Attend
Exhibit
Resiliency, Change and Instructional Technologies: Preparing Preservice Teachers During COVID |
Participate and share : Poster
Dr. Angela Elkordy Donna Wakefield Dr. Jack Denny Dr. Ayn Keneman
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, educational systems nationwide were disrupted. Schools were forced to adapt to an array of remote/hybrid learning options, pivoting rapidly. Our research explores these adaptive challenges, innovations and impacts, emerging from our work with educators and school leaders.
| Audience: | Teachers, Principals/head teachers, Teacher education/higher ed faculty |
| Skill level: | Beginner |
| Attendee devices: | Devices not needed |
| Topic: | Teacher education |
| Grade level: | Community college/university |
| ISTE Standards: | For Education Leaders: Equity and Citizenship Advocate
|
| Additional detail: | ISTE author presentation |
| Related exhibitors: | Splashtop |
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted traditional formats of teaching and learning in all contexts. In the midst of the adaptive challenges faced by K-12, higher education, and specialized educators beginning in March 2020, educators and school leaders continue to innovate with the use of digital tools, technologies, and learning environments. Along with the challenges of teaching in the pandemic, there have been innovations in the use of digital tools and technologies.
Doug Harris, writing for the Brookings Institute (2020), suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic will change education in transformative ways. He argued that such crises force us to adapt and in the case of the pandemic, we are being forced to adapt to online tools. The change will continue, he suggests, as people will inevitably get comfortable with the new adaptations and because “our adaptations have indirect effects that lead to other changes” (Harris, 2020). We would like to study the impacts of these changes to inform our own teaching and curricula. Anticipating the training needs of teachers has become increasingly difficult as new tools and technologies proliferate. However, in the current context, it is critical that teachers have foundational knowledge to quickly adapt to district technologies.
Our research explores pre-service teachers’ experiences of digital tools and digital pedagogies as they prepare for student teaching. The focus of the research has been participants’ learning experiences and instructional decision-making when attending an optional 8-week course on digital tools and instructional technologies. A National College of Education (NCE) initiative, the free, optional course was designed, developed, and taught by [author]. The target audience for the course was pre-service teachers. Some of the candidates were already working with students.
Our presentation will focus on an exploratory study about the needs of preservice teacher candidates in the COVID-19 pandemic teaching context. Through a mixed-methods approach, we collected and analyzed data on the following: preservice teacher confidence level in using digital tools, interactions with students using the tools for instruction, and pedagogical approaches to support student learning. Data sources were pre and post-course surveys, learning artifacts, and instructor's field notes. We analyzed data around the following themes- planning for eLearning, tools for synchronous and asynchronous learning, tools for feedback, assessment, and grading, and adapting learning for SPE and ELL students. Data were collected and analyzed in two cycles so far. Preliminary findings have informed course modifications and indicate improved confidence levels of pre-service candidates in using digital tools in several key areas, such as with English Language Learners.
As researcher-practitioners within a College of Education, we are conducting research to support our pre-service teachers as they prepare for the changing contexts of instruction, now more dependent than ever on technologies.
The situation continues to change rapidly as schools make adjustments during the course of implementation and planning for instruction. Our goal, in this rapidly evolving context, is to collect and analyze data to inform our understanding needs in the field.
Our preliminary results have indicated a wide range of designs for instructional programs, including completely online or remote learning, with or without synchronous learning opportunities, hybrid models where students may attend school part-time and learn online. We are gathering data through the winter using a mixed-methods approach, looking at digital artifacts, surveying educators and following up with focus groups.
Our objectives in this presentation are to share our findings to the above research questions, particularly promising strategies, approaches and practices as framed through an diversity, equity and inclusion lens.
1. Learners will stay current with research that supports improved student learning outcomes, including findings from the learning sciences.
2. Learners will be able to set professional goals to explore and apply pedagogical approaches made possible by the learning sciences and digital technologies, reflecting on their effectiveness
3. Learners will reflect on professional learning opportunities for others around ideas from the learning principles, technology effectiveness, and digital learning in their own leadership context
4. Learners will consider authentic evidence to demonstrate growth in learning when using digital tools and technologies.
Armitage, R., & Nellums, L. B. (2020). Considering inequalities in the school closure response to COVID-19. The Lancet Global Health, 8(5), e644.
