| This
paper examines the process of establishing and sustaining content-focused
technology inquiry groups, a teacher professional development model
where groups of teachers with similar content and grade areas identify
problems of practice and inquire into technology-supported solutions.
Through a longitudinal case study of an urban arts-humanities technology
inquiry group, this research reveals three phases of group development:
(a) defining the group, (b) identifying content-focused technology
inquiries, and (c) initiating content-focused technology inquiries.
The main advantage of the first year of participation for teachers
was their use of technology to solve content-related problems in their
classrooms. Challenges included a shifting content focus for the inquiry
group, time availability for participants' inquiries, and the availability
of technological innovations that matched the participants' problems
of practice. |