Saturday, November 21, 2009

Can Web 2.0 Save Teacher Professional Development?


edweek.org Webinar
Presenters:
Barbara Treacy, director, EdTech Leaders Online, Education Development Center
Christopher Sessums,  College of Education at the University of Florida
Moderator: Anthony Rebora, managing editor, teachermagazine.org, Teacher Professional Development Sourcebook Themes: Online PD, teacher social networking, collaborative
Opening questions: what's happening? what are the opportunities & issues?

I. TREACY: Elements of effective PD? Which Tools Support Elements? Some Examples
PD needs to be well designed & delivered and to be better respected in its role for the educator.
Web 2.0 can support effective PD

ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PD
  • be intensive, ongoing, connected to practice
  • focus on student learning
  • address teaching of spec content
  • alignt school prop
  • build strong working relationships among teachers.

Refs:
- http://www.nsdc.org/stateproflearning.cfm
- Linda Darling Hammond 

Web 2.0 Defined: online application that uses www as platform and allows for participants involve, collaoboarion and interaction. also characterized by creation and sharing of intellecutla and social resources by end users.

"in education...have  not seized up on the power and tools that are now available to us in the internet age" [eric schmidt, google ceo]

WHICH TOOLS?
so many tools, need to know how to harness
Content Managment tools - enable
  • org & share content,
  • engage in ongoing discussion,
  • assess and document learning,
  • build formal and informal cops,
  • share and anlyze student work,
  • e.g.s moodle, blackbaord, angel learning, desire2learn, sakai
Voice & Content Tools - enable educators to
  • personalize intro and discussions,
  • provide learning or project summaries,
  • explain a technical piece,
  • create online discussions,
  • address auditory learners and accessibility,
  • e.g.s voki, jing, Gcast
Collaboration Tools - enable
  • collaborate and co-create docs, plans material media,
  • brainstorm and share ideas, resources data,
  • discuss and communicatiow tih team
  • e.g.s wiki, flickr, zoho writer, ning, facebook,
  • conduct live discussion and meeting,
  • blends synch and asnch learning,
  • address varied learning styles,
  • collaboration adn share docs resources,
  • e.g.s skype, elluminate, freeConference
More Tool Types
Web 2.0 online + Teacher Professional Development [TPD] enable:
  • PD extended over time[intensive, ongoing connect to practice]
  • teacher to implement what learning in class [focus student learning]
  • strong focus on content and pedagogy through rich reading, multimedia as activities online explore [address teaching of specific curriculum content]
  • capacity building approcaer with local educator leading the PD [align with school improvement priorities and goals]
  • learning community models with rich online discussion with participants and facilitator [build strong working relationships among teachers]

II. SESSUMS - Online Teacher Communities
Interests:
- learning sciences - identifying way of deep and complex learning
- learning organizations - what way do learning designs impact ways communities behave?
- participatory media design - what ways do digital tools impact way communicate, collaboration and act online?

TPD  [Borko, 2004]
- offerings currently fragmented,
- intellectually superficial
- ongoing support for meaningful TPD is limited

Lacks of day to day support and mentoring relates to 50% attrition rate of new teacher within first 5 years of practice [nation commission on teaching and america future, 2003]

TPD [Dede, et al 2009]
  • a relatively nascent filed of study
  • which design features, tools and strat work best still being analyze
  • few empirical studies mostly anecdotal
EXAMPLE
Study on TPD that went Web 2.0 [Sessums 2009]
  • action research model - train the trainer
  • what works
  • for action research coaches
  • spread geographically
  • how media supports
  • approach effectiveness
Facilitator for OL TPD needs to be:
  1. social artist: understand comm building, how to develop social connections [wenger]
  2. effective mentor: sufficient knowledge of practice to demonstrate creditbility
  3. community organizer: nurture & strengthen connections
  4. express expectations/Ground rules; get participants onboard, focused, buy in to inten
Good OL Community Facilitator requires:
  • special skills to progress from surface level discussion to deeper social exchange
  • creating a culture of collaboration: provide activities that requires collaboration, sharing & reflection
  • create activities that support dedication
  • involve participants in project planning, developing team identity, goals, and processes
Challenges
  • tech frustration
  • size of community
  • lack of time due to competing priorities
  • participants feel have nothing to share
  • info overload after absence
  • motivation
  • facilitator role? how invovled?
  • stand back and let part work through issues?
Technology design should:
  • reflect/support comm goals e.g. task based, practice based knowledge based, mash ups
  • be design around practice
  • allow for sharing

TAKE AWAYS
New resource constraints & continuous economic reorganization provide opportunities to transform
Web 2.0 allows reservoirs of innovation contribution and collaboration
Design Research model  provides a great opportunity for learning, sharing knowledge etc

Design Based Research needs to:
  • document and share what works
  • for who
  • under what conditions
  • how and why this approach is effecitve

Blog Reference: teachpaperless

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