TEACHERS’ PLAYGROUND: ENHANCING TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY Marina Milner-Bolotin 1 , Tetyana Antimirova 2 1. Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of British Columbia 2125 Main Street, Vancouver, Canada, V6T 1Z4 mmilner@interchange.ubc.ca 2. Department of Physics, Ryerson University 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Canada, M5B 2K3 antimiro@ryerson.ca Abstract The paper describes innovative uses of educational technology such as electronic response systems (clickers), real-time data collection and analysis software and hardware (Logger Pro), computer simulations, and tablet computers. Our goal, however, is not a mere description of these technologies and their applications. We outline big pedagogical ideas that should drive the use of these technologies in the classroom to make a significant impact on science or mathematics learning. Four case studies showcasing the use of these technologies in science classrooms are discussed and the theoretical background behind their use is outlined. We suggest that technology- enhanced pedagogy has a potential to impact profoundly students’ and teachers’ learning and motivation. We suggest that these technologies should get integrated into in-service and pre-service science and mathematics teachers’ professional development. Keywords - Innovation, educational technology, tablet computers, electronic response systems (clickers), real-time data collection and analysis, computer simulations, conceptual learning, science and mathematics teaching and learning. ... In any situation where education and learning in involved, you first have to develop curriculum based on ideas, not on media. Media can be amplifiers of these ideas, but we have to have the ideas first. Spoken by Dr. Alan Kay, from “Doing with Images marks Symbols”, 1987, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC7x_qntM0g 1 INTRODUCTION: OVERWHELMED BY TECHNOLOGY? Like many of your colleagues, you probably often feel overwhelmed by technology. The number of new technological educational innovations “proven to be effective in the classroom” coming on the market grows exponentially and keeping track of them becomes a difficult if not an impossible task. Moreover, not all of the research studies on the effectiveness of a certain pedagogical approach, with or without technology, are equally valid [1-4]. As a result, science and mathematics teachers and teacher educators are often left in the dark with regard to how specific educational technology might be implemented in a particular situation. One of the causes for concern is the way technology-based educational reform is often perceived and implemented by school administrators providing very limited support and training for science and mathematics teachers [5-9]. The effective use of educational technologies in K-20 science and mathematics classrooms should be driven by our understanding of how students learn science and mathematics [1-3, 10-12]. We should not assume that exposing a teacher to a new technological tool is equivalent to teacher training where he or she gradually acquires the necessary technological-pedagogical content knowledge and explores how this particular educational technology can facilitate learning in a specific educational context [13]. We strongly believe that future science and mathematics teachers should be trained the way we like them to teach. Therefore, we focus on big ideas behind using various educational technologies in science and