Insired Education: Technology, Teaching and Learning

Joan Walker, Ph.D.Pace University

School of Education

February 29, 2012Hitachi Forum

Context

• Psychology• Higher education

– Teacher Preparation

• New technologies

Transformation

You are here

Innovation is here

Opportunity• Engagement• Collaboration• Autonomy• Exploration• Access• Possibility

Limitation• Passivity• Isolation• Control• Compliance• Resistance• Overwhelment

A design issue

• “…the center of gravity is outside the child. It is the teacher, the textbook, anywhere and everywhere you please except in the immediate instincts and activities of the child.”

John Dewey, The School and Society (1915)

The Ivory Tower

The Real World

troublesome voidFormal

KnowledgePractical

Knowledge

Cognitive Apprenticeship (Greeno; Lave & Wenger; Rogoff; Vygotsky)

The Social Context

Cognition

Memory

Noticing patterns Critical thinking

Transfer

Simulation

• Stepping into an interactive space and reacting in real time to authentic situations

• Situational awareness– Noticing– Anticipating– Decision-making under stress– Time-limitations

Processing

Assimilation

vs.

Awareness

An example

Simulation & Skill Development in Teacher Education

1. Parent-teacher communication

2. Classroom management (TSR)

Parent-teacher communication

• Goal: Immerse PSTs in a novel situation they will regularly perform in the future• PTC

• Design: Sequential cases, increasing difficulty– Gaming, inquiry cycle

• 2 methods: – Vicarious – SIMs

Vicarious: Blended Approach Online

• Log on to secure sitePhase 1: • Complete efficacy survey• Read case

– Generate strategies– Ask questions

Phase 2:• Watch and critique 2

simulationsPhase 3:• Choose best & justify

In class• Class discussion

• Access to how experts addressed the challenge

• Written reflection

• Introduction of the next challenge or case

Expert benchmarks

If you were the teacher what would you do?Expert Graduate Undergraduate

1. Opening 57 24 8

2. Gather information 100 77 100

3. Share information 100 71 67

4. Action plan 100 71 67

Positive relationship 86 75 61

Accept emotions 57 10 2

Manage flow 100 10 1

Red = p < .05, numbers are %

If you were the teacher, what questions would you ask?

What have I learned about my students?

• They are confident, despite their lack of experience.

• They tend to use some professional communication strategies more than others.

• Although they value gathering information, they ask low-level questions.

Critique 2 video models

• Rated each teacher along 7 dimensions. • Groups did NOT differ in their evaluations.

Model 1: • Over-structured• Weak responsiveness

Model 2: • Strong responsiveness• Weak structuring

• Contrast tugs at and reveals values & beliefs.

Which model is better?

• 100% of experts chose video model 2

• 62% of candidates chose model 2

• Now what do I know about my students? – Dispositions toward ‘partnership’

Engagement• “Although it wasn't a

complicated task it was extremely beneficial. I hope to do more assignments like this in the future, or even take part in the creation of an assignment like this one.”

• “It was fun and easy; I didn't mind watching the realistic videos and answering the questions.

• It was challenging because I had to really look for a lot of different things within the videos and it caused me to watch them more than once.”

Vicarious learning

• “It isn’t always easy to speak to someone else about their child. It was good to see both teachers and their strengths & weaknesses and to pick up on them and learn from them. “

• “I learned that … you need to represent yourself, not only through your facts, but in the way you dress, speak, and show confidence.

• You also need to work together.”

Current variations on a theme

1. Conducting simulated conferences

2. Comparing outcomes across conditions– Vicarious – Simulation

3. Building an online course– Thinkfinity/Verizon

Classroom Management: TSR

• Critical to student engagement and learning

• Major contributor to teacher burnout– Rates in urban schools at ~50% within 5 years

Loss of human capital

A solution?

Avatars

Teach LivE

How does TeachLivE work?

• Pace instructor provides session objectives to TeachLivE (University of Central Florida).

• Pace instructor sets up processes with candidates:• planning lessons• interacting with avatars• reflecting on the interactions

• During the individual or group sessions, avatars respond to ‘the teacher’ in ways that develop the session objectives.

To foster reflection Pace faculty use

• Protocols to enhance observation and recording for teaching and research

• Immediate feedback and sharing–One-on-one “coaching” model –Whole class “studio” model

• Video for reflection

TeachLivE enhances teacher preparation by -

• Helping candidates experience teaching as a complex activity

• Providing multiple opportunities to practice under no-fault conditions (scrimmage)

• Eliciting real-time decision-makingAwareness/interpretation of “student” behaviorIncorporating “student” diversityEfforts to engage “students” in learning

Pilot work

• Focus: Dispositions or Authoritarianism– Surveys and scenarios

• 10” microteach, “1st day of school”– Expectations– Communication– Excitement about learning

• HUGE variability in approaches and reactions to the technology– The simulation makes values and beliefs visible in a

way that other instructional strategies have not.

%

The avatar lab supported my learning.

Conclusion: Cross-Cutting Themes • Learner-centered• Multi-sensory / experiential• Bounded risk-taking• Ownership / engagement

• Multiple stakeholders• Collaboration (FSCP)• Preparation for future learning

• Pervasive– Selection– Please mind the gap.

Your thoughts?