At the recent OISE Research Celebration, “an annual celebration of the issues that matter in educational research,” I was able to pick up a hard copy of the mini-grant publication to which I had contributed and touch base with my co-authors, Cathi and John, coordinators of the Midtown Option.
Cathi, John, and I reflected and learned a lot through our teacher inquiry project last year on integrating interactive whiteboards into the initial elementary teacher education (B.Ed.) program. It was also exciting for us to see student teachers and associate teachers who were involved in our study share their experiences with the other teacher candidates at the 2008 Midtown Critical Inquiry conference, where students presented major findings from their action research projects. I was really impressed with the quality of the research that our students had conducted during their practicum. One of the students participating in our study even won an award for his project, which investigated how to integrate Smartboard lessons into grade 8 biology classes at a partner public school.
So I am honored that Cathi and John invited me to deliver the opening talk at the upcoming 2009 Midtown Critical Inquiry conference this year. I need to think about what I want to cover in my talk, but I would like to emphasize the importance of continually engaging in teacher research to improve one’s own practice to improve the quality of student learning. I believe technology integration is an important part of professional learning for these new teachers, so I’ll probably model Smartboard use in my presentation, and maybe get some support from other members of the community who will be in attendance…
Leave a Reply