue to invest in things rather than people – one reason that the meaningful use of technology for learning hasn’t spread as far and as fast as “quick fix” school leaders might like is that the lions’ share of resources is spent on technology rather than the effective professional development described in this book. A solution to the present gap between meaningful learning and the mere presence of technology, which is so eloquently summarized in Borthwick & Pierson’s book, is that the education system needs to make greater investments in effective professional development so that teachers can learn together how to make best use of technology for learning. This book summarizes some of the effective and intentional professional development models that can sustain educational innovation and change. Along with increased investments in effective professional development, educational researchers and leaders need to document the benefits to student learning via ongoing, context-specific research, such as that cited in this book. Widespread, well-designed case study research, like that described by Flyvberg (2006), is needed to capture the changes and improvements that occur in student learning when technology, accompanied by effective professional development, comes to school. References Flyvberg, B. (2006). Five Misunderstandings about Case-Study Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 219-245. Retrieved June 10, 2009 from http://intl-qix.sagepub.com/ Jacobsen, D. M. (2006). Learning Technology in Continuing Professional Development: The Galileo Network. New York, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press. Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. New York: Basic Books About the Reviewer Dr. Michele Jacobsen is an Associate Professor in Educational Technology in the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary. Dr. Jacobsen's research focuses on inquiry-based learning with technology; currently, she is collaborating on a Alberta wide investigation of technology and high school success that involves 24 school jurisdictions. Dr. Jacobsen is also conducting long-term research on one-to-one laptop initiatives in three school districts. For more than a decade, Dr. Jacobsen has taught and supervised masters and doctoral students in Educational Technology, and she teaches graduate courses on media development, usability and computer-based learning, and examines the impact of social networking in higher education teaching. Dr. Jacobsen teaches in the Master of Teaching program, an innovative teacher preparation program characterized by inquiry-based learning, and mentors student teachers in their classroom practica. Dr. Jacobsen has edited the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology (www.cjlt.ca) since 2005, and started the EGallery (www.ucalgary.ca/~egallery), an online celebration of exemplary student teacher scholarship.