Dawn Hathaway

Exploring Two Teacher Education Online Learning Designs: A Classroom of One or Many?.

Abstract Online learning is rapidly becoming a permanent feature of higher education. In a preponderance of instances, online learning is designed using conventional educational practices: lecture, grades, group discussion, and the like. Concerns with traditional pedagogy instantiated by course management systems raise questions about the quality of learner’s online experiences. There is a need to reconsider the design of learning opportunities in light of emerging online delivery modes. This study compared learner perceptions of two online courses—one using the more traditional approach capitalizing on the affordances of Blackboard and one using the COPLS one-on-one model (Norton, 2003). Results revealed that both environments were perceived as providing a high quality learning experience. In addition, results point to the importance of self-regulation, the role of the instructor/facilitator/mentor, and the role of the group as factors influencing learners’ perception of the quality of their learning experience, positive aspects of their learning experience, and challenges that influenced their learning experience.

On Its Way to K–12 Classrooms, Web 2.0 Goes to Graduate School

ABSTRACT As corporate and higher education settings increasingly use Web 2.0 tools, the time has come to think about preparing K–12 in-service teachers to find ways in which these tools might support classroom teaching and learning goals. This article describes a graduate course designed and taught in spring 2007. Using a modeling and situated learning framework, the article discusses Web 2.0 tools, K–12 education, and the course design. It also presents a summary of course participants’ survey responses concerning their perceptions of their learning experience. Survey responses demonstrated that teacher-learners appreciated and endorsed the design of the course and felt their learning experiences scaffolded their ability to use Web 2.0 tools in their classroom and school context. The article concludes with several design recommendations and examples of classroom applications.

An Exploratory Study Comparing Two Modes of Preparation for Online Teaching

Abstract Few online high schools report requiring online education for their teachers, and few programs exist to prepare teachers to teach online (Smith, Clark, & Blomeyer, 2005). Professional development for online teachers continues to be a concern, and evaluative research that examines the effectiveness of various types of professional development is needed (Archambault & Crippen, 2009). The purpose of this exploratory study was to compare differences in online teachers’ self-reported frequency and confidence in performing online teaching tasks between teachers who had completed a comprehensive preparation program and teachers who participated in a one-day face-to-face workshop. Results found no differences between the groups and challenge conventions related to the nature and role of teacher preparation in online teaching.

Creating a Design Solution

Classroom practitioners are often asked to adopt continually changing standards, to be collaborators and reflective practitioners, and to make new and evolving technologies an integral part of their practice. Understanding Problems of Practice: A Case Study in Design Research describes a process for thinking about and reflecting on innovative practice – the design research process. Each of the five phases of the design research process is exemplified by a discussion of how the authors used this process to create a technology education course for perspective secondary educators. In this chapter, the authors focus on the second phase of the design research process and the goal of transitioning a problem of practice to a design solution. The authors begin with a description of strategies and techniques used by design researchers to gather information that grounds a design solution in evidence leading to an explicit and visible map for instructional planning. The authors offer a comprehensive description of the design pattern approach as a strategy to promote classroom practitioners’ ability to transition from an understanding of their problem of practice to a design solution. They conclude the chapter by presenting the second design research phase of a case study to create an online version of a technology education course for perspective secondary educators, presenting how as classroom practitioners they completed a second review of literature to create a design pattern and the ways in which the design pattern framed an instructional plan.

Assessing the Design Solution

Classroom practitioners are often asked to adopt continually changing standards, to be collaborators and reflective practitioners, and to make new and evolving technologies an integral part of their practice. Understanding Problems of Practice: A Case Study in Design Research describes a process for thinking about and reflecting on innovative practice – the design research process. Each of the five phases of the design research process is exemplified by a discussion of how the authors used this process to create a technology education course for perspective secondary educators. In this chapter, the authors explore the need to assess design solution decisions and to investigate how learners respond to design decisions, if design decisions meet learner needs, and to establish the viability of the design solution. They explore recommendations in the design research literature that focus on the importance of iterative design cycles and associated strategies for completing iterative cycles. They acknowledge the role of iterative cycles but point out that time urgencies for instruction associated with classroom practice limit the classroom practitioners’ ability to conduct iterative design cycles. Recognizing the importance of assessing design solutions despite classroom practitioners’ limited ability to conduct iterative design cycles, the authors present the third phase of the design research process in which as classroom practitioners they used qualitative research methods to assess their design decisions as they simultaneously taught the online technology education course for perspective secondary educators for the first time.

