Changing the landscape of professional learning : a practitioner inquiry study of technology integration within literacy

Practitioner inquiry provided the framework for teachers (participants) and the teacher researcher to work collaboratively to discover how teachers learn about literacy technology integration, how they apply this in their classroom instruction, and how they share their ideas about literacy and technology integration with other teachers. Data was gathered from faculty surveys, lesson plans, blog posts, videotaped collaboration, audio recordings, researcher's field journal and final reflections of the faculty. Data was analyzed using in vivo coding, looking at each data source independently and then creating larger categories that led to a descriptive view of the data. Key findings that positively impacted teacher learning were acknowledging teacher perceptions, providing time for collaboration with colleagues, application of practice, scaffolding learning, and job embedded reflection. Implications include re-envisioning the roles of educators as well as traditional methods of professional development. Collaborative Inquiry Circles were suggested as an alternative to the traditional methods of professional development.