McDowell Foundation Award Recipients

Karen Henderson
2004 McDowell Foundation Award for
Contributions to Educational Research

As a teacher-researcher, Karen Henderson has provided innovative leadership to the educational community in Saskatchewan. Particularly in the area of educational technology, she has been a visionary and a change agent who is helping to create the future for teaching and learning in our province. As a teacher, she has continuously sought greater understanding of what is happening in the classroom, and as a researcher, she has oriented her work towards practical, positive changes in educational practice.

Karen began teaching soon after graduating from the University of Saskatchewan with a Bachelor of Education degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics. Between 1986 and 2002, she taught at high schools in Melfort, Davidson and Meadow Lake, covering a wide range of subjects that included Chemistry, Sciences, Practical and Applied Arts, Life Transitions, Home Economics, Typing, Health, English and Guidance. She also sat on a variety of teacher committees dealing with curriculum development and professional development.

Karen participated in the Educational Technology Consortium's Web-Based Learning Resource Development initiative from 2000 to 2002. She co-developed a Practical and Applied Arts survey resource for the Web, created a Web resource called On-line Teaching Strategies, mentored the developer of Drama 30 and became an experienced on-line teacher with the Central iSchool.

In 2002, she earned a Master of Arts in Education degree, in the area of Administration and Leadership, from San Diego State University, California. Her thesis was entitled Effects of Methods of Instruction and Performances of Understanding on Student Understanding. As part of her research, she created an interactive instructional Web-site for a Chemistry unit, and then assessed its effect on student understanding, exploring how computer-assisted instruction differed in its effects from traditional instruction.

In 2002 she headed a research team from Meadow Lake that applied for a McDowell Foundation Grant to conduct a study called Beyond the Mouse and the Modem. The study involved an on-line survey of teachers about their use of technology. Eventually expanded to encompass 36 school divisions, the survey analyzed data provided by 2,172 Saskatchewan teachers about the ways that they did or did not use computers in their teaching practice. The data led Karen and her colleagues to conclude that while teachers believe computers can enhance teaching and learning, most of them need more training in order to make use of the possibilities that computers offer. The researchers called for more resources to be devoted to the professional development for teachers so that they can effectively facilitate the use of technology in their classrooms. Their work was presented at numerous conferences and received wide coverage, including a mention in Macleans magazine.

In 2002 Karen received the Teacher Award of Excellence from the Saskatchewan Association for Computers in Education. The following year a new McDowell Foundation project was developed that built on Beyond the Mouse and the Modem called Nourishing Growth. This project explored the effects of involvement in two different
e-learning initiatives on the development of teachers' technological skills and on their teaching practice.

Karen recently moved to the Learning Technology Unit of Saskatchewan Learning as a Web-Based Resource Development Consultant. In this role, she continues to support the e-Learning agenda of the Department and the Educational Technology Consortium. She has also continued to base her work firmly in research through a newly created Saskatchewan Institute for Research in e-learning Integration and Support. SIReNS focuses on conducting research into effective areas of technology use, making research findings in this area available throughout the province, piloting models of professional development in technology and supporting the utilization of useful models. Karen is currently co-lead in SIReNS research into the effective use of technology in Saskatchewan's K-12 schools.

Karen has always found it important in education to be attuned to the feelings and reactions of her teaching colleagues. She has worked to empower teachers with respect to educational technology and she has chosen to do so in ways that create partnerships, recognize interdependence and bring people together into effective teams. It is for her leadership and her consistent use of collaborative, teacher-led research to inform educational policy and improve teaching practice that the McDowell Foundation is proud to present Karen Henderson with its 2004 award for outstanding contributions to educational research.

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