ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate how primary teachers in Queensland, Australia can make use of the Internet for professional development and to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics. As a result of this study, implications for using the Internet for the professional development of Indonesian mathematics teachers in primary schools were drawn. The genesis of the study had emerged from reflecting upon my personal experiences in using the Internet for my own professional learning, by exploring education phenomena related to the Internet in Indonesia and Australia, and identifying gaps in research as a result of my literature review. I argue that the Internet has potential as a medium for professional development and for teaching and learning mathematics. However, little is known about the personal and professional characteristics of teachers who use the Internet to promote and renew their professional knowledge and to support their on-going learning process as well as to be good facilitators for ‘new learners’. The literature review establishes the need for investigating how teachers can use the Internet for professional development and for teaching and learning mathematics. The literature review also examines the characteristics of effective professional development, identifies inadequacies in existing professional development programs, and examines the potential advantages and limitations of using the Internet for professional development. The review suggests that there is a need to build a new model of professional development to shed light on how the Internet might be used to support primary mathematics teacher professional development. In this study, two case studies have been conducted. The first case study was of a ‘high use Internet (HUI) teacher’ (a teacher who intensively uses the Internet to sustain his/her professional growth as a mathematics teacher) and the second case study was of a ‘low use Internet (LUI) teacher’ (a teacher who has not made use of the Internet for those main goals but has a willingness to do so). The researcher learned from the HUI teacher and formulated ways to help the LUI teacher. An ethnographic approach was chosen for this study, as the researcher went into the field for an extended period of time. This study employed multiple data gathering methods, namely: participant-observation, interviews, questionnaires, and written and non-written sources. The research reported in this thesis investigated factors (personal and contextual) that support or inhibit mathematics teachers in making use of the Internet for teacher professional development and for teaching mathematics. The findings support the notion that teachers’ knowledge and beliefs are key determinants in embracing technology as a tool for teaching and learning. The findings are also significant in underscoring the non-linear, interactive and contingent nature of authentic professional development. The significance of this research is that it deepens our understanding about what is necessary for primary mathematics teachers to optimise the potential of the Internet for mathematics teaching and learning both for teachers and students. This study established the extent of the positive and negative potential effects of the Internet for professional development and the difficulties of using only this for professional development. Yet another significant outcome from this research is the construction of a theoretical framework for identifying the implications of using the Internet for professional development of Indonesian Primary teachers and for mathematics teaching and learning in Indonesian primary schools.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/285989 |
| Creators | Sitti Maesuri Patahuddin |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
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