Education Commons^™

Technology-Based Training With Social Work Students To Enhance Suicide Risk Assessment Skills During Covid-19, Warren L. Miller Jr, Aswood Bousseau, Jesse Capece, Jayashree Nimmagadda

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

The global COVID-19 pandemic has touched every aspect of human life. It has exacerbated how students continue to learn during a global health crisis. Specifically, training students to address mental health challenges (i.e., suicide assessments) during and post-COVID-19 is of the utmost importance. Previous research shows higher education institutions' responses to adjusting to previous world health crises, yet little is known about social work programs pivoting to technology-based training to educate BSW and MSW students to continue serving vulnerable populations in their field practicum during COVID-19. In this study, using the competencies attainment survey, the researchers at an east coast …

Parent Perspectives Of Digital Learning Experiences: A Phenomenological Study, Keiyana Wilson, Kathryn Washington, Kelly Brown, Quentin Bellard, Tilisa Thibodeaux

School Leadership Review

Digital learning is a rising method of enhancing education for learners in the K-12 sector of learning. The growing approach to instruction has created a pathway for various backgrounds of learners to conveniently explore content from home. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine parent perspectives of K-12 digital learning programs in southeast Texas. More so, the study explored how parents’ perspectives of digital learning in relation to academic success influenced the selected mode of instruction for their child. Using a phenomenological approach, research questions were answered regarding parent perspectives of digital learning, as related to the …

School Leadership Assessment Of Teachers’ Work-Life Balance: Perceptions And Professional Learning Needs During A Global Health Pandemic, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Summer Pannell, Alissa Sasser, Katherine Fallon, Katarina Evans

School Leadership Review

The purpose of this study was to better understand the work-life balance of educators teaching students during the Covid-19 health pandemic. Teachers face a multitude of challenges during this unprecedented time with a rapid shift from traditional face-to-face class to online learning resulting in a cyclical phenomenon for many teachers as schools have shifted back and forth between virtual and in-person settings in response to constantly changing coronavirus messaging. The findings identified three overarching themes related to teachers’ needs including Boundaries with Time and Commitments, Mentally Processing Daily Stressors, and Healthy Lifestyle. Implications for practice denote that …

The Rapid Transition From Face-To-Face To Online Education Due To Covid-19: Observations Of Higher Education Faculty In Texas, Bill Mchenry, Kevin Williams, Ellen Melton

TxDLA Journal of Digital Learning

The COVID-19 pandemic has made a profound impact on education on a global scale. Disruptions and changes in modalities in the delivery of education, both in higher education and pk12 environments, have potentially forever changed the expectations of education systems. This study discusses the rapid transition to online education due to the pandemic from the lenses of higher education faculty in Texas.

School Leadership Support: Understanding The Experiences Of Elementary-Level Teachers During A Global Health Pandemic, Kathleen M. Crawford, Pamela Wells, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Kristen N. Dickens, Katherine Fallon

School Leadership Review

The purpose of this study was to better understand how the current COVID-19 global health pandemic has professionally and emotionally impacted elementary-level teachers. Teachers experienced diverse challenges during this unprecedented time with a rapid shift from in-person to online learning. Two overarching themes emerged based on participant experiences: abandoning best practices and increased stress and emotional pain. Implications for practice included the need for school leaders to evaluate the current level of support being provided to teachers and assess areas of need to support professional and emotional growth with the backdrop of the pandemic. We encourage future research with all …

Developing Culturally Proficient Leaders Through Graduate Coursework: Examining Student Perspectives, Jean F. Ruffin, Marsha E. Simon

School Leadership Review

The racial and ethnic demographic shifts occurring in the United States had increased the need for educational leaders capable of obtaining the cultural proficiency needed to effectively lead diverse schools. Graduate coursework focused on developing cultural competence provides a unique opportunity for school leaders to explore issues related to identity, bias, and diversity in a scholarly setting. Course design, materials, and assignments should work together seamlessly to provide students a rich opportunity to explore diversity issues. The present study examines the perspectives of students enrolled in a doctoral diversity course in Spring 2021 and how the course contributed to the …

Supportive Strategies For Human Services Online Internships: A Case Study Of Guttman Community College’S Remote Binary Model, Anya Spector, Nicole Kras

