Mathematics teacher professional development in and through internet use: Reflections on an ethnographic study

This paper is a reflection on a model for mathematics teacher professional development with respect to technology. The model was informed by three interrelated concepts: (1) a theory of teacher professional development fromanalysis of the field, (2) the zone theory of teacher professional learning, and (3) ethnography as a method. The model was applied in a study that focused on the uses of the Internet for primary mathematics teacher professional development, particularly to exploit the potential of the Internet for professional learning and to use it in professionalwork. This is illustrated through selected critical events over an eight-month ethnographic intervention in a primarymathematics classroominAustralia. Though the model is theoretically ground- ed, it opens up questions about the power, potential, and challenges as well as its feasibility, with respect to not only the teacher but also the ethnographer.