How will simulated online environments impact professional development delivery for administrators and teachers?
Foster (2007) points out how Second Life has taken college campuses by storm. Since its development in 2003, professors and college students have flocked to the virtual world of Second Life. Second Life is used to hold distance-education classes, and professors state that communication among students becomes livelier when they assume digital personalities. In Second Life, students can create digital personalities known as avatars to reflect their own personalities and interests. More than 150 colleges in the United States and 13 other countries currently have a presence in Second Life. Although some faculty and staff members are skeptical of the digital world's value, the number of virtual campuses keeps growing. The question for school districts is whether staff development provided in this manner will show promise in use for on-going staff development for teachers.
The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), in 2007 , recommended the development of virtual environment charter schools because of the chance to both motivate students and provide access to the best teachers for students. MUVEs, according to SREB, offer great promise in credit recovery and dropout prevention.
Perhaps the reason we should use this new technology for teachers’ staff development is to more closely align the world of teachers to the way our students communicate with each other and the way they multi-task and learn. This technology has the potential to move how we teach more quickly toward how this generation of students learns best.
References
Foster, A. L. (2007). Professor avatar: In the digital universe of second life, classroom instruction also takes on a new personality. Chronicle of Higher Education, 54(4), p24.
Southern Regional Education Board, Atlanta, GA. (2007). Five academic reasons why state
virtual schools are important to your state. Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)
4 pp.
6 comments:
Universities and colleges and school districts must use simulated online environments for the delivery of professional development (PD) for administrators and teachers in an effort to make the paradigm shift from using traditional PD strategies (i.e. lecture, facilitation of group discussion, etc.) to use of multi-media technology. Therefore, a change in how we teach the adult learner must shift globally to align with the changes needed for teaching children in our classrooms. As noted by Colleen and Diane, college students and professors are “flocking” to the virtual world of Second Life. People are in learning environments around the country communicating with their counterparts. This presents a new way to impart knowledge to the adult learner and can easily transfer to how to approach student learning through the use of technology. In addition, this approach provides easy access for the adult learner.
Researchers already know how multi-user virtual environments (MUVE) can effectively support learning for children and adults. This research needs to move to practice with administrators and teachers in the school setting. The CITEd Research Center emphasized how research can be used to support learning citing research done with students with disabilities. The following four components of the research implications could be used as a guide for PD and selecting games and simulations for the classroom. Administrators and teachers must get on board with the 21st century learning style as noted:
• be prepared to guide students through demonstration, progress, monitoring and suggesting actions;
• select simulations that are challenging and beneficial to learning;
• promote learning by including games and simulations that allow students to reflect on and explain what is happening; and
• monitor students’ use of materials to make sure the structure and rules of the games and stimulations do not take priority over learning.
(http://www.cited.org/index.aspx?page_id=143)
X-box, Playstations and Nintendo Wii’s, I am amazed how our students enjoy playing video games at home and in club settings programmed into school schedules as part of a rein forcer effort.
Does this shed any light into what might be an alternative instructional method and medium for our students especially students with learning disabilities?
The computer has created simulated environments in which many of our students escape to (Verenikina, Harris, & Lysaght, 2003).
The new genre of gaming-simulation software reveals a way of looking at our world and encourages our students to try alternative strategies virtually and see the consequences (Kaufmann, Schmalstieg, & Wagner, 2000). It is a way for students to acquire experience about how things work in our world without actually having to perform a hands-on task.
The value of gaming simulation is that it can bring more reality into our students' learning, and it can do this for just about any subject or subject matter. However, I believe it will be a tough research road to proving the effectiveness of this instructional method and delivery for educators in the future.
As a class we are studying the benefits associated with blogging as a new instructional medium perhaps to replace live classroom discussion. In reality, we may need to do the same exploration with our students as it applies to gaming simulations
As we discussed under universal design, a great many teachers and administrators still see education as transferring “stuff” (i.e. a textbook) into students’ heads. They spend their class time lecturing, and teaching our students to use a variety of “tools” from the past They see their measure of “success” as student’s ability to answer multiple choice questions on a high-stakes test.
But for many of our students today, none of this is education. They are the consumers of digital television, You Tube, the Internet, chat, and MySpace These are the places where are students are receiving and processing information beyond our classrooms and our students want their education to be, and feel, meaningful, worthwhile, and relevant to their future.
Blog #3_DB & CD
Second Life is a virtual program that has a significant potential in delivering a new type of classroom instruction. Linden Lab, the creators of this virtual Second Life program, is offering educators discounts to facilitate the purchase of private islands; as a result, over 700 teachers worldwide are already using it. An important component of this virtual program is to protect teens from online predators in order to ensure online safety. Therefore, Linden Lab has set up teen a site which restricts access only to teens that are from thirteen to seventeen year old. The creators emphasize that Second Life is not meant to replace face-to-face social interactions but to enhance communication with others teens around the world (http://education.zdnet.com).
The rate of speed at which students are expected to acquire new information has geometrically increased since the beginning of the 21st Century. However, many schools in the US have not been able to keep-up in making technology accessible to students. Three issues are apparent when evaluating how new technologies are implemented in schools. These are 1) access to technologies (hardware and software), 2) professional development, and 3) impact on student learning.
