scholarly journals Institutional Perspectives on Faculty Development for Digital Education in Canada

Author(s):  
Charlene A. VanLeeuwen ◽  
George Veletsianos ◽  
Olga Belikov ◽  
Nicole Johnson

As digital education at the post-secondary level continues to grow, robust professional development that prepares faculty to teach in online and blended settings is necessary. In this study we analyze open-ended comments from the Canadian Digital Learning Research Association’s annual survey of Canadian post-secondary institutions (2017-2019) to deepen our understanding of faculty training and support for digital education as articulated by higher education institutions. We find that 1) digital education orientation or on-boarding processes for faculty vary widely; 2) institutions employ an extensive array of professional development practices for digital education; 3) institutions report culture change, work security, and unclear expectations as challenges in providing digital education training and support; and 4) institutions articulate aspirations and hopes around professional development investments in order to build digital education capacity. These findings have significant implications for research and practice and we describe these in the article.

Author(s):  
Ramakanta Mohalik

Digital devices and applications have been used in schools and teacher education institutes across the globe for teaching learning. All the prospective teachers must be digitally savvy to utilize it in school for teaching, assessment, management and professional development. This study intended to find out the level of digital literacy and its uses among teacher trainees at secondary level. Descriptive research method was followed for undertaking this study. Survey was conducted on sample of 170 trainees selected randomly from teacher education institutes under Utkal University, Odisha, India. Self developed questionnaire based on different aspects of digital devices and applications such as skills of trainees in digital technology, use of digital technology and applications by trainees for learning and teaching etc. was used at tool. Collected data were subjected to frequency and percentage analysis and accordingly conclusions were drawn. The study found that (i) majority of trainees can change screen brightness and contrast, minimize, maximize and move window screen, use search command to locate a file and download and install applications, (ii) more than 50% of trainees do not know learning management system, virtual worlds, podcasts and web design applications, (iii) around 70% of trainees are aware about storage of video in camera, manage junk mail and update username and password and less than 50% of trainees knew about voice typing and cyber security, (iv) majority of trainees use group email and whatsapp for academic work and  only 20% of trainees use digital devices for using PPT in class, create digital learning materials, provide feedback to students. It is suggested that teacher education institutes must be equipped with digital devices and applications useful for teaching learning and professional development. Further, teacher educator must encourage and motivate trainees by integrated ICT in regular course work and across the subjects so that trainees can develop skills of using it for teaching, learning and assessment in schools.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000494412110034
Author(s):  
Lucy Corbett ◽  
Philayrath Phongsavan ◽  
Louisa R Peralta ◽  
Adrian Bauman

Professional development (PD) provides an opportunity to promote the psychological, social, and physical health tools teachers require to maintain teacher wellbeing. Despite their potential, little is known about PD programs targeting the health and wellbeing of Australian teachers. This study aimed to summarize the characteristics of Australian PD programs targeted at teacher wellbeing, identify gaps in existing PD and make recommendations for future research and practice. Three search strategies, (1) search engine results, (2) a manual search of known Australian education websites, and (3) requests for information from Australian education organizations, were combined to ensure a comprehensive inventory of PD programs was compiled. This study found 63 PD programs promoting health and wellbeing that currently exist for Australian teachers. Of these, only three provided evidence of their evaluation indicating programs are advertised and implemented without evidence of their effectiveness. Future PD should be evaluated with findings of the evaluations reported publicly so evidence-based programs promoting teacher’s health and wellbeing can be recommended and implemented.


2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roswita Dressler

Some heritage language learners (HLLs) are comfortable identifying themselves as such, while others are decidedly reluctant to adopt this term (Piño & Piño, 2000). HLLs in this paper are defined as those students having a parent or grandparent who speaks German or those who have spent a significant part of their childhood in a German-speaking country (as suggested in Beaudrie & Ducar, 2005, p. 13). This paper highlights case studies of six HLLs of German at the post-secondary level who are participants in a motivation study (Dressler, 2008). Three students are ‘willing’ HLLs. The additional three case studies are of students that I will call ‘reluctant’ HLLs of German, and this paper explores the reasons behind their reluctance and the components of self-identification, which include language identity (Block, 2007; Pierce, 1995); language expertise; affiliation and inheritance (Leung, Harris, & Rampton, 1997); cultural artifacts (Bartlett, 2007) and positioning (Block, 2007).


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 01020
Author(s):  
Tatiana Zinovyeva ◽  
Zhanna Afanasyeva ◽  
Antonina Bogdanova ◽  
Evgeniy Leonovich

The article deals with the topical issue of digitalization of education as a component of the digital transformation of contemporary society and the economy in general. The purpose of the research is to identify the readiness status of teaching staff for professional activity in the context of the digitalization of education. The main research methods were the questionnaire (implemented in the form of an online survey among students of the extramural form of study of the Moscow City Pedagogical University working at educational institutions of Moscow), and statistical analysis of the data obtained. The results of an online survey of teachers allowed concluding that today teachers have acquired a positive experience in the use of recommended tested digital educational resources, the ability to develop innovative digital educational and methodological support for the educational process, as well as recognized the need to build a personal trajectory of professional development in the framework of digital education.


2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-211
Author(s):  
Narrative Inquiry Group

This article describes the journey of The Narrative Inquiry Group, a community of high school educators engaged in embedded, self-directed professional development. Our approaches include professional conversation, narrative inquiry, and literary métissage, and our results consist of productions representative of our selves, learning, and practices. We would suggest that our inquiries map the path of individual and collective experience, and illustrate the value of being self-critical within the safety of a learning community. In addition, we hope to inform others’ research and practice, and those with an interest in teacher education, of the importance of understanding the experience of educators engaging in inquiry.


Author(s):  
Rui Li ◽  
Esther Smidt ◽  
Emily Dachroeden

The purpose of this chapter is to identify and understand the factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of “quality” online programs and ensure program success. The authors took the online program directors' perspectives and investigated a variety of factors with regards to course design, faculty, students, and institutions. Interview data from seven online program directors from a mid-sized public university in the United States were collected. A list of factors emerged from the data, such as faculty buy-in, faculty training and support, program standardization through course design, third-party certification, online student needs assessment, and investment in marketing and advertising. The authors suggest that these factors should be considered while developing new online programs or improving and expanding on existing online programs.


Author(s):  
Tara Madden-Dent ◽  
Deborah Oliver ◽  
Brooke Stratton ◽  
Eleanor A. Strand ◽  
Kimberly Reed

Institutions of higher learning serve as global catalysts for equitable educational systems as drivers of educator workforce that lead with social, emotional, and academic development (SEAD) practices. Colleges and universities are well-positioned to instruct on explicit social emotional learning (SEL) not only within pre-service programs of study, but have the unique opportunity to provide continuous education for in-service educators. This large-scale capacity to influence those who shape student experiences is more important today than ever before as schools seek safer, more inclusive campuses and digital learning environments with culturally responsive and respectful communication and interactions. The need for SEL skills across workforce sectors conflicts with the lack of SEL education in higher educational programs. To contribute to the body of literature around post-secondary SEL education, this chapter introduces new graduate-level SEAD courses and how they influenced pre-service and in-service teacher candidates.


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