Education Week - January 29, 2014 - S16

Q&A:
Grooming Ambassadors for
Classroom Blended Learning
The University of Central Missouri
last year created a course to help
practicing and aspiring educators
design their own online classes. Odin
Jurkowski, a professor of educational
technology and the chairman of
the university's department of
career and technology education,
spoke with Education Week about
his institution's efforts to prepare
teachers to work in blended
learning environments.
EW: What's the greatest challenge
teachers and administrators face in
trying to make blended learning a
seamless part of their job?
includes an audio room with musicmixing
software and podcasting
equipment.
Clemson has also launched a series
of interdisciplinary efforts that
allow education students to partner
with undergraduates in other departments,
such as those working
in digital production.
Odin Jurkowski's teacher
program encourages
educators to become
lifelong students of
technology.
The hardest part is that schools
vary so much, both from one school to another
and from one district to another. Some have the
technology and professional development they
need; others don't. And they're all pulled in so many
different directions that it's really difficult to find the
time for anything new.
EW: What role do teacher-prep programs play in making
sure that transition happens as smoothly as possible?
So much of the focus in our classes is on online and
hybrid teaching, because that's the future we see in
education. That's why our certificate in online teaching
and learning is at the core of our master's degree
program in educational technology. Our students learn
so much just by going through the process. They can
complete the certificate and stop there, or they can
continue on for additional credit hours and get the
entire degree. A lot of our tools and techniques can be
utilized in face-to-face classrooms as well.
EW: How is the university encouraging teachers to use
blended learning to help manage the diverse amount of
skill sets and behaviors in the classroom?
We tell them that it's really about giving students
choices, about letting them have more control
over their learning, which shifts the control away
from the teacher. I know that makes some a little
uncomfortable at first, but teachers need to adapt
and evolve. A student-centered environment allows
for more project-based learning. Some of our teachers
already know that; they're already pretty tech-savvy
and leaders in their schools and want to continue
to take things to the next level. But then we get a
lot of teachers who need these courses to get to that
point. We get the entire spectrum. Regardless of their
experience and the areas they teach in, they learn
a lot from each other. It's pretty amazing how many
different ideas they are able to share and how they
all grow.
EW: How do you help teachers who didn't grow up with
blended learning become comfortable with the concept-
and the expectation to keep up with rapid technological
changes?
One of the points we try to stress throughout
the program is the importance of lifelong learning.
Everything is changing so quickly that we can't focus
only on what people need to know today, because two
years from now it will be out of date. The focus really
is about teaching them how to learn, how to continue
their education.
EW: What should teachers keep in mind as they explore the
idea of a "nimble" classroom and let students, through
blended learning, progress at their own level and pace?
The kids aren't the ones afraid of technology; they're
the ones jumping for all of this. It's the teachers, the
administrators, the people controlling the technology in
the schools that are the ones most likely to hold things
back. Getting super-excited teachers in the classroom
and just letting them go is what we need to do.
-ROBIN L. FLANIGAN
Other universities are taking different
approaches to help teachers
use technology more effectively.
The University of Texas at Aus-
tin's UTeach science program, which
oversees more than 6,000 preservice
mathematics and science teachers
at 40 universities nationwide, recently
received a grant from telecommunications
giant Verizon to
integrate mobile technologies into
inquiry-based lessons.
"Good educational use of technology
has to help students make the
transition from being consumers
of knowledge to contributors and,
eventually, producers," said Michael
Marder, the executive director of the
UTeach science program.
"Now that mobile technology is
ubiquitous, it's natural to ask how
it's going to be employed in instruction,"
he said.
Creating Courses
In January of last year, Teachers
College, Columbia University, opened
a prototype technology-demonstration
classroom. The program allows
students in the technology-specialistcertification
program, who include
preservice and working teachers, to
gain more experience learning in a
technology-rich environment.
The classroom has multiple dis-
play screens that let students plug
in their own computers and experiment
with different uses of technology;
two of the display screens are
touch screens, allowing a student to
use Google Earth to explore topography
issues, for instance.
"The more we help our students
learn about the thoughtful use of
technology as a tool to enhance the
learning experience, the better," said
Ellen Meier, the co-director of the
Center for Technology and School
Change at Teachers College. "We
want them to develop a vision for
what is possible, so they, in turn, are
able to help schools design technology-rich,
authentic projects that engage
K-12 students."
The University of Central Mis-
souri, in Warrensburg, Mo., has
taken a different approach to building
teachers' technology skills. Last
year, it launched a 16-week class to
help graduate students design their
own eight-week, one-credit-hour online
courses.
Specialist Degrees
Tailored for those earning their
education specialist degree in educational
technology, the class gives
students the option, once the semester
ends, to teach their course
to peers as adjunct professors. The
vast majority of the program's participants
are teachers already working
in schools.
"I really wanted to give them a
real-world experience from start
to finish," said Odin Jurkowski, a
professor of educational technology
and chairman of the university's department
of career and technology
education.
"It's beyond other things they've
done in their coursework, like creating
modules and lesson plans," he
said. "This is a neat way not just to
provide opportunities for students
at the highest level to practice their
skills, but to allow them to create
something that could benefit other
students as well."
Enrollment in the University of
Central Missouri's education technology
programs has more than
quadrupled, from 46 to 199 students
over the past six years, with
the addition of a certificate in online
teaching and learning in 2009 and
the new specialist degree in educational
technology in 2012.
More colleges and universities
need to empower future teachers to
help bridge the gap between what
they learn on campus and what
they practice in the classroom, said
Tom Carroll, the president of the
National Commission on Teaching
and America's Future, a nonprofit,
nonpartisan advocacy organization
based in Washington.
Mr. Carroll backs blended learning
for preservice teachers in
S16 | EDUCATION WEEK: SIZING UP BLENDED LEARNING > www.edweek.org/go/blended-learning JANUARY 29, 2014

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Education Week - January 29, 2014

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