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Creating a viable human services internship program at the community college level presents many challenges, from retaining partner agencies willing to supervise, often inexperienced, beginning students, to retaining students willing to overcome personal, academic, and financial challenges to participate in an internship. These challenges were exacerbated by restrictions placed on in-person teaching and internships during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, Guttman Community College’s human services program has developed a remote binary internship model that offers fieldwork students the benefits of participating in an internship through online agency-based supervised field placements or class-based asynchronous assignments for fieldwork students that cannot participate …

Critical Pedagogy In The Time Of Covid-19: Lessons Learned, Carol Christine Hordatt Gentles

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

The abrupt closure of universities due to the coronavirus pandemic caused unprecedented challenges for educators. They struggled to transition to online teaching almost overnight. This has raised questions about the readiness of Higher Education for digitalisation and hybridization of learning environments and focused attention on the renewal of teaching and learning models. It is incumbent upon those who practise critical pedagogy to join this conversation; the mandatory transition has raised difficult questions around how to ensure continuity of an agenda to offer students humanistic and democratic learning experiences in the new virtual reality. In this paper I offer a critical …

Listen To The Voices: A Reflection On How 2020 And Covid-19 Have Affected Lives, Sara Abi Villanueva, Alexandra C. Daub, Alejandra Y. Martinez

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Throughout the last few months of 2019, stories of a new and deadly virus were on every news channel around the world. Many Americans saw it as foreign news, others worried about the virus’ spread, and some felt that it would be contained quickly never making it past the Atlantic or Pacific. By March of 2020, COVID-19 made its way to the United States, forcing a new normal of quarantining, remote-learning/teaching, and teleworking. Graduate students and educators of Professional Opportunities Supporting Scholarly Engagement (POSSE), a College of Education program focused on research and contributing to the educational field of discourse, …

In The Shadows Of Covid-19: Challenges That Plagued Teachers Amidst A Pandemic, Alexis M. Segura

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, some teachers have been struggling to maintain their morale, passion, and love for their profession. They are juggling a myriad of tasks and expectations whilst simultaneously attempting to heal from an ongoing shared trauma. Additionally, the pressure to maintain the same level of rigor, eagerness, and success that existed before COVID-19 is immense, resulting in teachers feeling powerless, voiceless, and invisible. Not only has this pandemic forced teachers to place their own lives and health at risk, but in the rush to return to traditional schooling, it has pushed teachers to their limit—often …

The Show Must Go On: Challenges, Questions, And Pedagogical Pivots In Response To Covid-19, Patrick S. De Walt

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

On March 18, 2020, many universities and university systems had or were in their initial stages of transitioning to virtual teaching as a result of COVID-19. This transition had varied effects on all aspects of the university community. This paper explores this transition through the teaching experiences of a tenure-track professor during the pandemic. The examination of six sections of a capstone undergraduate course over the course of three semesters was conducted. Through self-reflection, many of the challenges faced shifting from face-to-face to a virtual environment were discussed. Among some of the challenges and limitations experienced when teaching nontraditional and/or …

Educators In The Time Of Covid: Metamorphosis Of A Profession And Of A People, Sara Abi Villanueva, Brett S. Nickerson, Mayra A. Garcia, Claire Murillo, Regina J. Bustillos, Qiana S. O’Leary

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

The following is a collection of reflections written by six educators ranging from K–Higher Education. In this feature, these educators share their experiences of living and educating during the 2020–2021 COVID-19 pandemic. Once compartmentalized and only used when needed, their separate roles and identities had to merge to meet educator, spousal, and parental demands. The first text by Brett Nickerson shows how his life as husband and father collided with his profession as an assistant professor at a university when his wife, a dedicated nurse, was called to help others in need. The second testimonial is by Mayra Garcia, a …

Covid And Curriculum: Elementary Teachers Report On The Challenges Of Teaching And Learning Mathematics Remotely, Kristin Giorgio-Doherty, Mona Baniahmadi, Jill Newton, Amy M. Olson, Kristen Ferguson, Kaitlyn Sammons, Marcy M. Wood, Corey Drake

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This article reports on findings from a survey administered to 524 elementary teachers across 46 states that asked about their experiences with mathematics teaching, learning, and curriculum use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this article is to report on the challenges teachers experienced with mathematics teaching, learning, and curriculum use during the pandemic and to explore educational inequities faced by students of families with lower income backgrounds. In particular, we discuss differences across high- and low-income schools regarding teachers’ perceived preparedness for online teaching, teachers’ use and decisions about mathematics curriculum, and their students’ remote resources …

Graduate Student Perceptions Of Cohort Delivery And Problem-Based Learning In Online Principal Certification Courses, Pam Winn Ed. D., James Gentry Ed. D., An Nguyen Ed. D.

