Learning by design Nourishing expertise and interventions

Despite intentions to the contrary, studies yielding insights on instructionally appropriate technology innovations with representative teachers in everyday school settings are severely limited. In part, this is because research is often conducted at the bleeding edge of what is possible, exploring innovative uses of new technologies and/or emerging theories, while insufficient research and development work focuses on what is practical. This leaves a problematic gap between what could be useful research in theory, and what can be useful research in practice. This chapter describes why it is essential to involve teachers as co-designers when studying interventions intended for everyday use. It describes how teachers learn from the process, as well as how they sensitize instructional technology researchers to factors that determine if and how innovations are understood, adopted, and used by teachers and schools. It draws on one example from the domain of early literacy: a series of nine mixed-methods studies conducted over the course of a decade, in which teachers designed technology for use in kindergarten classrooms. The retrospective analysis explores how teacher learning by design supported intervention implementation, and vice versa.