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Professional development for iPad integration in general education: Staying ahead of the curve

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Abstract

This faculty development case study focuses on a team of 16 General Education faculty at an urban women’s college during the initial 6 months of the college’s comprehensive implementation of an iPad teaching and learning environment. This article traces the effectiveness of an iPad professional development program through analyses of critical feedback, and makes recommendations for learner-centered faculty development for iPads in Higher Education. We present our conceptual framework, guiding principles and iPad professional development program. The effects of the program were measured using thematic and content analysis of post-session interviews, participant observation, one-to-one interviews and an online discussion forum. The predominant themes were anxiety, having individual needs considered, time considerations, and fundamental questions about expectations in the mobile learning environment. The key recommendation are to attend to collaborative planning, intervention, facilitating authentic professional learning communities and timing of faculty development that is intended to result in integration of new learning tools and environments.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the active participation of the 16 members of the General Education department: Barry Christian, Brendon O’Connor, Claire Eriksson, Dalia Rehab, Deina Rabie, Dr. Ewa Gajer, Gehan Wheeler, Josephine Butler, Loretta Consolati, Mark Alexander Warne, Philip Aston, Sally Mahani, Sandy Barr, Shauna Fletcher, Sonia Elhaj, Tracey White; and Dr Nadeem Khan for his considered feedback.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Abu Dhabi Women’s College (ADWC), PO Box 41012, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Dmitri Psiropoulos, Sandy Barr, Claire Eriksson, Shauna Fletcher, Jace Hargis & Cathy Cavanaugh

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  1. Dmitri Psiropoulos
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  2. Sandy Barr
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  3. Claire Eriksson
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Correspondence to Dmitri Psiropoulos.

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Psiropoulos, D., Barr, S., Eriksson, C. et al. Professional development for iPad integration in general education: Staying ahead of the curve. Educ Inf Technol 21, 209–228 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-014-9316-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-014-9316-x

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