Issue Theme:
Contemporary Technological Innovations in
Teaching and Learning and Teacher Education

How we have come to understand teaching and learning in particular ways is what this special issue of Teacher Education Quarterly is all about. We offer a venue for scholarly submissions that address the myriad interrelationships and possibilities occurring among content, teacher, and learner; from the past to the present, and perhaps more importantly, the future. We believe that collaboration among researchers will begin a conversation that invites collegiality, supports today's educators and furthers the educative process for teacher educators .

We introduce below a series of organized questions that we consider to be relevant given the current context of teaching and learning in this country. The growing influence of technology on the guiding principles of curriculum development, policy implementation, and pedagogical approaches cannot be overlooked. The complexity of these issues has served as our framework for this special issue.

Topic #1 - Teaching and Learning

What do we know about teaching and learning? What do we know about the relationship between pedagogical strategies and the ways in which young people learn? And, in what ways has this fundamental relationship evolved over time? What do we know now that we didn't know then?

What do we know about today's students? Considering that they are a generation born into a digital age, do traditional instructional approaches still have value? Do students take a more active and proprietary role in their learning because of technology? If so, what impact does this have on the student-teacher relationship?

Are students fundamentally different in the way that they interact with information? Has technology provided a platform of convenience for these interactions that previously was unavailable to students?

How has technology impacted students' engagement in social collaboration related to learning? If so, what is the role of the online learning community ? 

Topic #2 - Teacher Education

How have teacher preparation programs and graduate level professional development for teachers been impacted by new and innovative technologies? What technologies are currently being used in teacher education? 

Are the expectations placed on teacher preparation programs requiring heightened attention to the innovation and development of technology sensitive curricula and instructive models? If so, have traditional pedagogical approaches become obsolete? Or have they been reinvented to include new technologies?  

What professional development is being offered to university teacher educators to support the inclusion of new technologies in methods courses and graduate courses?

What opportunities for learning do information and communication technologies (ICT) offer which are readily available otherwise?  What role should teacher education programs assume in leading innovations which are useful and pedagogically sound? Most K-12 students still go to school in brick and mortar institutions. What role do technologies play in online teacher education that enhances how teachers work in traditional schoolhouses? 

Online Issue Publish Date: March 2010