Quick Start Guide
Needs This environment should meet the needs of our students, which is preparing them to be effective teacher. This environment also needs to meet NCATE standards.
Background Be sure that students participating in this program are technology aware. Early adopters of this program should most likely have a higher affinity for how to interact with technology.
Motivation We need to create a program that doesn’t do what every other program allows. This needs to be different which will motivate our students to participate. An example of this would be to allow our students join a broader community. Limiting our students within their own geographic region is limiting their capability.
Fellow colleagues, I’d like to be sure we maintain our focus for developing this online teacher education program. I’ve heard the term community mentioned several times and rather than using this term again, I’d like to define the qualities we like to see in this program and see if and how our online teacher education program can achieve this.
Of these qualities, I’d like to remind you that as we fulfill NCATEs six standards for accreditation, we have the opportunity to foster an environment were students can feel completely immersed in their work. These standards are:
- Candidate Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions
- Assessment System and Unit Evaluation
- Field Experiences and Clinical Practice
- Diversity
- Faculty Qualifications, Performance, and Development
- Unit Governance and Resources
Source: NCATE
When we look within the context of each of the standards, technology is embedded within each one. You can also see how ISTE has also shown how NETS is being integrated with NCATE.
Beyond simply using technology within this program, I want to be sure we are not simply replacing the idea of forming community with other programs forming groups. Other preparation programs have begun grouping incoming students together, this grouping doesn’t necessarily illicit support and collaborative learning.
We do need are quality instructors that know how to effectively facilitate and nurture our students in this online environment.
My Dualities in an OLE
Diversity/Coherence: “The culture of teaching is primarily one of isolation, where teachers are most concerned with and motivated by improving student learning, rather than improving their own teaching practice (Dunn & Shriner, 1999).” If we stick with strict coherence we’ll only be finding solutions for today’s questions, if we see a diverse background we can compare all of our options.
Online/Face-2-Face: Yes, the principles of forming communities online are the same F2F, but the current use of on online media (text based discussion boards) restrict community from forming as easily as it would in a F2F environment.
Identification/Negotiability: All though you will surely benefit from having a diverse group, some people might have certain perceptions of a person in an identified role, but they might interpret statements or attitudes
- For instance, just because I am a peripheral member of CoP, doesn’t necessarily mean they have nothing to offer.
- Additonally what happens when someone falsifies their identity or doesn’t give an accurate description. For instance, does the physical appearance of my avatar in Second Life necessarily represent me, no!
Local/Global: To form a community you have to be coming at it from the same direction as in the e-ILF example it would be better to experience in your “inquiry circle” with a another fifth grade biology teacher than a high school French teacher
Participation/reification “A teacher’s classroom practice is much more closely tied to her identify as a person” (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999). This practice is largely passed on internal reflection and the personal choice to make that transfer.
Designed/Emergent If participants are restricted on what they can and cannot do they will likely be able to change with their needs. Example would be the Moodle community, it was originally designed as a social constructivist tool, but the community supports the use of adding in very didactic quizzes, linear lecture based resources, etc. Although some of these added blocks don’t support the original design the Moodle community was grown to support these features.
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Welcome to Learning With Technology
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