Evaluating Learning Outcomes

Classroom practitioners are often asked to adopt continually changing standards, to be collaborators and reflective practitioners, and to make new and evolving technologies an integral part of their practice. Understanding Problems of Practice: A Case Study in Design Research describes a process for thinking about and reflecting on innovative practice – the design research process. Each of the five phases of the design research process is exemplified by a discussion of how the authors used this process to create a technology education course for perspective secondary educators. In this chapter, the authors explore the fourth phase of the design research process, evaluating learning outcomes. Acknowledging that even though design decisions may result in powerful learning environments, they may not result in powerful learning. Thus, it is necessary in the fourth phase of the design research process to evaluate learning outcomes. The authors describe strategies and techniques recommended in the design research literature associated with evaluating learning outcomes. They conclude the chapter with the fourth phase of the design research project in which they describe how as classroom practitioners they used quantitative research methods to evaluate changes in teacher attitudes and technology knowledge.

Capturing Lessons for Practice

Classroom practitioners are often asked to adopt continually changing standards, to be collaborators and reflective practitioners, and to make new and evolving technologies an integral part of their practice. Understanding Problems of Practice: A Case Study in Design Research describes a process for thinking about and reflecting on innovative practice – the design research process. Each of the five phases of the design research process is exemplified by a discussion of how the authors used this process to create a technology education course for perspective secondary educators. In this chapter, the authors discuss the fifth phase of the design research process. In the design research literature, this phase is generally concerned with gathering evidence to promote the broader adoption, enactment, and sustainability of an innovation and often involves professional development, diffusion, technical support, and problem-solving. The authors acknowledge that the activities associated with this phase are only rarely within the purview of the classroom practitioner. Thus, for the classroom practitioner, the fifth phase of the design research process should focus on capturing lessons learned about both practice and the use of the design research process. Reframing this phase as capturing lessons learned better suits the classroom practitioner as it supports the goal of design research to contribute to improvements in practice as well as expand practitioner knowledge. To exemplify this phase, the authors present the lessons they learned about their practice and the reframed design research process they used as classroom practitioners.

Understanding Problems of Practice

Classroom practitioners are often asked to adopt continually changing standards, to be collaborators and reflective practitioners, and to make new and evolving technologies an integral part of their practice. Understanding Problems of Practice: A Case Study in Design Research describes a process for thinking about and reflecting on innovative practice – the design research process. Each of the five phases of the design research process is exemplified by a discussion of how the authors used this process to create a technology education course for perspective secondary educators. In Chap. 2, the authors explore the central role understanding a problem of practice plays as the first phase in the design research process. They present the need to establish and understand the magnitude, importance, and urgency of the problem before investing time and energy to solve the problem. They present strategies useful for understanding a problem of practice including asking a series of questions to establish the need for a solution and to contextualize the problem by identifying possibilities and constraints. Next, they briefly explore techniques used by design researchers to gather information to construct a rigorous and viable understanding of the problem. They conclude the chapter by presenting the first design research phase of a case study to create a technology education course for perspective secondary educators, focusing on the ways in which they as classroom practitioners used a literature review and a review of their personal knowledge to understand the problem and derive initial design decisions.

Theory to Innovation to Practice

Classroom practitioners are often asked to adopt continually changing standards, to be collaborators and reflective practitioners, and to make new and evolving technologies an integral part of their practice. Understanding Problems of Practice: A Case Study in Design Research describes a process for thinking about and reflecting on innovative practice – the design research process. Each of the five phases of the design research process is exemplified by a discussion of how the authors as classroom practitioners used this process to create a technology education course for perspective secondary educators. In Chap. 1, the authors describe the role of design research in the process of solving classroom problems of practice and explain design research and design practice. They conclude with challenges using the design research process for classroom practice and reframe the process to focus on strategies and language that capture the realities and needs of the classroom practitioner. They introduce five design research phases: understanding the problem of practice, creating a design solution, assessing the design solution, evaluating learning outcomes, and capturing lessons for practice.