Abstract

The precise genesis of technological initiatives is hard to pinpoint, but the impact can be clearly seen in the ever-changing policies of governing educational bodies. In the Further Education Sector, groups such as FELTAG (2017) and the Education and Training Foundation have strived to encourage the use of digital learning technologies in order to enhance teaching, learning and assessment. Up until this point, our programme (PGCE PCET) has required student-teachers to produce a hard-copy Practical Teaching File. However in 2017-18 there was an opportunity to move forward and embrace the "Digital Age" (Beetham & Sharpe, 2013) due to the introduction of Canvas (our new VLE) .
Studies have shown that embracing digital learning technologies can lead to increased levels of student engagement and can assist teachers, from any sector, to improve the manner in which they track student attainment. (Beetham & Sharpe, 2013) These digital spaces can be used for students to upload assignments, and for the easy sharing of learning materials. While all of this is incredibly important, our research aims to explore the use of digital learning technologies even further. In our study we as the following questions:
1. How can we encourage trainees to engage in a regular reflective practice? (ETF, 2014 & Pollard, 2014)
2. How can we help improve digital literacy of our trainees? (White and Cornu, 2011)
3. How can we develop a programme that mirrors the requirements of the profession? (Ofsted, 2015)
4. How can we encourage a professional mindset ready for professional formation and further study QTLS? (Bhattacharya and Hartnett, 2017)