Preparing K-12 Teachers for Blended and Online Learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 18-35
Author(s):  
Vanessa P. Dennen ◽  
Yujin Park
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Inservice Teachers ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Teacher Experiences ◽  
Educational Innovations ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Learning Professionals ◽  
Social Networking Tools

Personal learning networks (PLNs) are a form of informal professional development in which teachers build and maintain connections to other educators and learning professionals and the resources that will meet their personal continuing education needs. Although PLNs can incorporate face-to-face connections, they typically make heavy use of social networking tools for finding and sharing information and educational innovations. In this chapter, the authors discuss how PLNs have been developed and used by preservice and inservice teachers, discussing the similarities and differences between the two groups along with the progression of PLN development from preservice to inservice teacher experiences. Next the authors discuss the role that PLNs play in helping teachers develop their blended and virtual learning knowledge and skills, along with ideas for how teacher-educators and administrators can provide support for this endeavor.

“I Love Being Able to Have my Colleagues Around the World at my Fingertips:”

2013 ◽  
pp. 110-126
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Branch ◽  
Joanne de Groot
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Personal Learning Networks ◽  
Online Distance Education ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
Online Networks ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Life Long Learning ◽  
Online Distance ◽  
Teacher Librarians

Teacher-librarians are often “lone wolves” in schools. This chapter explores how Canadian teacher-librarians are participating in life-long learning in the 21st century using Web 2.0 technologies. It also explores how one online distance education program implemented changes to help prepare teacher-librarians to participate in local and global personal learning networks. Findings from a Canadian survey on this topic found that teacher-librarians often seek out other teacher-librarians for advice and support, as well as relying on regular interaction (both face-to-face and online) with their colleagues. Other informal professional learning occurs through listservs, online networks, Elluminate sessions, webinars, TED talks, podcasts, Nings, blogs, and Twitter. New and emerging technologies are helping teacher-librarians connect to one another locally and, more importantly, globally. It is this combination of both local and global personal learning networks that helps teacher-librarians move from being lone wolves to members of the pack.

scholarly journals A Design of Personal Learning Network on Social Networking Tools with Gamification for Professional Experience

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (18) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Janejira Arsarkij ◽  
Thanomporn Laohajaratsang
Keyword(s):  
Social Networking ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Analytical Data ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Professional Experience ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
Learning Network ◽  
Personal Learning Network ◽  
Social Networking Tools

This research aimed to design a novel teaching and learning process in the professional experience training. The Successive Approximation Model (SAM) was applied in the design steps. The attainment of the designed framework derived from numbers of theoretical reviews, as well as the analytical data collected from the expert interviews. The proposed framework included the components of a Personal Learning Network (PLN), the process of PLN, and the professional experience procedure. The components of PLN were: learning resources, learning tools, learning content, and learning activities. In addition, the process of PLN consisted of Creation, Connection, Cognition, and Contribution. The professional experience incorporated nine main activities particularly, enrolling in the course, joining three compulsory seminars, doing two major periods of internship, mentor visiting, submitting assignments, and completing the course. These three concepts were combined into the framework of integrated learning activities, which occurred in social networking tool, Course Networking (CN). It operated as the learning tool utilized the newly created addable badges as a part of gamification features. The assessment results from the eleven experts revealed that the teaching and learning practice using personal learning networks on social networking tools with gamification in the professional experience proved to have high levels of standard evaluation, innovative attributes, design process, teaching and learning procedure, and teaching and learning activities.

“I Love Being Able to Have my Colleagues around the World at my Fingertips:”

2014 ◽  
pp. 1530-1546
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Branch ◽  
Joanne de Groot
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Personal Learning Networks ◽  
Online Distance Education ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
Online Networks ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Life Long Learning ◽  
Online Distance ◽  
Teacher Librarians

Teacher-librarians are often “lone wolves” in schools. This chapter explores how Canadian teacher-librarians are participating in life-long learning in the 21st century using Web 2.0 technologies. It also explores how one online distance education program implemented changes to help prepare teacher-librarians to participate in local and global personal learning networks. Findings from a Canadian survey on this topic found that teacher-librarians often seek out other teacher-librarians for advice and support, as well as relying on regular interaction (both face-to-face and online) with their colleagues. Other informal professional learning occurs through listservs, online networks, Elluminate sessions, webinars, TED talks, podcasts, Nings, blogs, and Twitter. New and emerging technologies are helping teacher-librarians connect to one another locally and, more importantly, globally. It is this combination of both local and global personal learning networks that helps teacher-librarians move from being lone wolves to members of the pack.

