ABSTRACT
This chapter considers teaching and learning strategies suited to teachers who are taking their first steps with IT. It recognises the particular challenge that this poses for such adults and provides a framework which maximises their capacity to continue their own independent learning and to apply this learning in new situations-that is, with maximum transferability. The strategies are derived from over ten years’ experience of supporting practising school teachers, student teachers and higher education staff in their acquisition of information technology skills. We explain our approach by focusing on the attitudes and feelings of these teachers and the contexts in which they are placed. The illustrative examples are drawn from our own experience with teachers, family and other colleagues. They have been verified through the experience of others involved in professional development. We have found considerable evidence that the problem of acquiring computer skills is a generic one which manifests itself in all phases of education. The key variables which distinguish all those engaged in any form of teaching from other computer users are:
• their need to maintain their professional status with students and colleagues; • their need to demonstrate newly acquired computer skills publicly before they
have sufficient time to consolidate them.
