The Teacher Mentor – Norway’s self-reflection tool

The Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education developed the Teacher Mentor, to guide teachers in their reflection process when using technology pedagogically. 

The Teacher Mentor is a free, online service for teachers aimed at guiding them in their self-reflection about how they use technology for teaching and learning.

There are 4 areas: 

• Pedagogy and ICT
• Digital Production
• Digital Communication
• Digital Judgement

The Teacher Mentor is based on Hooper and Rieber’s Teaching (Hooper, S., & Rieber, L. P. (1995). Teaching with technology. In A. C. Ornstein (Ed.), Teaching: Theory into practice, (pp. 154-170). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.) with Technology Mode.

It uses a 5 level scale, with level 1 representing teachers’ initial familiarization, and level 5 representing the evolution stage which is the most advanced level. 

figure found at:http://www.nowhereroad.com/twt/

Each level contains several statements concerning teachers’ knowledge, skills and attitudes in relation to a particular aspect of technology-enhanced learning. 

If teachers take the required time to do this properly, it should take around 30 to 60 minutes to read the statements about their knowledge, skills and attitudes and select each time which level best reflects their situation. 

At the end of the self-reflection survey, the system:

• informs you of the level you are at in each sub-area
• offers you advice on the next steps to take to improve your level. 

Strenghts:

• It’s very close to teacher’s practise and is one of the few tools that actually deals with teachers’ reflections and self-awareness, rather than focus on assessment and evaluation.
• The service mirrors actual classroom practise in wording they are familiar with. 

Weaknesses:

• The Teacher Mentor does not cover all possible aspects of how technology is used in the classroom.
• Important aspects like usage of technology in student assessment,  utilisation of technology in collaboration and problem solving,  development of the teachers'  basic technological skills are not part of the Teacher Mentor. 

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