Teacher Professional Development in the Digital Age: A Quality Evaluation Framework
摘要
Teacher Professional Development (TPD) programs play an important role to enhance teachers’ skills, knowledge, instructional practices and improve student learning outcomes. Various stakeholders such as schools and governments, recognize the importance of TPD, leading to the creation of numerous programs catering to teachers. In addition, research in the field of TPD has given rise to theories, models, and empirical studies providing recommendations. In parallel, recently, the Educational Technology (EdTech) industry has grown in importance. While the majority of these products primarily focus on students at the school level, there is increasing attention given to the use of technology in TPD, in hybrid or online modes, to improve teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, improve instruction and foster communities of practice. This paper presents a quality evaluation framework for EdTech products that support TPD, developed through a review of the literature. The proposed framework is based on the EdTech Tulna framework’s standards that encompass three dimensions: Content Quality, Pedagogical Alignment, and Technology and Design. Each dimension contains criteria with indicators and features to look for in the products to ensure they effectively support TPD. The framework aims to assist diverse stakeholders in making informed decisions about EdTech products that support TPD in the Indian context.