Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 20 of 20

Full-Text Articles in Education

Lessons We Learned From Avatars: Cultivating Meaningful Preservice Teacher Online Experiences During Covid-19 And Beyond, Kristin M. Murphy, Janna Jackson Kellinger Feb 2023

Lessons We Learned From Avatars: Cultivating Meaningful Preservice Teacher Online Experiences During Covid-19 And Beyond, Kristin M. Murphy, Janna Jackson Kellinger

Pedagogy and the Human Sciences

Like flight simulators used to train airline pilots prior to flying an actual airplane, mixed reality simulations provide an opportunity to interact with avatars in order to practice newly learned behaviors in an online environment. As teacher educators, we have used mixed reality simulations as a part of our coursework for the past five years. In this article, we discuss implications and lessons learned for teacher education practice and research in the online environment during COVID-19 and beyond based on our experiences using mixed reality.


Driving Change: A Model For Collaborative Librarianship In Prince George’S County, Maryland, Nicholas A. Brown, Kyla Hanington Apr 2022

Driving Change: A Model For Collaborative Librarianship In Prince George’S County, Maryland, Nicholas A. Brown, Kyla Hanington

Collaborative Librarianship

The Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS) has a long-standing partnership with the county’s human rights education and enforcement agency, the Office of Human Rights (PGCOHR), formerly the Prince George’s County Human Relations Commission (PGCHRC). The two agencies serve over 967,000 Prince Georgians, a majority-Black (64.4%) and Latin or Hispanic (19.5%) population with a sizable immigrant community (22.7%). The civil rights issues of 2020 hit close to home in Prince George’s County and the agencies have sustained a multi-year effort to provide residents with opportunities to learn how to engage with social justice topics for personal and collective advancement. …


How Padlet Encouraged Student Collaboration And Engagement In My Virtual Classroom, Annie Yon Jun 2021

How Padlet Encouraged Student Collaboration And Engagement In My Virtual Classroom, Annie Yon

New Jersey English Journal

With the growth of virtual classes, it is crucial for teachers to integrate strategies and resources that foster student engagement and build a sense of community in an online environment. One way to augment synchronous and asynchronous communication is to implement an online discussion board, which can provide rich opportunities for students to share insights, ask clarifying questions, collaborate, create multimodal projects, and have their voices heard. By incorporating an interactive discussion board, such as Padlet, as part of class resources, teachers can facilitate discourse among students that transcends the physical boundaries of the classroom, create a motivational environment, improve …


Increasing Principal Candidates’ Self-Efficacy Through Virtual Coaching, Travis E. Lewis, Karen D. Jones May 2019

Increasing Principal Candidates’ Self-Efficacy Through Virtual Coaching, Travis E. Lewis, Karen D. Jones

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

Skill development in instructional coaching and feedback is difficult to adequately simulate within a principal preparation program. As a result, many new administrators enter the field with little to no experience in instructional coaching and, therefore, feel tremendous uncertainty and low self-confidence. This study explored the effect a virtual coaching experience has on self-efficacy for principal preparation program students. Preservice teacher candidates were matched with principal candidates to provide virtual instructional coaching to the benefit of all involved. The findings of this study indicate that practice through virtual coaching is positively related to increased self-efficacy in principal candidates.


Expanding Capacity To Serve Multilingual Learners: A University-School District Partnership, Beth Clark-Gareca, Kim Fontana Nov 2018

Expanding Capacity To Serve Multilingual Learners: A University-School District Partnership, Beth Clark-Gareca, Kim Fontana

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

In a time of new teacher certification requirements in New York, school districts are grappling with how to meet the regulatory expectations imposed by Commissioner’s Regulations Part 154. One way that schools are solving staffing challenges is by forging new collaborations with university partners to expand their collective capacities to serve Multilingual learners (MLLs). In this article, we document a partnership between SUNY New Paltz’s Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) program and the Pawling Central School District during the 2017-18 academic year. We describe the partners’ distinct roles in the university-district collaboration, and discuss the logistical considerations …


