Posts Tagged ‘technology’

Home/School: Research Imperatives, Learning Settings and the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has made home settings an essential and, in many cases, the only place of formal learning for students. This shift has pulled parents, caretakers, and other family members even closer to the education of young people as they assume the work of schooling that has been substantially reconfigured by both the pandemic and online platforms. However, in faculties of education, homeschooling is often marginalized with limited funded research (Howell, 2013). Additionally, as Kennedy and Archambault (2012) argue, teacher education programs should have been taking a more proactive role in terms of K-12 online learning with a focus not simply on the technology (Ko & Rossen, 2017), but on the unique aspects of the pedagogy associated with this mode of instruction. Teachers may be ill-prepared to deliver online content, and many families are overwhelmed by the shift in the learning environment. The long-term impacts of this shift are unknown. Yet this uncertainty reasserts opportunities to both (1) leverage home and community settings as reservoirs of knowledge deserving greater attention for teachers and teacher educators and (2) consider how educational technology can be used to support pedagogies that are more centered on students’ interests, assets, and needs (Means et al, 2013).

AACTE and Mursion Present Virtual Reality Classrooms

AACTE & Mursion Virtual Reality Classrooms

You, like many AACTE members, are likely facing pauses and interruptions to the clinical practice partnerships in your educator preparation program due to COVID-19. AACTE wants to provide you with solutions, and as such, I am excited to announce our collaboration with Mursion to provide our members access to virtual reality classrooms. This technology enables teacher candidates to receive experiential learning to continue their career development in virtual settings. View the complete details at aacte.org/vrclassrooms.

Please take a few minutes to watch the video and learn more about this special member-only benefit and other ways to engage with your Association this month. Stay positive and rest assured that AACTE is here to support you through this difficult time.

Protecting the National Pipeline of Teachers

How Virtual Classrooms Can Help Train Preservice Candidates

Teachers using virtual teaching program

“Currently, under normal times, this would not count in Texas. This may change with pandemic issues,” chimed a participant at a recent Mursion Roundtable webinar. This was not an ordinary Zoom event though. It was a group of educators who gathered to test drive a classroom simulation for “Introducing Content for Middle School.” Messages in the chat were flying. In true teacher form, they were engaged, curious, forthright and funny. Several chat messages started with “I’m here to learn …”

What does it actually mean to train a teacher candidate in a simulated clas sroom? What does that look like? How does it feel? One brave volunteer blurted, “I’m terrified …and excited, but mostly terrified.” For those who have observed a first-time participant jump into a simulation, what follows is quite predictable. The learner starts out very tentative. Within minutes of the student avatars appearing on screen, they’re conversing and chuckling at the students’ responses. Then at their command “pause simulation,” they pop out of the scenario with a sigh and a wow. “That was very realistic,” is the usual description of this new experience.

AACTE and Mursion Collaborate to Support Teacher Preparation Through Coronavirus

New Partnership Offers Virtual Reality Classrooms to Advance Learning for Future Teachers

The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), the leading voice on educator preparation, and Mursion, the global leader in virtual reality (VR) training, are partnering to offer educators and students world-class experiential learning through simulations. The collaboration provides teacher candidates an opportunity to complete clinical field experiences remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The special offering is available to educator preparation programs (EPPs) across the nation.

During the coronavirus outbreak, EPPs can launch the VR classrooms in just a few days. Through virtual simulations, candidates can practice instructional techniques and access a platform of over 100 videos of classroom instruction. AACTE and Mursion will offer the VR classroom with simulated students at a special discount to support teacher candidates in these unprecedented times.

AACTE and Mursion Offer Technology Solution for Virtual Clinical Practice

AACTE Responds to COVID-19

AACTE- Mursion Virtual Reality Classrooms

AACTE and Mursion have partnered to offer educator preparation programs a solution to an acute need caused by the global pandemic. Teacher candidates’ opportunity for face-to-face classroom training has been suspended, which has resulted in a risk for future teachers to not complete their course work. The AACTE and Mursion collaboration provides virtual reality classrooms for teacher candidates to receive experiential learning through simulations. Mursion is rooted in teacher training and has conducted 50,000 simulations. Through the new offer, AACTE members receive a 10% discount to access innovative technology, thanks, in part, to an anonymous donor underwriting a portion of the cost.

Mursion has worked with over 70 educator preparation programs at colleges and universities. Here’s what a few participants had to say about the benefits of virtual reality classrooms:

An Inside Look at How Educators Are Adapting to the Coronavirus Crisis

This article originally appeared on the Touro College Graduate School of Education News site and is reprinted with permission.

