Priscilla Norton

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.

Regional Educational Technology Assistance Initiative—Phase II

AbstractThe Regional Educational Technology Assistance (RETA) Initiative began as a way to establish a network of educators throughout New Mexico to assist school districts with technology planning and implementation. The RETA program emphasized statewide professional-development peer workshops that focused on curriculum integration rather than technological mechanics and mastery of software. The RETA Initiative met and, in many cases, exceeded expectations. Teacher participants reported increased use of e-mail, a shift from teaching about computers to using computers as an integral part of learning, more collaboration with peers, adaptation of workshop models for use in their own classrooms, and sharing of the workshop ideas. Pre- and postinitiative surveys were conducted, and a set of open-ended questions were used for supportive qualitative data.

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.

Changing Teachers – Teachers Changing Schools: assessing a graduate program in technology education

ABSTRACT Innovative uses of technology may require a revision of educational policy and practice if technology is going to have an impact on the educational system. In 1993 the University of New Mexico College of Education began a four semester in‐service graduate program to develop teacher knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors that might assist the teacher to confront todays challenges without being restricted by past patterns. During the second year of its implementation, a comprehensive research study was instituted to assess the impact of the program. This paper presents findings relevant to the outcomes of the program. The results reveal that significant shifts occurred among participants in the frequency of use of technology and student‐oriented strategies and that participants were increasingly concerned with assuming leadership roles in their schools and school districts. Four dimensions of the program were central in achieving these results: its cohort nature, the fact that it was graduate, the us...

Integrating Technology in Schools: a cohort process for graduate level inquiry

ABSTRACT This article reports a graduate level program designed to facilitate inquiry into the integration of technology in schools (ITS). The ITS Process is described within the frame of insights related to teacher developmental readiness for change. The process of teacher education is viewed as change within the dialectic of ideas and actions built around the dynamics of reflection, experience, modeling, planning, and a return to reflection. Four domains of inquiry, the building of a community of thinkers, a broad base of collaboration, and transdisciplinary study are presented as the foundation of the ITS Process. A four semester process of study and the concomitant curriculum are outlined, and strategies for facilitating the process are explored.

Linking Theory and Practice Through Design: An Instructional Technology Program

In the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University, we have created three independent strands or tracks—each with its own mission, its own target population, and its own connections and collaborations with external organizations and institutions. Track 1 is the Instructional Design and Development (IDD) track, serving those with educational interests primarily in government, military, business, and higher education. Track 2 is the Integrating Technology in Schools (ITS) tract, serving public and private school teachers and school divisions. Track 3 is the Assistive Technology (AT) track, serving those with disabilities in public schools and local, state, and federal agencies. Even though these tracks appear to be three unique programs, we have found a unifying center in the field of design. This paper explores the concept of design as it can be applied to understanding the teaching/learning enterprise regardless of context, goal, and audience. It then discusses how this concept informs curriculum and processes in each track.

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.