scholarly journals E-Classroom Interactional Competencies: Mediating and Assisting Language Learning During Synchronous Online Lessons

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822098527
Author(s):  
Benjamin Luke Moorhouse ◽  
Yanna Li ◽  
Steve Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Management Competencies ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Synchronous Online

Interaction is seen by many English language teachers and scholars as an essential part of face-to-face English language classrooms. Teachers require specific competencies to effectively use interaction as a tool for mediating and assisting learning. These can be referred to as classroom interactional competence (CIC). However, the situation created by the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic which began in early 2020, and the recent advancement in technologies have led to teachers conducting synchronous online lessons through video-conferencing software. The online environment is distinctly different from the face-to-face classroom and teachers require new and additional skills to effectively utilise interaction online in real time. This exploratory study used an online mixed-method survey of 75 university level English language teachers who had engaged in synchronous online teaching due to COVID-19, to explore the competencies that teachers need to use interaction as a tool to mediate and assist language learning in synchronous online lessons. Teachers were found to require three competencies, in addition to their CIC – technological competencies, online environment management competencies, and online teacher interactional competencies – which together constitute e-CIC. The findings provide greater insights into the needs of teachers required to teach synchronously online and will be of interest to teachers and teacher educators.

scholarly journals Action Research in Education: Addressing Gaps in Ethical Principles and Practices

2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 401-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda L. Nolen ◽  
Jim Vander Putten
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Professional Associations ◽  
Institutional Review Boards ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Institutional Review ◽  
Research In Education ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Review Boards

Action research in education has gained increasing attention in the past 20 years. It is viewed as a practical yet systematic research method that enables teachers to investigate their own teaching and their students’ learning. However, the ethical issues unique to this form of insider research have received less attention. Drawing on several professional associations’ principles for research practice, the authors identify a series of potential ethical issues inherent in action research in K–12 schools and the corresponding difficulties that action researchers encounter with the policies and procedures of institutional review boards. The authors conclude with recommendations for future practice addressed to three groups: institutional review boards, K–12 school professionals and teacher educators, and national professional and representative organizations.

Feeling and Acting like a Teacher: Reconceptualizing Teachers’ Emotional Labor

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Christy Galletta Horner ◽  
Elizabeth Levine Brown ◽  
Swati Mehta ◽  
Christina L. Scanlon
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Labor ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Display Rules ◽  
Surface Acting ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Feeling Rules

Background/Context Empirical research indicates that teachers across ages and academic contexts regularly engage in emotional labor, and this emotional labor contributes to their job satisfaction, teaching effectiveness, burnout, and emotional well-being both within and outside the classroom. However, because the initial research on emotional labor was situated in the service industries (e.g., restaurants, call centers, airlines), researchers have suggested that the emotional labor framework as it applies to teaching only provides a partial picture of teachers’ deeper and more complex emotional practice. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study aims to determine whether and how teachers’ descriptions of their own emotional practice map onto existing emotional labor constructs (emotional display rules, and deep and surface acting) and how the framework may be adapted to better support teachers’ implementation of emotional labor. Setting Participants worked in five charter schools within the same school district but in different areas of a mid-Atlantic metropolitan city. This district identifies itself as serving 4,000 students from “underserved communities” across 13 locations. Population/Participants/Subjects Full-time K–12 educators (N = 68) who worked across academic subjects (e.g., math, science, language arts) or special subjects (e.g., music, art) participated. Research Design The current study is qualitative; we employed adapted grounded theory. Data Collection and Analysis We conducted individual face-to-face semistructured interviews with participants; audio recordings were transcribed verbatim. We developed a codebook through a collaborative and iterative process, and we achieved high interrater reliability before using Dedoose to code the full corpus of data. Findings/Results There were two key findings: (1) teachers perceived feeling rules in addition to display rules, and (2) teachers described an emotional acting strategy in which they modulated the expressions of their authentic emotions, which we call modulated acting, in addition to surface and deep acting. Conclusions/Recommendations Including teachers’ perceptions of feeling rules and use of modulated acting in emotional labor research has the potential to enhance our understanding of how emotional labor relates to outcomes that are important for both teachers and their students. In addition, we urge teacher educators to include emotional labor in their curricula. Though further research is needed to build a strong literature base on ways in which teachers’ emotional labor may connect to their own and their students’ outcomes, the emotional labor constructs already have the potential to be useful for both preservice and practicing teachers.

