Ms. Helen CaldwellTitle: Senior Lecturer in Education (Primary computing and assistive technology)University of NorthamptonI am a Senior Lecturer in the Teacher Education Division at the University of Northampton, where I am curriculum lead for Primary Computing and programme lead for the Postgraduate Certificate in Primary Computing. My teaching covers the use of technology across primary subjects, implementing the computing curriculum and assistive technologies for SEND. I offer CPD for teachers and Initial Teacher Training across these areas. My PhD research focuses on the transfer of innovative pedagogies in technology education within professional learning communities.
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Summary of my research:
PhD: Optimising the online creation, dissemination and transfer of innovative pedagogies in technology education within technology-enabled learning communities.
University of Northampton (ongoing)
The aim of this research is to identify those factors that help or hinder the development and dissemination of innovative educational practice in the field of teacher education via technology-enabled learning communities of educators. It explores the efficacy of technology-enabled learning communities (those learning communities where technology plays a key role in the creation, capture and dissemination of learning) to illuminate the processes and pathways by which learning occurs.
Research questions include:
Can technology-enhanced learning communities of educators facilitate the emergence and transfer of innovative pedagogies in the teaching of teacher education?
How can educators explore and evidence the workings of technology-enhanced learning communities to evaluate their contribution to teaching and learning in teacher education and to understand them better?
International project
The theme of ‘Learning without borders’ aligns well with the 3 year Erasmus+ project I am leading, ‘Digital Learning across Boundaries’ (DLaB). The DLaB project addresses the need to align educational practice with ways in which digital technology is changing how and what we learn, and how we apply this in education. The purpose of the DLaB project is to promote digital learning across the boundaries of physical spaces, across curriculum subjects and across languages and cultures, to facilitate collaborative learning across national boundaries.
Publications:
Caldwell H. and Cullingford-Agnew, S. (2017). Technology for SEND in Primary Schools: A good practice guide. London: Sage.
Bird, J., Caldwell, H. and Mayne, P. (1st ed. 2014, revised 2nd ed. 2017). Lessons in Teaching Computing in Primary Schools. London: Sage.
Caldwell, H. and Smith, N. (2017). The online learning hive: transfer to practice within a MOOC community of educators. In: The International Conference on Information Communication Technologies in Education (ICICTE 2017) Proceedings, Southampton Solent, University.
Caldwell, H. (2017). Mobile technologies as a catalyst for pedagogic innovation within teacher education. The International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning (IJMBL), 10(2).
Smith, N., Caldwell, H., Richards, M., and Bandara, A., 2017. A comparison of MOOC development and delivery approaches. The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 34(2), pp.152-164.
Caldwell, H. and Heaton, R. (2016). The interdisciplinary use of blogs and online communities in higher education. In: The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology (IJILT) 33(3) p2056-4880.
Caldwell, H. and Smith, N (2016). Computing Unplugged: Exploring primary computing through practical activities away from the computer. London: Sage.
Caldwell, H. and Bird, J. (2015). Teaching with Tablets. London: Sage.
University of Northampton (ongoing)
The aim of this research is to identify those factors that help or hinder the development and dissemination of innovative educational practice in the field of teacher education via technology-enabled learning communities of educators. It explores the efficacy of technology-enabled learning communities (those learning communities where technology plays a key role in the creation, capture and dissemination of learning) to illuminate the processes and pathways by which learning occurs.
Research questions include:
Can technology-enhanced learning communities of educators facilitate the emergence and transfer of innovative pedagogies in the teaching of teacher education?
How can educators explore and evidence the workings of technology-enhanced learning communities to evaluate their contribution to teaching and learning in teacher education and to understand them better?
International project
The theme of ‘Learning without borders’ aligns well with the 3 year Erasmus+ project I am leading, ‘Digital Learning across Boundaries’ (DLaB). The DLaB project addresses the need to align educational practice with ways in which digital technology is changing how and what we learn, and how we apply this in education. The purpose of the DLaB project is to promote digital learning across the boundaries of physical spaces, across curriculum subjects and across languages and cultures, to facilitate collaborative learning across national boundaries.
Publications:
Caldwell H. and Cullingford-Agnew, S. (2017). Technology for SEND in Primary Schools: A good practice guide. London: Sage.
Bird, J., Caldwell, H. and Mayne, P. (1st ed. 2014, revised 2nd ed. 2017). Lessons in Teaching Computing in Primary Schools. London: Sage.
Caldwell, H. and Smith, N. (2017). The online learning hive: transfer to practice within a MOOC community of educators. In: The International Conference on Information Communication Technologies in Education (ICICTE 2017) Proceedings, Southampton Solent, University.