School Leadership Review

This qualitative study examined graduate/post-graduate student perceptions regarding the use of a cohort model and Project-Based Learning (PBL) in a completely online principal certification preparation classes. As part of a TEA funded grant, two districts (a cohort of 17 students) completed 24-semester hours of principal certification courses. All classes were online and emphasized PBL to engage the students in higher-level thinking skills. Participants responded to an open-ended survey regarding their perceptions of cohort and PBL experiences. Findings indicate graduate/post-graduate student perceptions were positive concerning both the cohort model and the PBL learning experiences. However, participants provided valuable feedback for improvements …

Using Voicethread To Enhance Asynchronous Collaboration And Communication, Rebecca Burgner

TxDLA Journal of Digital Learning

This article is a review of the product VoiceThread. The product review contains information regarding VoiceThread's features, pricing, and instructional uses in asynchronous online learning environment.

Employing A Community Of Inquiry Framework To Understand Graduate Students' Perceptions Of Supports In Asynchronous Online Courses Focused On Assessment, Jessica A. Rueter, Frank O. Dykes, Stephanie Masters

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

As universities increase the number of online course offerings, the quality of programs is often called into question. In many instances, student input is not solicited when devising online course offerings and faculty often lack the training needed to devise a supportive online learning environment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the supports that graduate students experience in an online graduate program focused on assessment practices for students with disabilities. The community of inquiry framework was used to examine the combination of social, teaching and cognitive presence. Findings from the study suggest that establishing and maintaining a …

Maintaining The Human Touch In Educational Leadership, Sandra Harris

School Leadership Review

It is a pleasure to be invited to contribute to this special edition of the TCPEA School Leadership Review. TCPEA has been a valuable organization for me as the relationships that have been fostered through it have enabled me to grow personally and professionally. This has led me to consider some of the issues that educational leaders are facing today and will continue to face in the years to come which are focused on the notion of how to effectively maintain human relationships. While few leaders agree on everything, there is no doubt that we all agree this is a …

Student Perceptions Of Online Courses For School Administrators, Robert Thiede

School Leadership Review

Online courses are the fastest growing student enrollment at the university level during the last decade. Between the time period 2003-2009, the number of students who had taken online courses doubled to 3.9 million which outpaced the growth in traditional college settings by a 12% margin (Mashable/Tech,2010). However, this online programming movement still remains in its early stages of development. Thus, faculty members and designers of online education need to know more about online courses. Momin (2003) stated that this growth, in online education, has been accompanied by increased questions about the effectiveness of online courses. More research needs to …

A Case For An Online Educational Administrator Practicum Experience, Texas Council Of Professors Of Educational Administration Compiled By Lloyd Goldsmith

School Leadership Review

The principal and superintendent practicum experiences have traditionally been entirely face-to-face (f2f) between university professors, interns and site mentors – typically a campus or district administrator (Figure 1). Advancements in technology combined with the exponential growth of online graduate programs give rise to additional incorporation of technology into the practicum experience.

Student Evaluation Of Teaching: The Inequity Of Faculty Scores In Online Versus Face-To-Face Courses, Sam L. Sullivan, Barbara Polnick, Lautrice Nickson, Robert Maninger, J. Yasmine Butler

School Leadership Review

Researchers have conducted a multitude of studies over the last century on Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET); however, very few have been conducted in the new digital age (Loveland, 2007). More work is in progress as researchers try to define the differences in student responses and thoughts about the online teaching environment. The unfortunate side of this can be the administrative decision to use a one-size-fits-all mentality when many authors including Dziuban and Moskal (2011) have outlined several research-based alternatives for evaluation of online instructional effectiveness. SETs are important to faculty because they often are the determining factor in merit …

Insight For Teacher Preparation Program Administrators: Enhancing Pre-Service Educators' Lntercultural Sensitivity And Deep Proficiency In Culturally Responsive Teaching Through Short-Term Study Abroad, Gloria Gresham, Paula Griffin, Tracy Hasbun, Vikki Boatman

