Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Teaching Teachers How To Teach Hope, René Roselle

Education Faculty Publications

Can teachers teach hope? This article considers Synder’s hope theory as a rationale for the importance of teaching hope to students and teachers. Through a low and high hope example, the idea of agency and pathway thinking are explored. Resources and ideas are shared on how teacher preparation programs might take up teaching hope.

Language & Online Learning: Inform, Inspire And Engage Virtual Learning Communities, Linda Foster, Anita Neuer Colburn, Cynthia Briggs

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Standards for technology-assisted teaching/learning have existed for nearly 20 years (ACES, 1999), and trends show that counselor education programs increasingly integrate technology into the delivery of instruction for students either through hybrid classes, fully online classes, or fully online programs. While many researchers have investigated various aspects of student engagement in online formats, counselor educators still lack consensus for best practices in the online classroom. Maximizing the effectiveness of online pedagogy will help improve overall learning, retention of students, and growth of online programs. We suggest the intentional use of appropriate, warm, inviting and supportive language to inform, inspire and …

Oer Awareness, Advocacy, And Adoption: An Institutional Approach, Jaya Kannan, Chelsea Stone, Zachariah Claybaugh

Librarian Publications

Sacred Heart University’s Open Educational Resources (OER) Task Force, an entity composed of the Office of the Provost, the Office of Digital Learning (ODL), Sacred Heart University Library, and faculty from across campus, has worked for the past two years to integrate OER into the educational culture of the university. To accomplish this we’ve employed a process that focuses on building awareness, identifying campus units for building strategic partnerships, assisting faculty in locating relevant resources, and, through pilot programs, onboarding OER into courses for trial.

Creating A Positive Atmosphere In Online Courses: Student Ratings Of Affective Variables In Teacher Education Courses, Sarah Hamsher, Cynthia A. Dieterich

Education Faculty Publications

Instructors in higher education have to work to create a positive atmosphere. Yet, the behaviors instructors must exhibit to create such an atmosphere are different for online courses than face-toface (F2F) courses. The current study surveyed graduate and undergraduate students in a teacher education program to identify which affective variables identified in academic literature for creating a positive online atmosphere are most and least important. The results of this study suggest undergraduate and graduate students rank logistical behaviors (e.g., clearly described directions and expectations, constructive feedback) as most important and emotional-relational behaviors (e.g., interpersonal relationships, humor related to content) as …

Emotional Regulation And Technology In Various Educational Environments, Aimee Boyle

EDL Sixth Year Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of technology in various educational environments. Specifically, it looked at the ways in which technology is integrated into special education classrooms, and how it impacts learning. Two self-contained special education high school classrooms were studied, using qualitative methods of data. These included field notes based on observations and a semi-structured interview. In addition, a review of the literature on this topic was conducted to better place the study within the context of wider work done in this area. The data from the two classrooms were analyzed using the constant comparative …

Using Shared Reading And Close Reading To Bridge Intervention And The Common Core, Karen C. Waters

Education Faculty Publications

While classroom teachers are grappling with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and its implications for instruction in the core curriculum, designing effective intervention to meet the needs of diverse struggling readers poses another challenge, especially because Response to Intervention (RTI) as an instructional framework frequently emphasizes the teaching of discrete skills. Experts have concluded that intervention focusing primarily on foundational skills without instruction in comprehension is not only contrary to literacy research, but also antithetical to the shift to contextualized literacy instruction, resulting in fragmented instruction for those most in need. At the same time, inherent within both CCSS …

Integrating Interactive Technology To Promote Learner Autonomy: Challenges And Rewards, Marie A. Hulme, Jaya Kannan, María Lizano-Dimare, Pilar Munday

English Faculty Publications

In an increasingly complex and interconnected world, students and faculty must understand and harness the power of technology to synthesize, analyze, and communicate ideas and information. A multi-modal, multidisciplinary approach of teaching and learning is critical. This presentation will examine how to best leverage the technological strengths of 21st century learners in an interdisciplinary networked community, utilizing on-line tools such as Twitter and e-portfolios. This will be anchored within a context of a larger discussion of current education theories, including cognitive, social constructivism, and connectivism. Four presenters will address recent research on the impact of technology tools on teaching and …

Shusquare To Enhance Teaching And Learning Across Disciplines, Marie Hulme

Marie Hulme

Sacred Heart University’s SHUsquare website made its official debut on September 10 2013 at a meeting attended by first-year students and faculty in the Fairfield campus’ Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts.