Caldwell, H. (2017). Mobile technologies as a catalyst for pedagogic innovation within teacher education. The International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning (IJMBL), 10(2).
Smith, N., Caldwell, H., Richards, M., and Bandara, A., 2017. A comparison of MOOC development and delivery approaches. The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 34(2), pp.152-164.
Caldwell, H. and Heaton, R. (2016). The interdisciplinary use of blogs and online communities in higher education. In: The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology (IJILT) 33(3) p2056-4880.
Caldwell, H. and Smith, N (2016). Computing Unplugged: Exploring primary computing through practical activities away from the computer. London: Sage.
Caldwell, H. and Bird, J. (2015). Teaching with Tablets. London: Sage.
Motivation for this workshop
I anticipate that participation in the project will give me new insights into the use of mobile devices to support learning in a range of contexts that I would not otherwise have access to, including in environmental science and geography, fieldwork, Thai schools, and the creation of a range of innovative digital artefacts.
The relevance of my research area to the topic of the workshop is that it is firmly rooted in the field of educational technology, and it seeks to establish evidence-based strategies for building online collaborative communities that impact upon practice and pedagogic beliefs. This is particularly relevant when thinking about supporting marginalised groups in non-formal settings where access to traditional learning is difficult, as it offers ways of using technology to build a responsive and flexible curriculum that allows people to choose a route through learning materials. The approach recognises the impact of learner generated content and of timely, embedded learning.
The DLaB project has focused on the theme of technology outdoors during 2017, aiming to bridge formal and informal learning by extending learning beyond traditional classroom spaces and supporting learners with disadvantaged backgrounds. This theme culminated in a Technology Outdoors MOOC in May 2017. In 2017/18, the second year of our DLaB project focuses on STEM to STEAM, adding the Arts to the integrated study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths to create inter-disciplinary challenge-based online learning resources. The Thailand workshop will give me a chance to extend and disseminate ideas on mobile learning and STEAM and to form new international collaborations.
A third interest is technology for inclusion: I am currently writing a book on technology supporting SEND and I am interested in the theme of how mobile technologies can overcome barriers for marginalised groups.
The relevance of my research area to the topic of the workshop is that it is firmly rooted in the field of educational technology, and it seeks to establish evidence-based strategies for building online collaborative communities that impact upon practice and pedagogic beliefs. This is particularly relevant when thinking about supporting marginalised groups in non-formal settings where access to traditional learning is difficult, as it offers ways of using technology to build a responsive and flexible curriculum that allows people to choose a route through learning materials. The approach recognises the impact of learner generated content and of timely, embedded learning.
The DLaB project has focused on the theme of technology outdoors during 2017, aiming to bridge formal and informal learning by extending learning beyond traditional classroom spaces and supporting learners with disadvantaged backgrounds. This theme culminated in a Technology Outdoors MOOC in May 2017. In 2017/18, the second year of our DLaB project focuses on STEM to STEAM, adding the Arts to the integrated study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths to create inter-disciplinary challenge-based online learning resources. The Thailand workshop will give me a chance to extend and disseminate ideas on mobile learning and STEAM and to form new international collaborations.
A third interest is technology for inclusion: I am currently writing a book on technology supporting SEND and I am interested in the theme of how mobile technologies can overcome barriers for marginalised groups.
Future research intentions:
Working with partners in other countries has been a focus of my work over the last five years and international collaboration is an aspect I wish to extend. I have been a partner in eTwinning for ITT projects every year since 2013, and the DLaB project has nine international partners. In 2018/19, the project focus is ‘Technology Enabled CLIL’, using curriculum contexts to teach language competencies and cultural sensitivity with aim of meeting the language needs of a diversity of learners, including learners for whom English is an additional language.
I am interested in ways in which technology has impacted on language and literacy practices, and excited by the rich choice of authoring technologies children can choose from in their production of multimodal texts. It seems to me that contemporary literacy is a much broader field than just encoding and decoding written text, and that the process of making, reading and learning from multimodal texts is much more complex.
I expect my participation in the workshop to take some of these themes forwards and to strengthen my ability to work internationally.
I am interested in ways in which technology has impacted on language and literacy practices, and excited by the rich choice of authoring technologies children can choose from in their production of multimodal texts. It seems to me that contemporary literacy is a much broader field than just encoding and decoding written text, and that the process of making, reading and learning from multimodal texts is much more complex.
I expect my participation in the workshop to take some of these themes forwards and to strengthen my ability to work internationally.