Torrey Trust

Deconstructing an Online Community of Practice: Teachers’ Actions in the Edmodo Math Subject Community

Abstract New technologies seem to have expanded traditional face-to-face communities of practice across spatial and temporal boundaries into “online communities of practice.” However, these virtual landscapes are significantly different from the context of face-to-face communities of practice that Lave and Wenger (1991) observed. This study examined whether teachers’ actions in the Edmodo math subject community, a so-called online community of practice with more than 300,000 members, fit within Lave and Wengers community of practice framework. A directed content analysis of 600 discussion threads from the math subject community was conducted and triangulated with survey and interview data. The results from the study showed that teachers’ actions in the math subject community did not support the traditional notions of the community-of-practice framework.

‘I never feel alone in my classroom’: teacher professional growth within a blended community of practice

Well-designed face-to-face and virtual communities of practice provide opportunities for teachers to learn, grow as professionals and make changes to their practice with the support of peers. However, as more K–12 teachers become Connected Educators and act as conduits between online spaces and communities in their schools, the boundaries between face-to-face and online communities of practice are blurred. While increasingly more teachers are engaging in blended learning opportunities, there is a dearth of research about how blended communities of practice shape K–12 teachers’ learning and professional growth. This manuscript reports the findings of a qualitative study that examined teachers’ experiences in a blended community of practice through in-depth interviews with 26 K–12 teachers. Data analysis suggests that multiple means of engagement, face-to-face learning activities and leadership roles are critical elements that shape participation and learning in a blended community of practice. Additionally, participation in a blended community of practice creates reciprocal growth opportunities, in which teachers can develop as professionals across multiple domains (e.g. individual, classroom, school, blended community of practice), while also shaping the growth of these domains. These findings have implications for shaping the future development and research of teacher learning in blended communities of practice.

Why 3D Print? The 21st-Century Skills Students Develop While Engaging in 3D Printing Projects

ABSTRACT The emergence of 3D printing has raised hopes and concerns about how it can be used effectively as an educational technology in school classrooms. This paper presents the results of a survey asking teachers from multiple grade levels and subject fields about the impact of 3D projects on student learning. Teachers were asked about the kinds of 3D projects they were doing with students and what skills or knowledge students were developing by participating in those projects. Participants reported that their students developed a number of skills while working on 3D printing projects, including 3D modeling, creativity, technology literacy, problem-solving, self-directed learning, critical thinking, and perseverance. Parallels between teacher-identified skills and widely cited lists of 21st-century skills suggest that 3D projects are a promising approach to preparing students for life and work in a digital age.

Elements of Engagement: A Model of Teacher Interactions via Professional Learning Networks

Abstract In recent years, many educators have turned to participatory online affinity spaces for professional growth with peers who are more accessible because of reduced temporal and spatial constraints. Specifically, professional learning networks (PLNs) are “uniquely personalized, complex systems of interactions consisting of people, resources, and digital tools that support ongoing learning and professional growth” (Trust, Krutka, & Carpenter, 2016, p. 35) that have increased in popularity with the rise of social media. We offer a model for teacher educators and teachers to consider key elements of PLN experiences: engaging, discovering, experimenting, reflecting, and sharing. This model can provide educators both a window into possibilities and a mirror for reflection as they build or improve their PLNs.

2017 ISTE Standards for Educators: From Teaching With Technology to Using Technology to Empower Learners

In 2008, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)published a set of forward-thinking standards for teachers that focused on using technology to support student learning and crea...