School Leadership Review

Teacher preparation program administrators face the issue of expanding curricula to prepare teacher candidates for the diverse population of students they will encounter {Trent, Kea, Oh, 2008). Globalization demands that teacher candidates grasp how to function in a more integrated and interdependent society (McGrew, 2005). According to Smith-Davis (2004) students from non-English speaking countries compose the fastest growing United States K-12 student population, and those identified as limited English proficient were over 10 million in 2004. The United States Census reported in the "New Census Bureau Report" the number of individuals five and older who speak languages other than English …

Factors Affecting Doctoral Educational Leadership Program Selection, Lesley F. Leach, Pam Winn, Susan Erwin, Liza Benedict

School Leadership Review

Although recruitment has always been vital to sustained university admissions, it is true perhaps now more than ever as traditional public university programs face fierce competition for students from digitally-delivered and for-profit programs. Competition is fierce at every level of higher education, including the doctoral level. As competition has increased, so have the number of universities offering doctoral degrees (U.S. Department of Education [DOE], 2013). In 2011, Texas ranked fourth behind California, Florida, and North Carolina in the number of doctoral degrees granted in the United States. Furthennore, the number of doctoral degrees conferred in Texas grew from 8,959 in …

The Persistence And Attrition Of Online Learners, Casey Graham Brown

School Leadership Review

Student retention is a growing concern as more university programs move toward online learning. With a continual increase in online program choices, it is important to recognize course elements that affect the success of online learners (Kane, Shaw, Pang, Salley, & Snider, 2015). University professors need strategies to provide assistance for students and to decrease the number of students who fail to progress in online programs. It is important that faculty support students, but just as important that universities provide time, opportunities, and resources for such support to occur.

Student Perceptions Of Enhancing The Internship Experience For Online Principal Preparation Programs, Bob Nicks, Tilisa Thibodeaux, Gary Martin

School Leadership Review

Principal preparation programs understand the need for relevant internship activities that bridge the gap between theory and practice (Anast-May, Buckner, & Geer, 2011; Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, Meyerson, Orr, & Cohen (2007). Principal preparation programs utilizing distance technology are also charged with meeting this expectation and the electronic learning technologies have changed learning from restrictive to flexible, accessible, and innovative (Tseng & Gardner, 2016). The internship is a widely accepted program component of principal preparation that provides the student with actual administrative experience during the certification process; however, despite the mandates from national accreditation organizations and state certification agencies, the literature is …

The Effects Of Motivation, Technology And Satisfaction On Student Achievement In Face-To-Face And Online College Algebra Classes, Hanan Jamal Amro, Marie-Anne Mundy, Lori Kupczynski

TxDLA Journal of Digital Learning

Demand for online learning has increased in recent years due to the convenience of class delivery. However, some students appear to have difficulties with online education resulting in lack of completion. The study utilized a quantitative approach with archival data and survey design. The factors of demographics, motivation, technology, and satisfaction were compared for face-to-face and online students. MANCOVA tests were performed to analyze the data while controlling age and gender to uncover significant differences between the two groups. The sample and population for this study were predominantly Hispanic students.

Motivation and Technology were non-significant, but satisfaction was proven to …

The Self And Peer Assessment Tool In Blackboard Learn, Claudia Arcolin , Ph.D

TxDLA Journal of Digital Learning

Blackboard is a Learning Management System. The Learn 2016 version includes a revamped Self and Peer Assessment tool. This tool allows instructors to implement evaluations and self-evaluations, define the number of assignments each student will evaluate (anonymously or not), provide examples, and supply rubrics.

Effects Of Simulated Student Interaction On Student Perceptions Of Teaching Presence, Julia Allen , M.S., Martha Jane Harris , Ph.D., Sandra Labby , Ed.D.

TxDLA Journal of Digital Learning

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the instructor posting in online discussions as a simulated student; particularly the impact simulated student interaction (SSI) had on the instructor/student relationship. Student perceptions were examined using a modified version of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) survey to determine what impact SSI had on teaching presence, cognitive presence, and social presence within the online classroom. The full 34 item CoI Survey was piloted in the summer of 2014 at a small comprehensive university located in northeast Texas. A factor analysis was conducted on the data and the top items …