Reflections & Learning in ETEC565A

Online Professional Development Proposal for SCCDSB Teachers
2011/12 School Year

Submitted to:  Director of Education, Superintendents of: Elementary Curriculum, Secondary Curriculum, Special Education, Business, and ICT

Rationale

Professional development for our teachers has traditionally been provided in three formats:

• whole group, full-day sessions led by experts in pedagogy
• small group workshops led by consultants on specific instructional, assessment, or classroom management strategies
• professional learning communities (PLCs) in the schools, meeting for short periods with colleagues, on a variety of topics

Feedback from the teachers clearly identifies a preference for the PLC model as it best suits the adult learning model.  The full day sessions do not provide opportunities for reflection and the workshop model usually does not include follow-up sessions that would assess whether or not practices in the classroom have changed.

Adult learning theory posits that learning is accomplished best when teachers can meet with their peers, reflect on their practice and rely on their own experiences (Whitmyer, 1998). Teachers construct their knowledge and skills more meaningfully when they can collaborate with others, and participate in critical reflection together.  Mezirow claims that transformative learning requires a dissonance or questioning of assumptions and beliefs of earlier experiences. Through professional discourse with colleagues, the adult learners can then transform their old understandings into new (Taylor, 2000). Our teachers have demonstrated that they are willing to take greater responsibility for their own learning, in a constructivist model, as they transform their “perception of self-as-learner” (Taylor, 1997, p. 6).
The PLC model, while providing opportunity for collaboration and construction of knowledge with peers, is not without its barriers.  Release time is costly and teachers argue that it is difficult to meet with peers our small schools, as they may be the only teacher in a grade division. They also find it disruptive to be out of their classroom as often as is needed for meetings. Lastly, teachers acknowledge that when new learning is required, such as new curriculum documents created by our Ministry, they need resources and support as they learn together. They recognize the need for the expert as a facilitator or guide in these instances.

Online Learning for  Professional Development

An online learning platform is proposed as a model that can meet the needs of the adult learner while overcoming the challenges of our current professional development practices. Teachers could combine the content and skills provided in online learning modules with the professional discourse and reflection both face-to-face in their schools and with the broader online community.  Chickering and Erhmann (1987) suggest that to improve teaching and learning, technology can support the needs of collaboration, with prompt feedback, frequent contact with experts and colleagues, time on task, and active learning opportunities.

Online learning modules can be created with authentic tasks that address the diverse learning styles of the adults, and that promote self-direction, a key component in constructivism.  Self-assessment and reflection transforms one’s perception, since observing one’s own meaning-making is the “true definition of growth”(Taylor, p. 6).  According to Anderson, (2008) deep meaningful learning requires an online learning experience that focuses on the interactions of learner-to-learner, learner-to-content, and learner-to-instructor.  An effective online platform will provide these interactions as well as include assessment for accountability.

The learning modules will be developed with the pedagogical expertise of the Curriculum Services Team. The ICT department will provide the technological support in the set-up and ongoing maintenance of the platform.  Meetings with the ICT manager have already taken place to ensure that our infrastructure can support this plan.

Moodle as our Content Management System

Currently, Desire2Learn (D2L) is the provider for all Ministry online courses for secondary students.  We have offered a number of these courses, funded by the Ministry, using this platform for the past five years.  The e-learning teachers find the D2L system to be effective in providing the content and activities for students using a variety of tools.  D2L is an impressive learning management system.  However, as we continue to face declining enrolments and the subsequent reduced budgets, the annual cost of $13 per learner is prohibitive for individual school boards to finance.  For online learning to be sustainable for our board, a free open source platform is the only option. Moodle provides all the features that we need at no cost.

What Moodle will provide

Perkins and Pfaffman (2006) recognized that Moodle “improved and enhanced student performance by promoting and organizing communication” (p. 34). Our teachers have expressed a desire to collaborate with their colleagues, an activity that can be supported through  Moodle’s chat features (synchronous and asynchronous), discussion forums, (whole group and small group) web logs, wikis, and email.  Teachers can group themselves according to departments, divisions, or subject-matter when co-learning in the courses, allowing for adult self-direction.

As stated earlier, critical reflection is essential for construction and transformation of knowledge (Taylor, 2000).  Moodle allows for self and peer assessment, using a wide variety of tools that assess the learning, and provides interaction between learners as they critically review the work of themselves and their peers.  Teachers are held accountable through tracking tools that note participation and completion of assignments, and can post events on the course calendar. Respecting the adult learning styles, content can be organized into various learning objects, course tools, and activity-based lessons that are authentic, reusable and efficient. The course platform can be customized to reflect our board’s logo and overall appearance of our own website.

Ultimately, as teachers become familiar with Moodle as a learning tool and see the benefits of online constructivist learning, they may wish to create course materials for their own students in a blended learning environment for their classrooms.

We believe that members of the Curriculum Services Team and ICT department can produce and support the courses in Moodle, since the preparation and delivery of our traditional workshop PD can be reduced significantly. No additional infrastructure is necessary as our bandwidth is sufficient to support this platform and teachers have access to computers and high speed internet.  We do not anticipate any additional costs.

References

Comments RSS