Screen Time, Laptop Bans, and the Fears that Shape the Use of Technology for Learning

I t is easy to get swept up in the latest fearmongering regarding kids’ use of technology, especially with headlines like “Is Social Media As Addictive As Cocaine?,” “iPhones Pose Suicide Risk to Teenagers, Apple Investors Warn,” “Silicon Valley parents are raising their kids tech-free — and it should be a red flag,” and “Not-so-smartphones: Technology rewiring our brains and harming our intellect.” The hype surrounding these fears spread like wildfire through social networks. As a result, some parents are more concerned about their kids’ use of technology and social media than drugs, smoking, or alcohol (Griffiths, 2018). A number of schools are banning devices. The French government recently moved to ban kids from using cell phones during school until they are 15 (Carman, 2017). Parents and educators alike are considering ways to restrict kids’ use of technology at home and in the classroom. Yet, blaming technology for negative outcomes is akin to blaming video games for school shootings. After the Columbine school shooting, a number of people blamed the shooters’ engagement in violent video games. The myth that video games cause gun violence has been disproven by research (in fact, some researchers have found that video games reduce violent crime rates), yet it still surfaces after each school shooting (Cassella, 2018). We tend to blame technology, guns, and other tools when in fact it is the person’s determination of how to use the tool that makes the difference. How kids use technology as a tool ranges quite a bit. Some kids passively consume information, while others engage in, or are victims of, dangerous activities (e.g., cyberbullying). Some kids use technology to further their learning about a subject, while others design educational videos, host podcasts, participate in civic engagement online, develop apps, or design software that detects and stops cyberbullying (e.g., “ReThink”a program designed by Trisha Prabhu at 13 years old). Far too often fears about technology use result in device bans or screen time limits. While this might protect kids from dangerous online activities or aimless video watching, it also restricts kids’ potential to use technology to become empowered learners, digital citizens, knowledge constructors, innovative designers, computational thinkers, creative communicators, and global collaborators (see the 2016 ISTE Standards for Educators). Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that kids should have access to technology all the time, I’m saying that there are both positive and negative ways technology can be used and focusing on the fears and negativity drowns out the transformational power technology has for kids’ learning. So, what can we, as teacher educators, do to address these fears? We can start by not retweeting and sharing articles that spread fears about screen time, laptop and cell phone bans, addiction, social detachment, violent video games, or other worrisome topics without first unpacking the claims and evidence in these articles. We can engage in conversations with peers in our network who share these articles about how technology is used by kids, rather than how often. We can stop letting these fears drive how we teach with technology. Laptop and cell phone bans in higher education stem from the fear of distraction, cheating, loss of control, or distributed expertise (e.g., what happens if my students find a contradictory example on Google and challenge me during class?). Rather than forbidding these powerful tools in class, we can engage in critical conversations with students about how technology shapes 2018 ISTE j iste.org/jdlte

Why Do We Need Technology in Education

Have you ever paused to think about why technology is essential in education? Is it because we need to prepare students for technology-infused careers (think “drone operator” or “3D printing specialist”)? Is it because kids today are spending countless hours in front of devices and we need to meet kids where they are at? Is it because technology is fun and engaging? While the use of technology in classrooms can engage students in new ways and prepare them for future careers, I do not believe that those reasons alone are sufficient for integrating technology into education. I believe that technology should be used in classrooms and schools when it can afford new teaching and learning experiences that are not possible without the technology. Technology should redefine and transform learning, not just enhance it. What does it mean to redefine learning? It seems like that term is a buzzword in the field of education, but it is rarely defined. According to Puentedura’s (2014) SAMR model, redefinition refers to when technology allows for the creation of previously inconceivable tasks. For example, teachers and students can use social media and webbased tools to interact with peers around the world in real time (Krutka & Carano, 2016) and connect and learn with authors while reading a book, as in the Global Read Aloud Project (Carpenter & Justice, 2017). In these examples, technology is used to break down the walls of the classroom and empower students to become global collaborators. In terms of transforming learning, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology (2017) offered a description of what that might look like:

Leading by learning: exploring the professional learning networks of instructional leaders