Marie Hulme, and English instructor and director of SHUsquare, which has been described as a “Virtual Public Square,” introduced the new and exciting initiative. She told the audience that SHUsquare is “a social media platform that allows students and faculty to keep conversations going beyond the classroom and a place of intellectual connectivity.”

The Challenges Of Online Courses For The Instructor, Pearl Jacobs

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Universities across the country are steadily increasing their use of online courses. Society's demand for lifelong learning will encourage the advancement of distance learning. Research tells us that today the average person changes careers every ten years. In addition, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that about 10% of workers change jobs every year. These trends suggest a constant need for continuing education and re-education. The online delivery of education is well suited for this. To be effective, however, there are several required components. This paper will review some of these essential components.

Shu Hosts First Literacy Conference, Karen C. Waters

Karen C. Waters

On April 13 2013 Sacred Heart University’s Farrington College of Education conducted its very first Literacy Conference, including interactive and innovative workshops conducted by this year’s reading certification candidates graduating from the CLSP. The theme of the conference was “Uncommon Teaching in a Common Core World,” embracing the new Common Core State Standards.

The Farnet Journey: Effective Teaching Strategies For Engaging Māori Students On The Virtual Learning Network, Michael K. Barbour, Carolyn Bennett

Education Faculty Publications

The Virtual Learning Network (VLN) provides schools, particularly those in rural and remote areas, with the opportunity to cooperate to expand curricular offerings for their students. Each school that participates in a VLN cluster contributes at least one course delivered by an e-teacher, allowing member schools access to any course offered through the VLN that they cannot offer locally. At present, there is no formal national training for the e-teachers, although individual clusters offer a range of training opportunities. This case study focused on the e-teachers’ perceptions of the learning curve required for them to be adequately and effectively prepared …

Mobile Teaching And Learning In The Classroom And Online: Case Studies In K-12, Michael M. Grant, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

In this chapter, we describe two projects to integrate mobile teaching and learning into K-12 schooling. First, we consider the rationale for increased use of mobile devices with today’s students, and we describe a professional development program to deploy iPads to classroom teachers. Next, we discuss the growth of K-12 online learning, and we describe a project for students enrolled in an online Advanced Placement course was delivered through a mobile learning content management system. Lastly, we discuss some of the lessons learned from these pilot projects and some of the promise and challenges of mobile teaching and learning.

Primary And Secondary Distance Education: Expanding The Knowledge Base In The Schools Sector, Michael Barbour, Keryn Pratt

Education Faculty Publications

The use of distance education at the primary and secondary levels began in New Zealand around 1922 with the introduction of The Correspondence School (Barbour, 2011a). The roots of web-based or online distance education in the schools sector trace back to 1993, and have been firmly entrenched in the nation’s schools sector since 2002 (Davis, 2010). With the implementation of the Rural Broadband Initiative and Ultra Fast Broadband in Schools programmes, there is an opportunity to develop research-based initiatives to leverage the learning potential provided by this increased connectivity. However, to date there has been little published research on the …

“Everybody Is Their Own Island”: Teacher Disconnection In A Virtual School, Abigail Hawkins, Charles R. Graham, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

Virtual schooling is a recent phenomenon in K-12 online learning. As such, the roles of the online teachers are emerging and differ from those of the traditional classroom teacher. Using qualitative interviews of eight virtual high school teachers, this study explored teachers’ perceptions of their online teaching role. Teachers expressed a sense of disconnection from their students, the profession, and their peers as a result of limited interactions due to significant institutional barriers. Researchers discuss the implications of this disconnection as well as future avenues for research.

