scholarly journals How Pedagogy 2.0 Can Foster Teacher Preparation and Community Building in Special Education

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 42-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Hardman
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
Inclusive Learning ◽  
Community Growth

This paper describes how one teacher educator used action research methodology to investigate the feasibility of using Web 2.0 technology to build a virtual professional learning community (PLC) in special education to support the preparation of highly qualified special education teachers. Study participants included 218 pre-service and in-service teachers who joined the virtual PLC over a four-year period. Data were collected using two Web 2.0 tools, wiki and Ning, and analyzed to evaluate the degree to which the virtual community met the essential characteristics of a PLC. The results showed that 200 of the 218 graduate students who joined the PLC as graduate students continued their membership after graduation but participated in community work as observers only, rarely if ever contributing anything to community growth and development. The implication of the results are discussed with respect to the importance of preparing teachers for service in today’s modern 21st Century academically diverse, inclusive learning communities.

Meeting the Professional Development Needs of Special Educators in 21st Century Classrooms

2016 ◽  
pp. 52-68
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Hardman
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Special Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Personnel Preparation ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Community Work ◽  
Culture Of Learning ◽  
Basic Infrastructure

This chapter describes the challenges personnel preparation programs meet when preparing pre-service special educators for service in today's technology rich classrooms. The author used action research methodology to explore the feasibility of developing a virtual Professional Learning Community (PLC) for the purpose of building a collaborative culture of learning in special education and providing pre-service and novice special educators access to networks of support. A wiki and Ning provided the basic infrastructure for the virtual PLC and the data collected from the websites were analyzed using the eight essential characteristics of PLC development. The results showed that the PLC membership participated in community work primarily as observers only, relying almost entirely on the teacher educator to direct and manage all facets of community work. The implications of the research are discussed with respect to how personnel preparation programs prepare teachers for service in in 21st Century classrooms.

Resurrecting Graduate Conversation through an Online Learning Community

2009 ◽  
pp. 341-350
Author(s):  
Brian Thoms ◽  
Nathan Garrett ◽  
Mariana Soffer ◽  
Terry Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
Online Learning Community

This article reports on action research that implements online learning community (OLC) software to foster conversation at a specific graduate school. The design of the research is informed by theories of conversation, online learning, and social networking, as well as by popular Web 2.0 technologies. A distinguishing feature of this application is that it is oriented toward and controlled by individuals rather than being centered on courses. Results indicate that stakeholders—graduate students and faculty—appreciate and find value in the OLC we implemented.

scholarly journals Leading Inclusive Learning, Teaching and Assessment in Post-Primary Schools in Ireland: Does Provision Mapping Support an Integrated, School-Wide and Systematic Approach to Inclusive Special Education?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
Johanna Fitzgerald ◽  
Joe Lynch ◽  
Angela Martin ◽  
Bernadette Cullen
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Inclusive Learning ◽  
Integrated Response ◽  
Inclusive Special Education

A parallel system of inclusive and special education persists in Ireland despite attempts to move towards integrated provision for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) along a flexible continuum of support. Even in mainstream schools, duality exists and discrete delivery of special education continues to create ‘siloed’ approaches to education for some students. This paper outlines a research and knowledge exchange initiative involving a higher education institution and a management body for post-primary schools in Ireland attempting to develop integrated, school-wide, systematic and collaborative approaches to inclusive and special education. Theoretically underpinned by Hornby’s model of Inclusive Special Education (2015) and a conceptualisation of the SENCO role in the Irish context, a pilot process was implemented to support the development of an integrated response to a continuum of need. A year after initial implementation a review was undertaken. Focus group and individual interviews with SENCOs, Curriculum Leaders and Principals in six schools indicate that the initiative, while still in its infancy, raised awareness about inclusive special education amongst staff and provided data-informed approaches to education. The centrality of leadership in promoting school-wide approaches to inclusive special education also emerged. Finally, the importance of situated community of practice approaches to professional learning were identified as critical to leading change in schools.

Virtual Worlds in Geoscience Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 387-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalisa Boniello ◽  
Eleonora Paris ◽  
Flavia Santoianni
Keyword(s):  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Spatial Reasoning ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Geoscience Education ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Professional Performance ◽  
Task Oriented ◽  
The Relationship

Describes studies and research on geoscience education in virtual worlds. A correlation between spatial reasoning skills and professional performance in many scientific fields has been demonstrated. Traditional models of education are linked by the ideas that the relationship between teacher and students is asymmetric; the teacher transmits information and the students receive it; With the Web 2.0, traditional models of education should have been passed in favor of post-cognitivist models, where knowledge is distributed, situated and embodied. In this framework of interpretation, learning is no more a task-oriented process and knowledge is no longer transmitted but shared, co-constructed, and negotiated within a learning community. Likewise, Web 2.0 learning approaches allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to previous websites where people were limited to passive viewing of content.

Resurrecting Graduate Conversation through an Online Learning Community

2010 ◽  
pp. 810-819
Author(s):  
Edson Pinheiro Pimentel ◽  
Nizam Omar
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
Online Learning Community

This article reports on action research that implementsonline learning community (OLC) software to fosterconversation at a specific graduate school. The design of the research is informed by theories of conversation, onlinelearning, and social networking, as well as by popular Web 2.0 technologies. A distinguishing feature of this application is that it is oriented toward and controlled by individuals rather than being centered on courses. Results indicate that stakeholders—graduate students and faculty—appreciate and find value in the OLC we implemented.

Virtual Worlds in Geoscience Education

2019 ◽  
pp. 781-800
Author(s):  
Annalisa Boniello ◽  
Eleonora Paris ◽  
Flavia Santoianni
Keyword(s):  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Spatial Reasoning ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Geoscience Education ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Professional Performance ◽  
Task Oriented ◽  
The Relationship

Describes studies and research on geoscience education in virtual worlds. A correlation between spatial reasoning skills and professional performance in many scientific fields has been demonstrated. Traditional models of education are linked by the ideas that the relationship between teacher and students is asymmetric; the teacher transmits information and the students receive it; With the Web 2.0, traditional models of education should have been passed in favor of post-cognitivist models, where knowledge is distributed, situated and embodied. In this framework of interpretation, learning is no more a task-oriented process and knowledge is no longer transmitted but shared, co-constructed, and negotiated within a learning community. Likewise, Web 2.0 learning approaches allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to previous websites where people were limited to passive viewing of content.

Three Innovations: Promises and Perils

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 73-90
Author(s):  
Sam Oh Neill
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning Community ◽  
School Board ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Social Emotional Learning ◽  
School Reforms ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Purpose Of Education ◽  
Differentiation Of Instruction

In 2003, I began a longitudinal study into the purpose of education. The process of my investigation included getting involved in new innovations as they were introduced to our school board. As I looked deeper into the purpose of schooling I discovered some startling things about how and why systems of education, through the apparatus of schooling, influence who and what, professionally, people become. I also discovered patterns related to the act of becoming that exist in school reforms. This study analyzes three reforms introduced between 2003 and 2017: Professional Learning Community, Differentiation of Instruction, and Social-Emotional Learning. 

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