Developing New Literacies through Blended Learning

Author(s):  
Deborah Kitchener ◽  
Janet Murphy ◽  
Robert Lebans

This article reports on the implementation and impact of two blended models of teacher professional learning that promote innovative classroom practice and improved literacy and numeracy in six school districts in Ontario, Canada. The Advanced Broadband Enabled Learning Program (ABEL), situated at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, transforms how teachers learn and teach through a strategic blend of face-to-face interaction, technological tools and resources, online interaction and support. Learning Connections (LC), its sister project, uses the same model to improve literacy and numeracy in school districts. Research into the impact of both programs reveals increased student engagement and achievement, enhanced teacher efficacy, and improved results in literacy and numeracy. This report presents the findings from two participant surveys conducted in one large suburban board just north of Toronto, and one large rural board in Northern Ontario, and demonstrates how the working definition of literacy that teachers use in the classroom is being transformed by their use of technology in the classroom.

Author(s):  
Deborah Kitchener ◽  
Janet Murphy ◽  
Robert Lebans

This article reports on the implementation and impact of two blended models of teacher professional learning that promote innovative classroom practice and improved literacy and numeracy in six school districts in Ontario, Canada. The Advanced Broadband Enabled Learning Program (ABEL), situated at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, transforms how teachers learn and teach through a strategic blend of face-to-face interaction, technological tools and resources, online interaction and support. Learning Connections (LC), its sister project, uses the same model to improve literacy and numeracy in school districts. Research into the impact of both programs reveals increased student engagement and achievement, enhanced teacher efficacy, and improved results in literacy and numeracy. This report presents the findings from two participant surveys conducted in one large suburban board just north of Toronto, and one large rural board in Northern Ontario, and demonstrates how the working definition of literacy that teachers use in the classroom is being transformed by their use of technology in the classroom.


RELC Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 003368822095247
Author(s):  
Loc Tan Nguyen ◽  
Jonathan Newton

The role of teacher professional learning (TPL) in assisting teachers to teach pronunciation in English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) contexts has received little attention. The study reported in this paper extends this line of research by investigating how six EFL teachers at a Vietnamese university transform and integrate the pronunciation pedagogical knowledge they received from a TPL workshop into teaching practice. It then examines the teachers’ perceptions of the impact of the workshop on their knowledge gains and pronunciation teaching skills. Data were collected from seven lesson plans designed by the teachers, video recordings of 24 subsequent classroom observations, and six individual semi-structured interviews. The study adopted a content-based approach to qualitative data analysis. The findings show that the teachers were all able to translate TPL into classroom practice of pronunciation teaching. The findings further show that workshops designed and implemented in accordance with research-based TPL principles can be effective for promoting teachers’ knowledge of pronunciation pedagogy and refining their pronunciation teaching skills. The study has implications for ESL/EFL teachers’ professional development in pronunciation teaching.


Author(s):  
Kátia Muck ◽  
Denise Cristina Kluge

This article provides a theoretical discussion regarding the implications of peer-to-peer learning in online environments for language teacher professional learning and second language academic literacy. It approaches the use of technology as means to enhance prospective teachers’ cognition and metacognition skills and to foster their language learning, as Language Teacher Education programs usually fulfil a twofold purpose: to learn the language itself and to learn how to teach it as a foreign language. In order to arrive at these implications, it presents a grounded discussion on sociocultural perspective within L2 teacher education, teachers’ beliefs, and mediation in the sociocultural perspective. The discussion reinforces the significance of peer-activities (peer-observation and peer-feedback) to foster a teacher development process. Moreover, it suggests that a guided peer-activity, such as employing the use of carefully elaborated rubrics, could enhance this process.


Author(s):  
Chris Brook ◽  
Graeme Lock

In light of current interest in teacher education, this chapter presents an outcome of a study that sought to explore ways that the classroom practices and status of teachers might be improved. The enquiry used a model of professional learning that incorporated blended learning, reflective practice, performance management processes, authentic experiences, and tertiary learning to encourage change in classroom settings. Teacher insights were explored and their classroom practices analysed to identify any change in teacher behaviours that might be attributed to participation in the learning program. Findings suggest that teachers are largely dissatisfied with conventional approaches to professional development believing them to be separate from the classroom experience and ineffective in bring about change. However, teachers in this study found that a blended learning setting that fostered an intentional connection between theory and practice and collaborative learning provided a strong learning experience that translated to change in classroom practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Goodale

The focus of this article is on the evaluation and outcomes of a professional learning opportunity that focused on 13 current K–12 public school science educators in the United States. This teacher training concentrated on sustainability education that utilized marine sciences as a unifying concept. Findings from this training helped to identify models within teacher professional development in marine science that lead to comprehensive adoption of presented curricula. Four established models/frameworks of professional development were identified and their subsequent classroom implementation was evaluated. Results include adoption rates of the various session materials, the impact and effect size of differing variables (such as deliverables or standards alignment) among the four models and their frameworks and changes in perceptions towards sustainability initiatives. These outcomes underscore several methods and strategies for successful science teacher professional development implementation in regard to marine sciences.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 52-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Tan ◽  
Kathleen King Thorius

Despite the push for inclusive mathematics education, students with disabilities continue to lack access to, and achievement in, rich mathematics learning opportunities. We assert that mathematics teacher educators have a central role in addressing these contradictions. This role includes enacting facilitative moves during mathematics teacher professional learning to encounter and counter social forces, which we denote in this article as en/counters. As part of a larger study, we explored the extent to which the use of an inclusive education-oriented tool, developed and introduced during a teacher learning program, elicited en/counters that mediated participants' learning toward inclusive mathematics education. We discuss shifts in participants' conversational content and focus on surrounding practices that involved students with disabilities and features of the tool and processes that supported these shifts, including specific facilitative moves that helped redirect deficit-focused conversations.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document