My experience during this pandemic has been surreal. As the director of early childhood education for District 31 at The Richmond Pre-K Center, part of NYC’s Department of Education, I never imagined I’d be leading and making vital decisions related to COVID-19. 

My staff and I had to immediately shift our way of thinking in order to perform our responsibilities in a new way. As educators, practicing social distancing during a pandemic while implementing digital learning with our 3-K and pre-K students is overwhelming. Grappling with this reality, we quickly implemented the word “flexibility” into our vocabulary and adapted to our new normal, accepting that things around us are changing by the minute. Being flexible gives us the opportunity to leverage the power of our emotional intelligence in order to stay grounded and focus our minds on building the future.

I applaud my district leaders and staff for leveraging their innovative skills to go above and beyond the call of duty and utilizing technology, including Microsoft Teams and Google Classrooms, to get our very important job done efficiently and effectively. We keep our students engaged by enabling them to interact directly with their teachers and fellow classmates via these virtual platforms in discussions on various topics. During our virtual meetings, our teachers create visual simulations of their classroom environment in order to deliver critical instruction, host live read aloud sessions, post videos of various activities, and lead singing and movement sessions for students to follow along with. Our teachers also model how to complete a variety of tasks related to science, literacy, writing, art, and math projects during these meetings.

Together as one, albeit separated by distance, we’re strategically maximizing the impact of education for our children during this unprecedented time.

Transitioning Your Education Preparation Program Online: Decision Making Opportunities for Education Leaders

AACTE Responds to COVID-19

AACTE and ISTE invite you to customize your learning during a 45-minute webinar on navigating the shift to online teaching on May 6, at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Successfully transitioning to a fully online summer or fall semester will require expedient decision-making, thoughtful approaches, and awareness of the challenges that lay ahead. In this webinar, university leaders who have already transitioned to online learning will share what they learned learnings and answer your questions about making a similar shift for your program.

The intention of this webinar is to provide educator preparation program leaders with an opportunity to “customize” the learning experience by selecting one of three breakout rooms. The three breakouts will focus on different levels of familiarity with online learning. An AACTE leader proficient in transitioning to online learning and an ISTE leader, a veteran innovator who has been using technology to transform learning, will lead each breakout.

Register today for Transitioning Your Education Preparation Program Online: Decision Making Opportunities for Education Leaders.

Teaching in a Time of Crisis Highlights the Need for New Standards

Distance learning. Cheerful little girl using laptop computer studying through online e-learning system

The morning of March 12, 2020 at the school where I had just started student teaching, teachers were directed to prepare 10 days’ worth of learning material for students in anticipation of the schools being closed for a period of two weeks due to the coronavirus. This was initially hoped to be a brief interlude—like an extended spring break—and while it was expected that students might or might not complete their learning activities at home, any minor losses in progress would surely be made up when the students returned to school in early April.

As time went on and it was clear that school could not resume as planned, decisions had to be made about remote learning—what it would look like, what expectations could be placed on students, and many other big and small decisions. In special education, these decisions have the legal considerations of students’ IEPs. Compliance with IEPs is evidenced in data collection and benchmark assessments, and the procedures to collect data and administer assessments must be consistent for validity.

University of Florida Literacy Institute Launches Online Resource Hubs for Teachers and Parents

In response to the need to support teachers in their rapid shift to online instruction, the University of Florida Literacy Institute has created online resources to help ease that transition. UFLI realized that they could take their extensive body of research, successful data-driven interventions, and carefully vetted resources, and create virtual versions of the face-to-face work they have always done.

The outcome? Two new online “resource hubs”: one for parents to learn more about how to support their children’s literacy development, and one for teachers to discover effective, easy-to-use methods for providing reading instruction and intervention in an online delivery model.

We developed our Dyslexia Resource Hub in the fall and had plans to create additional resource hubs for parents and for teachers, but this situation gave us the impetus to push fast forward and get it done very quickly. UFLI faculty, staff, and graduate students worked tirelessly to make both hubs launch-ready as school closures made them more necessary than ever.

Call for Entries: 2021 AACTE Awards

AACTE Awards Banner

Applications for the 2021 AACTE awards are now open. For most of the awards, programs and individuals can be either self-nominated or nominated by a third party.  To submit your nomination, visit AACTE’s online submission site.  Entries for the Outstanding Book Award are due May 15 and entries for the Outstanding Dissertation Award are due August 15. The due date for all other award submissions is October 9.

Winning entries will be decided by the AACTE standing committees and recognized formally at the 2021 Annual Meeting, February 26 – 28, in Seattle, Washington.

