Changing Teachers, Changing Students: Exploring iPads in Inquiry-Based Learning

Educational contexts that support the complexity of in-service teacher learning around the purposeful use of technology are scarce. This qualitative case study describes a Literacy Enrichment Camp offered for traditionally marginalized elementary-aged children. Within camp, 5 teachers and 1 instructor prioritized their own and students’ inquiry-based teaching and learning around iPads. This article shares what teachers learned about themselves and the 17 students who participated in the 3-week camp. Teachers collected data through field note observations of teacher/student interactions with iPads, teacher interviews, and teacher reflection journals. Data were analyzed through constant comparative method, revealing themes of previously unrecognized teacher-resistance to technology, and the affordances of iPads for supporting students’ individual needs and promoting role reversals between teachers and students. This work demonstrates teacher change in the complex spaces of teaching and learning, contributing to an understanding of how the use of iPads can change educators’ teaching, learning, and conceptions of self and students