Blakemore, S. J., Grossmann, T., Cohen-Kadosh, K., Sebastian, C., & Johnson, M. H. (2013). Social development, (pp. 268–295) in Educational neuroscience. Mareschal, D., Butterworth, B., & Tolmie, A. (Eds.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Center for Disease Control (2020). Considerations for schools. Retrieved from: (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools.html
Cohen, J. & Richards, J.S. (April 20, 2020). Illinois districts were urged to prepare e-learning plans for students in case of emergency. Most didn’t do it. Retrieved from: https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-illinois-schools-elearning-20200420-klfsji4jfzdafdpylvkcffx3sq-story.html
Crawford, J., Butler-Henderson, K., Rudolph, J., Malkawi, B., Glowatz, M., Burton, R., ... & Lam, S. (2020). COVID-19: 20 countries' higher education intra-period digital pedagogy responses. Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching, 3(1), 1-20.
Elkordy, A. & Keneman, A., (2019). Design ed: Connecting learning sciences research to practice. Portland, OR: ISTE
Fortuna, L. R., Tolou-Shams, M., Robles-Ramamurthy, B., & Porche, M. V. (2020). Inequity and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color in the United States: The need for a trauma-informed social justice response. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.
Harris, D. (April 24, 2020). How will COVID-19 change our schools in the long run? Retrieved from: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2020/04/24/how-will-covid-19-change-our-schools-in-the-long-run/
Hart, C., & Nash, F. (2020). Teacher Resilience during COVID: Burnout and Trauma.
Melnick, H., & Darling-Hammond, L. (with Leung, M., Yun, C., Schachner, A., Plasencia, S., & Ondrasek, N.). (2020). Reopening schools in the context of COVID-19: Health and safety guidelines from other countries (policy brief). Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute.
Petretto, D. R., Masala, I., & Masala, C. (2020). Special Educational Needs, Distance Learning, Inclusion and COVID-19.)
World Health Organization. (2020). WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the mission briefing on COVID-19. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-mission-briefing-on-covid-19---12-march-2020
Dr. Angela Elkordy is an Assistant Professor at the National College of Education, National Louis University, Chicago, IL. She is the Founding Director of the Learning Sciences graduate program and served as the Director of Learning Technologies for many years. Dr. Elkordy loves her work teaching in-service teachers and school leaders about cognition and learning, teaching as a design science, instructional technologies, leadership, and research methods. She is the lead author of Design Ed: Connecting Learning Sciences Research to Practice, an ISTE publication (2019) that makes impactful findings of the learning sciences accessible for educators to use in their practice.
Dr. Donna Wakefield is a professor of special education at National Louis University in Chicago, Illinois where she teaches graduate courses in language, literacy, assistive technology and differentiation. She worked in the K-12 setting as a speech-language pathologist, special education teacher, assistive technology facilitator, inclusion facilitator and special education administrator before joining the university. Donna teaches the meaningful integration of technology into academics . Donna has presented at numerous national and international conferences to teachers, administrators and tech enthusiasts and is an ISTE Certified Educator, a Google for Education Certified Trainer and an Apple Teacher.
Dr. Denny joined the NLU faculty in 2010 as an assistant professor in the secondary eduation and educational leadership programs. During his career in public eduation, he has served as a classroom teacher of German, world languages department chair, fine arts division head, and assistant superintendent for curriclum and instruction. Dr. Denny has provided staff development across the country and abroad for teachers of world languages, specializing on the relationship of curriculum content to standards and assessments.
Dr. Ayn Keneman is a Professor and Program Chair of Early Childhood Education at National Louis University in Chicago. She has 25 years of teaching experience in public and private schools in Trenton, N,J.. Atlanta Ga. and Winnetka,IL. as an ECE teacher and Reading/Learning Disability specialist. She presents annually at ISTE and ICS conferences and is a former SIG President of the International Literacy Association ( ILA). She attended the National Technology Leadership Summit in Washington, DC for the past five years. Her latest book, Design Ed: Connecting Learning Science to Research was published by ISTE in 2019.
'The Epic Ebook of Web Tools and Apps' — A Book Creator Model
CANCELLED: Tech Tools for Virtual and Face-to-Face Classrooms
Emotional VR Avatars for Safe-Space Conversations and Soft-Skill Training
Return