New SOE Website Addresses K-12 Need for Remote Learning during COVID-19 Crisis

AACTE Responds to COVID-19

Person using tablet

The University at Albany School of Education, in order to support a greater need for remote learning in K-12 education, on Wednesday launched the website Remote Education Resource Center, or RemoteEd.

The site, which has immediate critical value in the current coronavirus crises, will not only help teachers incorporate remote learning tools into their classes, but also foster a community of practice in the Capital Region. RemoteEd had its unveiling on Wednesday during a webinar with area teachers.

“The School of Education at the University at Albany has a deep purpose and commitment to assist the special, urgent needs of teachers, leaders and schools to support student learning in this current dynamic time,” said Jason Lane, interim dean of the School. “Our faculty and graduate students have worked tirelessly to bring this resource to reality. We’re all in this together to support our children and students.”

Topper Teacher Candidates Tackle Non-traditional Instruction

AACTE Responds to COVID-19

This article originally appeared on the Western Kentucky University WKU News  site and is reprinted with permission.

With the help of faculty and partnering school districts, Western Kentucky University student teachers Ian Harper, Theresa Price, and Hallee Black, among other candidates, immediately went to work developing an alternative learning plan for their classrooms in light of COVID 19 mitigations. Overnight, non-traditional instruction, or NTI, became a mantra and a motive with each candidate pulling tools and resources from their arsenal of lessons learned during their time at WKU.

“Our Topper teacher candidates have stepped up in a big way,” said WKU Office of Professional Educator Services Director, Stephanie Martin, as she reflected on the days leading into alternative learning.

“I had professors at WKU that prepared us for NTI days inadvertently,” said Ian Harper, middle school social studies and language arts major from Bowling Green. Harper currently serves eighth grade students at Drakes Creek Middle School in Bowling Green and said that, even in this “worst case scenario,” WKU faculty and Warren County teachers helped him adapt to the current unprecedented situation thanks to their commitment to technology-based resources.

Special Education Equity in the Era of COVID-19

AACTE Responds to COVID-19

Disabled pupil smiling at camera in classroom

With the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19), school districts, institutions of higher education, and educators are finding themselves in uncharted territory. As schools across the nation are forced to shut their doors, finding ways to best serve all students equitably has never been more urgent. This is especially true for our most vulnerable students—those with disabilities.

COVID-19 hit hard and fast. And with that, so did the shift from in-school instruction to online learning. We know that special education students receive, consume, and apply information differently in face-to-face settings versus online environments. However, the rapid onset of COVID-19 did not give educators, parents, or students time to adequately prepare for the transition.

Students Share Perspectives on COVID-19

AACTE Responds to COVID-19

DISTANCE ONLINE EDUCATION

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions and its students are facing significant challenges and uncertainties. Graduate students enrolled in colleges and schools of education, in particular, have had to respond to the current circumstances and find solutions to continue their academic pursuit and scholarly productivity. AACTE recently interviewed three graduate students from our member institutions about how the current crisis has affected them. The following themes emerged from these interviews.

Challenges with Adapting to Distance Learning

As a result of campus closures, graduate students have found themselves having to engage in distance learning fully. Although some have had experience in taking and teaching online courses, there are still unique challenges when all learning occurs virtually. These challenges are more common for students who are parents and have to oversee instruction for children in PK-12 schools during daytime hours. Additionally, students who are in a household with multiple adults teleworking or engaging in distance learning places a strain on their ability to focus and on resources like Wifi connectivity. Graduate students have expressed having to complete their studies during abnormal hours due to these distractions in their home environments.

Quality Matters Shares Emergency Remote Instruction Checklist for Faculty

AACTE Responds to COVID-19

Quality Matters LogoTo assist education institutions in transitioning to temporary remote instructions of classroom-based courses, Quality Matters (QM) has created an “Emergency Remote Instruction (ERI) Checklist.” The three-tiered list includes considerations, tips, and actionable strategies, according to prioritized needs. The QM ERI Checklist is organized into three columns to first provide instructors with recommended actions, then add a brief explanation of the action’s importance and impact, and finally, a column to reference related Specific Review Standards from the QM Higher Education Rubric™, Sixth Edition.

This checklist is a useful tool for individual faculty as a prioritized checklist for remote teaching and as guidance for instructional designers and/or educational technologists who are working with faculty in a rapid development process to temporarily move classroom instruction online.

Below is an abbreviated list of the “Recommended Actions for Instructors.” For access to the complete tool, link to QM Emergency Remote Instruction Checklist.