ABSTRACT Leaders in education are often the sole person in their particular role in a school, and have thus frequently struggled with professional isolation. In recent years, social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter have created new opportunities for educators, including instructional leaders, to expand their professional learning networks (PLN) to include a wider array of people, spaces, and tools. This manuscript presents the findings of a qualitative study of 400 instructional leaders’ perceptions of their PLNs. Instructional leaders in our sample included principals, superintendents, librarians, and technology or curriculum specialists, coaches, and facilitators. Data were collected from a convenience sample via an anonymous online survey. Respondents described diverse, multifaceted networks composed of people, spaces, and tools. They reported that their PLNs supported their growth as learners, educators, and leaders. Participants asserted that their PLN activities positively impacted their learning and practice in a number of different ways. PLN impacts were described in terms of particular knowledge and skills, but also in relation to dispositions and community. We discuss our findings in relation to the extant literature. These findings have implications for defining the present and future of instructional leaders’ professional learning.

The Top Five Trends in Edtech According to ISTE 2017

Last year, at the ISTE 2016 conference meetup for higher education faculty, one individual explained how his students analyzed ISTE conference sessions to identify trends in education technology. I borrowed this brilliant idea to examine the current trends in edtech. I used the free data analysis tool DataBasic.io to analyze the 1162 sessions from the ISTE 2017 conference. The most popular topics were Google, tools & apps, global education, making, and 3D. Let’s take a closer look at each of these topics. Google: Google took an innovative approach to integrating its products in the education sector by offering lowpriced Chromebooks and a collection of online apps that seamlessly work together to support collaboration, communication, and creativity—skills that are essential for college and careers (Singer, 2017). Google has redefined the way I conduct research, write, and teach. I work with my research colleagues, Jeffrey Carpenter and Daniel Krutka, who are located in different states, by videoconferencing on Google Hangouts and simultaneously writing and revising Google Docs. I collaboratively design Slides, Docs, Forms, and Spreadsheets with my students for class activities. I use the comment feature on Google Docs to have conversations with students about their writing. By shifting the focus of technology from content to 21st-century skills, Google has redefined what is possible for teaching and learning. Tools & apps: Kahoot, Popplet, Padlet, Quizziz, Google Street View, Screencast-O-Matic, Adobe Spark . . . there are numerous tools and apps that can be used for teaching and learning. Every time I go to an edtech conference, I discover more apps and tools. Yet it takes time to find, evaluate, and determine how to use new tools and apps. If you are feeling overwhelmed with trying to keep up-to-date with new tools and apps, take a look at our Teacher Education Network leadership team’s “The Top 10 Tools Every New Teacher Needs!” presentation slides (http://tinyurl.com/iste TENslides) and explore the “Online Tools for Teaching & Learning” website my students developed: https://blogs. umass.edu/onlinetools Global education: Widespread access to the Internet, social media, and digital tools have made it easier than ever to connect and learn with people around the world. Innovative teachers are doing just that! A number of teachers are connecting their classrooms across geographical and temporal boundaries to create global learning experiences for their students. For example, a small group of K–12 teachers designed a project called “DEN Voices Connect,” in which students sang and danced to the same song virtually. The project reached more than 9,400 students from 42 schools in four different continents (see http://www.denvoicesconnect.com). Teachers are not just connecting classrooms to classrooms, they are connecting students to authors, researchers, politicians, scientists, and other professionals and experts. My favorite example of this is “Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants,” which offers live Google Hangouts with scientists around the world (hanging out with baby penguins has been my favorite) (http://www.exploring bytheseat.com). Teachers are also cultivating global professional learning networks (PLNs) to grow their craft in collaboration with peers around the world (Trust, Carpenter, & Krutka, 2016). Making: New technologies, such as three-dimensional (3D) printers, laser cutters, arduinos, and littleBits, have fostered a resurgence in the learning-bydoing movement. Makerspaces and making activities take students back to the most fundamental aspects of learning: exploration, play, discovery, and design. As John Dewey (1916) noted, it is important that teachers “give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results” (p. 154). Makerspaces offer students the opportunity to learn through hands-on design and construction. Authors of the Horizon Report: 2016 K– 12 Edition identified makerspaces as an important development in technology that could foster innovative changes in teaching and learning (Adams Becker, Freeman, Giesinger, Cummins, & Yuhnke, 2016). Makerspaces and making activities can help students develop 21stcentury skills and prepare for the demands of the global technological economy (Adams Becker et al., 2016). 3D: It is amazing to live in a time when students can transform ideas in their heads into physical objects. In a recent study about K–12 teachers’ use of 3D printers in their classrooms, my colleagues and I found that 3D printing projects helped students express their ideas and knowledge in new ways (Maloy, Trust, Kommers, Malinowski, & LaRoche, 2017). 3D printing is connected to the makerspace movement. Both of these trends focus on learningby-doing rather than learning by receiving information. As consumer-based 3D printers continue to decline in cost, access to this technology will increase in schools and homes.