The Implementation Of Reading Circles In An Educator Preparation Program Course, Yvonne Hefner Sep 2018

The Implementation Of Reading Circles In An Educator Preparation Program Course, Yvonne Hefner

Perspectives In Learning

This study examined the effectiveness of the implementation of reading circles along with a wiki in an undergraduate special education methods course as a way to increase understanding and retention of course content. Reading circles offered a direct way to encourage reading of course content. In addition, the use of the wiki allowed the students to construct, discuss, revise, and fine-tune their understandings and interpretations of assigned readings. Both the reading circles and the wiki emphasized collaboration through an ongoing process and, as such, complemented each other in very powerful ways. The results of this study support the implementation of …


Pioneering Alternative Forms Of Collaboration, Rebecca J. Hogue, Jeffrey M. Keefer, Maha Bali, Keith Hamon, Apostolos Koutropoulos, Ron Leunissen, Lenandlar Singh Jun 2018

Pioneering Alternative Forms Of Collaboration, Rebecca J. Hogue, Jeffrey M. Keefer, Maha Bali, Keith Hamon, Apostolos Koutropoulos, Ron Leunissen, Lenandlar Singh

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

One key experience of human work, life, and play is people working together on a common goal. Yet this aspect of working together does not have one primary recognizable instantiation of what it means to work together. Words like collaboration and cooperation are often used to describe such instances, but even words like ‘collaboration’ don’t always have a neat formula for working through a collaboration. In this article we examine and reflect on our own collaborative experiences as a research group. We do this through an examination of past experiences, and through a method of writing that developed in our …


The Effectiveness Of K-12 Principal’S Digital Leadership In Supporting And Promoting Communication And Collaboration Regarding Ccss Implementation, Lin Zhong Dec 2017

The Effectiveness Of K-12 Principal’S Digital Leadership In Supporting And Promoting Communication And Collaboration Regarding Ccss Implementation, Lin Zhong

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Technology plays an important role in supporting successful College-and Career- State Standards (CCSS) implementation, which requires principals and educators effectively communicate and collaborate at the local, state, and national level. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of digital leadership in supporting communication and collaboration regarding CCSS implementation in K-12 schools. In this study, 254 public school teachers from five school districts in Mississippi were surveyed. Results showed that principals were most effective in supporting professional development and digital citizenship. In addition, teachers’ age and teaching grades have an impact on the effectiveness of principals’ digital leadership strategies. Implications are …


Design And Facilitation Of Problem-Based Learning In Graduate Teacher Education: An Ma Tesol Case, Cynthia Ann Caswell Jan 2017

Design And Facilitation Of Problem-Based Learning In Graduate Teacher Education: An Ma Tesol Case, Cynthia Ann Caswell

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

This exploratory, evaluative case study introduces a new context for problem-based learning (PBL) involving an iterative, modular approach to curriculum-wide delivery of PBL in an MA TESOL program. The introduction to the curriculum context provides an overview of the design and delivery features particular to the situation. The delivery approach has established multiple roles that contribute to the design and facilitation of the learning environment: lead instructors, collaborating instructors, and students as peer teachers. These roles also identify milestones on a collaborative instructional skills trajectory for professional development. In this mixed methods study, qualitative data were collected from collaborating instructors …


Using Technology To Facilitate Modeling-Based Science Education: Lessons Learned From A Meta-Analysis Of Empirical Research, Jing Lei, Patrick Heng Luo, Qiu Wang, Ji Shen, Sunghye Lee, Ye Chen Dec 2016

Using Technology To Facilitate Modeling-Based Science Education: Lessons Learned From A Meta-Analysis Of Empirical Research, Jing Lei, Patrick Heng Luo, Qiu Wang, Ji Shen, Sunghye Lee, Ye Chen

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

This study focused on the integration of technologies in regular science teaching within the pedagogical framework of modeling-based instruction (MBI), a well-established instructional method in science education, and aimed to identify new trends of technology integration in MBI, explore the particular features (Interactivity, Collaboration, and Scaffolding) and affordances of new technologies, and examine the effect of technology-supported MBI on students learning outcomes. By analyzing empirical MBI studies from 2000 to 2010 through a meta-analysis and qualitatively reviewing studies from 2011-2016, this study shared three major findings: (1) computer-based software was the most commonly used technology in MBI, with Internet and …