Access to technologies poses a financial challenge to schools. First, not all school districts have the finances needed to upgrade the computer systems, such as adding high speed video cards, broadband connections, software programs, and high speed internet. All of these components are essential for virtual programs like Second Life. Second, professional development continues to be delivered by outdated models, such as the ‘one day training’ class that leaves teachers on their own when trying to implement the applications component into the curriculum (Cuban, 2001). Third, how do educators and researchers measure the degree of impact on student learning that virtual programs have? Although a program, such as Second Life, as a technology opens up new possibilities for students, it also needs to be monitored. Second Life seems ideal for disabled students, yet this group of students is the most vulnerable. How are the teen sites monitored? Internet safety training or coaching is critical when using this type of technology so that disabled students are able to evaluate their own safety, learn how to be careful how much money they spend, are focus on the learning rather than getting distracted by game options, and continue to have authentic face-to-face interactions with people in their immediate world. Although technology is taking educators and student into a new and exciting path, many issues are still unclear about the use of virtual technology like Second Life. My question is how many other simulated environments exists other than Second Life? How are they different or alike?
I agree with Mark, most teachers are still unable to understand how best to teach the new generaton of students as the digital divide between teachers-students seems to get wider.
I think that we'd all agree that well-planned simulated on-line learning environments positively impact the delivery of professional development activities in numerous ways.
1) Use of simulated on-line environments increase the effectiveness of professional development by offering staff development at times that are most convenient for staff. Staff have the option of participating in a staff development session with asynchronous capabilities at a time that fits their schedules. Additionally,staff will participate when they are motivated to learn and more alert rather than participating at the end of a long day when staff has difficulty focusing on the content.
2) A wide variety of reliable sources and a host of different approaches to staff development such as webinars, blogging, videoconferencing and second life can be used to enhance the delivery of professional development in schools. Accessing a variety of reliable sources that schools may not otherwise have access to allows administrators to tailor professional development activities to the needs of staff without the expense and time normally required for travel.
3) Use of on-line learning environments provide opportunities for professional growth particularly when teachers participate in professional learning communities. Teachers can connect with their peers, consult with experts, and engage in dialogue and reflection through the use of tools such as blogs and wikis. Specific instructional strategies can be explored and refined, instructional challenges can be worked out, and new ideas, even lesson plans, can be shared and adapted to improve teaching and learning. This form of collaboration has a clear advantage over traditional professional development activities. When structured properly, this is a powerful professional development tool that significantly changes the delivery of professional development.
Although the advantages may be clear, use of simulated on-line environments will also impact administrators who will need to develop a new awareness of the tools and skills needed to help their teachers integrate technology into professional development.
As someone who is working in this environment every day, I am amazed how even among online educators, at least at the K-12 level; there is still skepticism of platforms like Second-Life. The phenomena that seem to work against the use of such programs are the blending of social networking with professional applications. All it takes is for one administrator to be asked if he wants to "indie" by some leather clad, pierced nipple blue fox to quickly diminish the Old Guard's perception of such software. Likewise, all it takes is one techno-glitch - a connection lag, transparent wall, or complete shutdown - to sour the most fervent of Gen X'ers.
That being said - the implications for use are endless. As Mark and Matilde said, we need to begin meeting our students where they are - and that's light years beyond the technology typically employed in the classroom. To do that, vehicles like Second-Life not only offer the inherent benefits to resource allocation that distance learning can offer, but they also offer an opportunity to model effective instruction in an arena that is very familiar to students. MUVEs offer the potential for a simulated world with accessibility to infinite sources of information for attendees. They can bring people from remote areas together with a sense of community that we know is a tenet of effective adult education, yet it is in this very design that threatens to undermine their use. Microsoft has already abandoned many of its efforts for MUVEs and critics say Second-Life is on the decline. Perhaps the answer lies in specified closed models - specific to the audience - created for individuals with a shared interest. That way you never have to worry about being asked to "Indie" again.
Simulated on-line environments can have a positive impact on professional development delivery for administrators and teachers if implemented correctly. The research basis for the use of as well as how to naviagate on-line simulated environments needs to be properly introduced to both adminstrators and teachers. Not all education professionals are computer literate. It would be important for school systems to obtain information on the skill levels of administrators and teachers in terms of technology. Online envirnoments should be used to enhance professional development as well as instruction and not add to the negative viewpoints that some teachers already have regarding technology and professional development.
Professional development is usually not tailored to the true needs of teachers. Maybe teachers could be provided with options in terms of the types of professional development that they need through online simulated enviroments.
Due to budgetary constraints and other issues, school systems often have challenges in terms of securing personnel, especially qualified personnel, to conduct professional development sessions. Simulated on line environments can assist with these issues by providing professional development for teachers in interesting ways (e.g., as a medium that addresses the different types of learning styles). Particiapting in on-line sumilated professional development training may not require as many personnel as face-to-face trainings. I agree with Pam, in that, simulated on-line environments could provide teachers with opportunties to participate in professional development activities at more conveinient times. In addition, it could possibly help to decrease the amount of days that teachers are absent from school, due to professional development workshops which would probably be of interest to administrators.
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