Training Teachers For A Virtual School System: A Call To Action, Michael Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

Online learning at the K-12 level is growing exponentially. Students learning in supplemental virtual schools and full-time cyber schools, using a variety of delivery models that include and sometimes combine independent, asynchronous, and synchronous instruction, in almost every state in the US. In some instances the knowledge, skills, and abilities required by teachers in this technology-mediated environment is consistent with what they learned about face-to-face teaching in their teacher education programs, while in many instances, the two are quite different. Presently the lack of empirical research into effective K-12 online teaching limits teacher education programs. However, teacher education programs still …

The Farnet Journey: Perceptions Of Māori Students Engaged In Secondary Online Learning, Carolyn Bennett, Michael Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

This case study investigated the perceptions of Māori students in the Virtual Learning Network of what constituted effective strategies for engaging them in online learning. In the FarNet cluster, about 63 students from the four secondary and five area schools access the VLN, and approximately 80 percent of those students are of Māori descent. Data collection included online surveys, semi-structured interviews, and observation of online classrooms. The data suggested there was a variety of delivery models experienced by students, most supported by the learning management system. Students identified a range of Web 2.0 strategies currently used by their e-teachers, and …

Secondary Students, Laptops And Game Design: Examining The Potential Of Homemade Powerpoint Games In A Blended Learning Environment, Michael Barbour, Jim Kinsella, Lloyd P. Rieber

Education Faculty Publications

The integration of technology into K-12 classrooms has long been hampered by the problem of scalability. Familiar software programs, such as MS PowerPoint, can be used as a tool for students to create educational games to deepen their understanding of content. In this article, the authors examine students in two secondary social studies classes that created homemade PowerPoint games as a way to review for their mid-term and final examinations. The authors compared student performance on these exams based upon the topics covered by their game design. While no significant differences in student outcomes were found, qualitative analyses indicate that …

Distributed Learning In British Columbia: A Journey From Correspondence To Online Delivery, Tim Winkelmans, Barry Anderson, Michael Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

Canada is characterised by a large geographic area, rugged terrain, and many rural communities whose schools cannot offer the same educational opportunities as their urban counterparts. The province of British Columbia exemplifi es this situation. Since 1919, British Columbia has embraced open and distance learning to provide education opportunities across the vast province. British Columbia now has over 50 public and independent (i.e., private) schools offering distributed learning to almost 60,000 students in primary and secondary education.

Integrating Multimedia Into Moodle: Resources, Antoinette P. Bruciati

Education Faculty Publications

Create and share multimedia learning materials in your Moodle courses. This presentation introduces methods for embedding multimedia into Moodle for instruction, discussion, and assessment. An overview of free Web 2.0 applications that enable K-12 teachers and their students to produce multimedia files is also included.

Powerpoint Games In A Secondary Laptop Environment, Michael K. Barbour, Jim Kinsella, Lloyd P. Rieber

Education Faculty Publications

There is no denying the success and popularity of WebQuests among teachers. For those interested in technology integration, this is a significant step in the right direction. Yet, WebQuests are instructivist examples of technology integration – they are web-enhanced forms of direct instruction. We consider constructing homemade PowerPoint games as a constructionist alternative to WebQuests. PowerPoint is nearly ubiquitous software and teachers already use existing games in their classrooms. The authors contend that a better use of class time for learning is to turn over the act of game design to the children themselves. In this project, students in social …

Strategy Instruction And Lessons Learned In Teaching Higher Level Thinking Skills In An Urban Middle School Classroom, Karen C. Waters

Education Faculty Publications

Through a compilation of standards-based lesson plans for small- and whole-group instruction, this chapter offers a humorous and heartbreaking perspective of the author's experiences during a yearlong university partnership “Book Bistro” in a 7th grade classroom with urban adolescent struggling readers. Using a combination of leveled, fictional, nonfictional, and culturally relevant text, the chapter is written as a personal narrative to address higher level thinking through systematic instruction in comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, and structural analysis. A step-by-step implementation procedure for each of the research-based strategies is presented, including concept of definition, discussion web, probable passage, pointed reading, semantic feature analysis, …

Literacy Initiatives In The Urban Setting That Promote Higher Level Thinking, Karen C. Waters

Education Faculty Publications

How does an urban district become a twice-nominated candidate by the Broad Foundation? In a district in which 72 languages are spoken, 38% of the students live in homes in which English is not the dominant language, and 91% of the population is minority (African American, Asian, and Hispanic), this largest school district in Connecticut not only made student learning a priority, but focused on higher level thinking as part of the process. This chapter provides insight to grassroots implementation of district and department initiatives over the course of five years that emphasized cognitive and metacognitive strategies in advancing the …

