Technology as a Catalyst for Change: The Role of Professional Development

This paper presents an analysis of results from an evaluation of The Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning, a professional development program placing technology in the context of student-centered instructional practices. This analysis focuses on the relationship between the professional development and teachers ’ use of technology in their classroom and their general instructional practices. The results from this study indicate teachers increased their use of technology in ways viewed as more constructivist, regardless of their broader instructional practices. One possible explanation may be the instructional context of the professional development that teachers experience. (Keywords: technology, constructivism, instruction.) BACKgROUnD Proponents of computer-based technologies in the classroom have long argued that the use of technology can have a transformative power on teachin