scholarly journals Weaving a Personal Web: Using online technologies to create customized, connected, and dynamic learning environments

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica McElvaney ◽  
Zane Berge
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Dynamic Learning ◽  
Social Bookmarking ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
Web Technologies ◽  
Online Technologies ◽  
Learning Principles ◽  
The Relationship

This paper explores how personal web technologies (PWTs) can be used by learners and the relationship between PWTs and connectivist learning principles. Descriptions and applications of several technologies including social bookmarking tools, personal publishing platforms, and aggregators are also included. With these tools, individuals can create and manage personal learning environments (PLEs) and personal learning networks (PLNs), which have the potential to become powerful resources for academic, professional, and personal development. Résumé : Cet article explore les diverses façons dont les technologies Web personnelles peuvent être utilisées par les apprenants, ainsi que la relation entre ces technologies et les principes d’apprentissage connectivistes. Y sont également présentées les descriptions et les applications de plusieurs technologies, y compris les outils sociaux de mise en signet, les plateformes de publication personnelles et les agrégateurs. Ainsi outillées, les personnes peuvent créer et gérer des environnements d’apprentissage personnels (EAP) et des réseaux d’apprentissage personnels (RAP) qui recèlent le potentiel de devenir de puissantes ressources de perfectionnement sur les plans universitaire, professionnel et personnel.

scholarly journals Podcasts for Nonformal Learning: Using Social Media for Creating Personal Learning Environments, Personal Learning Networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 46-65
Author(s):  
Marija Stonkienė ◽  
Erika Janiūnienė
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Media Content ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Personal Learning Networks ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
Personal Learning Environments ◽  
Collaborative Interaction ◽  
The Creation

The use of second-generation web technology (WEB2) in education is emphasising the role of social media as educational sources. Researchers that are analysing personal learning environments (Schaffert, Kalz, 2009; Dabbagh, Kitsantas, 2012), personal learning networks (Couros, 2010) suggest the importance of social media, although this emphasis is attributed to the collaborative interaction of learners. To comprehensively assess the potential of podcasts as social media in the creation of personal learning environments, personal learning networks, the research described in this article does not restrict the definition of podcasts as the potential of collaboration provided by social media. In this article, attention is directed towards the potential of podcasts in the creation of personal learning environment and personal learning networks. By using integrated information behaviour module analysis to determine if the students of Lithuanian higher education institutions value the potential of informal learning provided by podcasts. To determine if these technologies are used for the formation of personal learning environments, personal learning networks, a discussion group research was conducted. During the research the analysis of participant podcast usage showed there is interaction between media content used for recreation and media content used for formal and informal learning. This means that the participants of the research use podcasts to create personal learning environments. On the other hand, this interaction is minimal, created only by the learners and reasoned by the search of educational podcasts. The analysis of the experiences of the discussion participants revealed that the collaborative interaction between learners involved in the research in searching, sharing and using podcasts in the process of learning is not intensive, it is typically fragmented. This allows to point out that the communities that use podcasts for informal learning are not forming. This shows that the potential of podcasts in creating a learning network is not fulfilled, and that podcasts don’t inspire participatory learning.

scholarly journals Curriculum flexibility in a blended curriculum

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herma Jonker ◽  
Virginie März ◽  
Joke Voogt
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Teacher Education Institution ◽  
Student Enrolment

This study offers insights into the processes that play a role in realising curriculum flexibility. Curriculum flexibility is conceptualised in terms of adaptability and accessibility of the curriculum to students’ needs and capabilities. To realise curriculum flexibility, the teacher education institution in this study designed a blended curriculum with face-to-face and online components. This flexible curriculum aimed at increasing student enrolment and allowing for variety in students’ graduation portfolios. Through semi-structured interviews with 10 teacher educators, conditions that could foster or hinder the realisation of flexibility were investigated. Results indicate that different contextual, teacher-, and student-related conditions were perceived to affect (further) curriculum flexibility. Furthermore, teacher educators identified several challenges related to these influential conditions, which were recognised as tensions. Based on a discussion of these findings, recommendations for research and practice are given.

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