Connect Exchange Programs: A Critical Component In Media Studies For Indian Media Schools, Pradeep Nair, Navneet Sharma Jun 2014

Connect Exchange Programs: A Critical Component In Media Studies For Indian Media Schools, Pradeep Nair, Navneet Sharma

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

This article addresses the objectives, philosophy, and need assessment of connect exchange programmes (CEP) in media studies. It underlines the importance of CEPs as an effort to mitigate the chasms created by a discriminatory, hierarchical, and fragmented society. Simultaneously, this article questions how CEPs can contribute to the paradigm of media studies when the institutions of media and media Studies still abide by the vision of age-old understanding of the constitution of Media and its function. This article raises a pitch for viewing media studies as a discipline with an integral commitment to society and social issues rather than relying …


Examining Student Participation In Three Learning Activities Supported By Social Annotation Tools, Tian Luo, Fei Gao, Kathryn S. Hoff Jun 2013

Examining Student Participation In Three Learning Activities Supported By Social Annotation Tools, Tian Luo, Fei Gao, Kathryn S. Hoff

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

ocial annotation (SA) allows learners to highlight and comment on Web pages and share annotations with each other online. Despite its potential in promoting collaborative learning, examining how to integrate it into educational settings has not been fully studied. The purpose of the study is to examine student participation in three different SA-based online activities: (1) peer review, (2) annotated discussion, and (3) collaborative reading. Students participated in all three SA-based activities and took a survey at the end reporting the effectiveness of these activities. The analysis of students’ annotations and their survey responses suggested that although participants perceived …


An Investigation Of Using Wikis As A Collaborative Tool For Teaching In A Non-Western Tertiary Education Classroom, Chun-Min Wang Jun 2012

An Investigation Of Using Wikis As A Collaborative Tool For Teaching In A Non-Western Tertiary Education Classroom, Chun-Min Wang

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Wikis are innovative Web 2.0 tools that allow users to create, expand, and edit content collaboratively. This makes wikis promising for online collaborative learning, but further exploration is required to determine if using wikis can achieve learning goals efficiently and appropriately. With increasing globalization, it is useful to determine how students from non-Western cultures respond to using wikis in the learning environment. In this study, the author compares two Taiwanese undergraduate classes with different instructional design and peer assessment strategies to understand Taiwanese student online behaviors and learning preferences in a learning environment using wikis. The results …


Interdisciplinary Collaborative Research For Professional Academic Development In Higher Education, Elizabeth Johnston, Cheryl Burleigh, Andrea Wilson Dec 2011

Interdisciplinary Collaborative Research For Professional Academic Development In Higher Education, Elizabeth Johnston, Cheryl Burleigh, Andrea Wilson

Higher Learning Research Communications

Although faculties are more diverse, decentralized, and increasingly isolated in technology-supported modern universities, effective technology use can also foster faculty professional academic development and collegiality. This scoping literature review applied Cooper’s systemic review model and a categorical content analysis technique targeting decentralized collaborative research teams in higher education. Findings indicate technology supports formal and informal university and nonuniversity networks, as well as various collaborative research structures; all contributing to professional academic development. Shared attributes of successful collaborative online teams include a sense of social presence, accountability, institutional and team leadership. Collaborative teams are integral to research and allow more faculty …


P2p: Assessing A Peer Evaluation Strategy, Ching-Wen Chang, Cathy J. Pearman, Nicholas W. Farha Jun 2010

P2p: Assessing A Peer Evaluation Strategy, Ching-Wen Chang, Cathy J. Pearman, Nicholas W. Farha

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of peer evaluation in a performance-based, Web-enhanced undergraduate instructional technology course. The results of a survey administered at the end of three semesters indicated that learners believe the peer evaluation process helped them improve the quality of their own work, both as a result of being a peer evaluator themselves and from the quality of the feedback received from their classmate-evaluators. Higher quality final projects with fewer mistakes corroborated the students’ assessment. These findings provide valuable information for instructors who are currently utilizing or considering the implementation of a peer …