School, Home, And Community: A Symbiosis For A Literacy Partnership, Karen C. Waters

Education Faculty Publications

With the belief that fertile ground for a literate environment is created through lots of oral language, ancestral anecdotes, and reading a variety of genre in fiction and nonfiction, it is possible to link home and school literacy communities. This chapter describes the connection between district literacy events and functional home activities as the basis for a partnership in developing higher level thinking that transcends the classroom. At monthly get-togethers, families were encouraged to participate in the very activities that were used in the classroom as part of the district's literacy block. In helping families acquire a few basic strategies …

Robots That Teach: Developing An Integrated Curriculum For Middle School Math, Antoinette P. Bruciati

Education Faculty Publications

Keeping middle school students interested in mathematics and motivating them to succeed are challenges that continually present themselves to even the most seasoned teachers. Students will be drawn to mathematics if they are able to connect it to exciting careers. This paper describes a research-based curriculum model for teachers, grant writers, and others interested in incorporating Lego robotics technologies into an existing middle school mathematics curriculum. The model is based on data gathered from a three year research study in which approximately 150 sixth grade students per year and their teachers collaborated with a middle school Math Coordinator, a school …

Creating An Effective Training Curriculum For Faculty Who Teach Online, Ekaterina Ginzburg, Peter Chepya, David Demers

Librarian Publications

The recent increase in demand for online education has forced many colleges and universities to adopt measures to ensure the quality of online offerings. To meet this challenge, Sacred Heart University has developed a unique Digital Learning Faculty Certification Program (DLFCP) to provide faculty training in the development and delivery of online courses. The DLFCP is an 8-week, modular program offered entirely online to our faculty 'scholars.' Each module focuses on key topics associated with the development and delivery of online courses, including instructional design for online learning, and provides faculty with an all-important student perspective and experience. At this …

An Inquiry Into Retention And Achievement Differences In Campus Based And Web Based Ap Classes, Michael Barbour, Dennis Mulcahy

Education Faculty Publications

A decade ago the Advanced Placement (AP) program was introduced into the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Initially, schools embraced this opportunity to provide their students with opportunities that were previously unavailable. However, within a few years the AP program was relegated to urban and large regional high schools. Few smaller, and particularly rural schools, were able to offer AP courses only to the brightest one or two students taking it as an independent study. In 1997-98, schools began to delivery AP courses in a web-based method. The purpose of the study is to examine the retention rates and …

Mentoring Student Teachers From A Distance: An Action Research Project, Michael K. Barbour, Anthony Thomas, Jason Ritter

Education Faculty Publications

At a large public university in the south eastern United States, prospective middle and high school social studies teachers complete a four semester undergraduate program that prepares them for the classrooms of America. Like many programs, this one begins with an introductory course that provides students an opportunity to explore questions about the nature, purpose, and practices of social studies in the modern school curriculum. As a part of this course, students also develop a rationale for teaching social studies which is used as a part of admission into the Social Studies Education program. Once they have been admitted to …

Using A Robotic Arm To Evaluate The Programming Ability Of K-12 Educators, Antoinette P. Bruciati

Education Faculty Publications

This usability study measured the ability of educators to master advanced computer programming concepts through the OWI Robotic Arm Trainer and PC Interface. Research findings revealed that the lack of prior computer programming experience did not impact the ability of each participant to successfully program his/her robotic arm. However, the absence of a detailed instructional manual detracted from the product’s usability. Future directions for research and the suitability of the robotic arm for use in an online teacher preparation course in robotics technologies are discussed at the conclusion of this paper.

Methods For Marine Ecosystems Research Through The Use Of Pdas With Preservice Teachers, Antoinette P. Bruciati, Maria Lizano-Dimare

Education Faculty Publications

Science teachers are charged with the task of providing students in grades K-12 with opportunities that will enable them to make sense of science and develop habits of mind. One goal of science education is to prepare well-rounded citizens who are scientifically literate. Through inquiry-based learning, students formulate questions, perform investigations, and construct new understandings.

It is important for preservice science teachers to be introduced to current techniques, discoveries, and debates in the field of science. The use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) can provide K-12 students with increased opportunities for exploring and learning through scientific investigations. In order for …