Preparing K–12 Students and Preservice Educators for an Uncertain Future

Jobs like drone technicians, threedimensional (3D) printing specialists, ethical hackers, and surgical robotic operators sound like something out of a movie, but they exist today. One can only imagine what jobs K–12 students might pursue in the future. So how do we, as teacher educators, prepare our preservice teachers to create learning opportunities that will support K–12 students in thriving in an uncertain future? In 2016, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) launched a new version of the ISTE Standards for Students to guide teachers in preparing students “for work and life in this uncertain future” (ISTE, 2016a, p. 2). Rather than focusing on specific technologies or digital tools, which are constantly changing, these standards center on pedagogy. There are seven main standards, each with supporting indicators: Empowered Learning, Digital Citizen, Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, Computational Thinker, Creative Communicator, and Global Collaborator (ISTE, 2016b). The ISTE Standards for Students can be a valuable tool for K–12 teachers as they seek to transform their practice with new technologies. Therefore, it is important that we embed these standards into teacher preparation programs. However, simply showing our preservice teachers the standards is not enough. Even asking preservice teachers to design lesson plans aligned with these standards is not enough. Preservice teachers need to see us role modeling these standards and they need to experience these standards firsthand before they can truly identify ways to redefine teaching and learning with these standards. I strive to role model these standards by cultivating a professional learning network that drives my professional growth (Empowered Learner and Global Collaborator), curating a professional online identity and using creative commons media in my work (Digital Citizen), engaging in research, authentic design, and real-world problem solving with my students (Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, Computational Thinker), and creating visual content, such as Google Slides, that facilitates learning (Creative Communicator). In order to give my students firsthand experience with these standards, I incorporate semester-long, collaborative authentic learning projects into my courses. In these projects, students work as a class to design a tool that addresses an educational problem. For example, my students developed a database of online tools for teaching and learning to save educators time from having to search and evaluate tools on their own (see https://blogs.umass.edu/onlinetools). My students also developed an open online course to help educators cultivate and expand their professional learning networks based on gaps identified in the research on this topic (Trust, Krutka & Carpenter, 2016) (see https://blogs. umass.edu/plncourse). Each semester, I collect data from my students regarding what they learned from these collaborative class projects. In addition to learning about the class content, my students report developing a number of 21st-century skills, such as teamwork, communication, computer/ technical literacy, networking, creativity, time management, digital citizenship, Web design, multimedia production and design, using technology for teaching, and ability to apply in real-world settings. Thus, by using the ISTE Standards for Students to guide my practice, I have been able to support my students (future educators) in developing skills and knowledge that will help them navigate the shifting educational and technological landscape. There are a number of ways to role model these standards and actively engage preservice teachers in experiencing these standards firsthand. In honor of our Teacher Education Network theme “Together We Are Better,” I encourage you to share how you embody these standards and embed them into your practice. Post your ideas and insights in the ISTE Commons discussion forums. Tweet best practices using our #isteTEN hashtag or join our monthly Twitter Chats and share your stories. Conduct research and submit your manuscript to the Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education for publication. Present your ideas and experiences at the next ISTE conference. Let’s work together to redefine teaching and learning with these new standards!