The Effectiveness Of Block Schedule In Middle School, Ginger L. Markham Jan 2008

The Effectiveness Of Block Schedule In Middle School, Ginger L. Markham

Perspectives In Learning

Block scheduling in one form or another seems to be highly effective when properly used. It invites depth in learning, inquiry based and student based learning, which corresponds with Georgia Performance Standards (GPS). The faculty and staff of Veterans Memorial Middle School are planning to meet the needs of the students by changing their teaching methods to support the GPS and alternating 4X4 block schedule. The author would recommend any middle school use a block schedule of some type in order to meet the needs of their school. Once the teachers buy into the concept, there is no limit to …


Collaboration In Schools: Creating Solutions To Complex Problems, Wendy Steelmon Jan 2008

Collaboration In Schools: Creating Solutions To Complex Problems, Wendy Steelmon

Perspectives In Learning

Although the concept of cooperative teams is not a new one, Transformational Leadership is bringing collaboration back to the spotlight in the world of education. In this approach, the principal becomes a facilitator, teachers become professional colleagues, students are motivated by the mere joy of learning, and parents and the local community increase their involvement as stewards, resulting in the involvement of all stakeholders in the complex problem solving issues of the school. Collaboration requires trust and support among these team members and, though it takes time, yields much more effective schools and productive students.


Bringing The Ivory Tower And Real World Together: Lessons Learned In The Collaborative Process Of Preparing Effective Teachers, Tina D. Butcher, Jan G. Burcham, Deirdre C. Greer, Mary Beth Hendricks Jan 2008

Bringing The Ivory Tower And Real World Together: Lessons Learned In The Collaborative Process Of Preparing Effective Teachers, Tina D. Butcher, Jan G. Burcham, Deirdre C. Greer, Mary Beth Hendricks

Perspectives In Learning

When the “ivory tower” world of educator preparation faculty collides with the “real world” of in-service teachers, the result can be a partnership that is committed to preparing teachers equipped to meet the needs of diverse learners in 21st century classrooms. The lessons learned in the development of such a partnership include a focus on: a) authentic engagement of all stakeholders; b) honest, diplomatic, and timely communication; c) support and scaffolding for pre-service teachers; d) a variety of authentic assessment measures; and e) assistance for new teachers during the induction period. Strengthening the bonds between university faculty and classroom teachers …


Teaching Basic Counseling Skills To Aspiring School Leaders: Active Listening Skills As Critical Components Of Team Building And Collaboration, Paul T. Hackett, L. Christopher Ross, Irene Asuncion Jan 2008

Teaching Basic Counseling Skills To Aspiring School Leaders: Active Listening Skills As Critical Components Of Team Building And Collaboration, Paul T. Hackett, L. Christopher Ross, Irene Asuncion

Perspectives In Learning

The preparation of school leaders in educational leadership programs provides multiple challenges in terms of a set course of study with discrete skills for the leader. Programs in educational leadership have been criticized for curricular disarray (Levine, 2005). Deficiencies cited by an American Enterprise Institute study of 31 educational leadership programs found that a small percentage of instruction in those programs focused on issues such as data analysis, public relations, marketing, and parent and school board relations (Hess & Kelly, 2005). A Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) study of educational leadership programs found that the majority of universities “fall short …


Best Practices In Educator Preparation, Deborah Gober Jan 2005

Best Practices In Educator Preparation, Deborah Gober

Perspectives In Learning

One of the themes emphasized in the College of Education (COE) Conceptual Framework is excellence in teaching. As defined in the Conceptual Framework, excellence in teaching embodies the use of best practices which embody a variety of educational ideas and activities that lead to improved student learning. The phrase “best practice” is used frequently in fields such as medicine or law to describe reputable work based on current research and employing the latest knowledge, technology, and procedures in the field (Zemelman, Daniels, & Hyde, 1998). However, best practice in education has been somewhat difficult to define.