CSCL '99 Doctoral Consortium and Teacher Participation Programs

点击：在线教师专业发展新模式的试验平台调查TPD工作在下一代虚拟环境平台内举行专业上有价值的在线活动所需的资源、能力和技术支持;（B）开发、实施和评估创新的TPD实施模式，该模式将面对面和异步交互与丰富的协作同步在线活动相结合;以及（c）识别有助于（或阻碍）在线TPD社区新概念的有效性、可持续性和可扩展性的社会、动机和技术因素。 该项目将调查四类问题-实施过程，TPD的好处和结果，社区建设，技术使用和满意度-使用定量和定性相结合的方法。 互联网技术教育应用研究和教师专业发展研究都可以从对方的经验和专业知识中获益。 TPD程序需要计算机网络能够提供的扩展其覆盖范围的机制。 教育技术研究表明，TPD和社会化的虚拟社区可以帮助教师学习新技能，并采取新的方法，这将有助于他们过渡到基于改革的课堂实践。 这两个学科能够结合在一起的共同点是有机会根据新一代互联网技术的社交计算能力联合开发有效的、可扩展的在线TPD模型。许多K-12研究和教师增强项目正在探索TPD和技术的交叉点通过提供电子邮件、列表服务、在一些教学干预的背景下，向分布在各地的教师群体提供网站。 然而，我们认为，大多数目前的产品只是边缘反映成功的工作社区的既定概念。 他们提供的工具，沟通渠道，和上下文的支持，需要维持的认知，协作和社会互动的类型是成功的协作工作或实践社区的特点，因此提供有限的见解如何实现可持续的和可扩展的在线TPD社区。 教育技术研究人员需要更好地了解教师专业发展社区的实践和社会结构，以便开发适当的沟通渠道和协作工具来支持这些实践和结构。 例如，实时协作和社会互动是成功的专业发展的核心特征，是促进学习新的教学策略和促进成功适应新实践的关键机制。 然而，除了偶尔的卫星视频连接，聊天，或CUSeeMe会议，在线教师支持项目还没有开始挖掘（更少系统地调查）通过互联网实时协作的潜在好处，留下一个不完整的研究基础上，基于开发的在线TPD社区。 因此，学区、TPD提供者以及州和地区项目为建立和维持在线TPD社区所做的努力往往导致在便于实施的能力与TPD活动的表达需求和要求之间令人失望的不匹配。 拟议的三年项目的目标是建立一个在线职业发展研究试验平台，以（a）该研究将帮助中小企业技术教育改革研究人员和从业人员更好地理解和实施下一代互联网技术，并帮助地方和国家决策者了解投资在线职业发展的成本效益和好处。 通过提供更广泛和更公平的高质量技术发展机会，参与这些社区将加速教师采用中小企业技术教育改革的努力。 我们的研究结果还将帮助NSF实现其目标，即通过提供一个熟悉和支持的场所，将新的想法和技术引入到正在进行的TPD活动的背景下，为城市，农村和州的系统性举措注入NSF对内容和教学法的研究成果。

TAPPED IN: A Testbed for New Models of On-line Teacher Professional Developmentinvestigate the resources, capabilities, and technological support that TPD efforts will need to hold professionally valuable on-line activities within next-generation virtual environment platforms; (b) develop, implement, and evaluate innovative TPD implementation models that integrate face-to-face and asynchronous interaction with richly collaborative synchronous on-line activities; and (c) identify social, motivational, and technological factors that contribute to (or obstruct) the effectiveness, sustainability, and scalability of a new concept of on-line TPD community. The project will investigate four categories of issues-Implementation Process, TPD Benefits and Outcomes, Community Building, and Technology Use and Satisfaction-using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. SECTION A - PROJECT SUMMARYResearch on educational applications of Internet technology and research on teacher professional development (TPD) each can substantially benefit from the experience and expertise of the other. TPD programs need mechanisms for extending their reach that computer networks can provide. Education technology research suggests that virtual communities for TPD and socialization can help teachers learn new skills and adopt new approaches that will facilitate their transition to reform-based classroom practices. The common ground on which the two disciplines can come together is the opportunity to jointly develop effective, scalable on-line TPD models based on the social computing affordances of a new generation of Internet technologies.Many K-12 research and teacher enhancement projects are exploring the intersection of TPD and technology by providing email, listservs, and Websites to distributed groups of teachers in the context of some pedagogical intervention. However, we believe that most current offerings only peripherally reflect established notions of successful working communities. They provide few of the tools, communication channels, and contextual supports needed to sustain the kinds of cognitive, collaborative, and social interactions that are characteristic of successful collaborative work or communities of practice, and therefore provide limited insights into how to achieve sustainable and scalable on-line TPD communities. Education technology researchers need to better understand the practices and social structures of teacher professional development communities in order to develop appropriate communication channels and collaborative tools to support those practices and structures. For example, real-time collaboration and social interaction are central characteristics of successful professional development that serve as key mechanisms for facilitating learning of new teaching strategies and promoting success in adapting to new practices. However, with the exception of the occasional satellite video link-up, chat, or CUSeeMe session, on-line teacher support projects have not begun to tap (much less systematically investigate) the potential benefits of real-time collaboration through the Internet, leaving an incomplete research foundation on which to base the development of on-line TPD communities. As a consequence, efforts by school districts, TPD providers, and state and regional projects to establish and sustain on-line TPD communities too often result in a disappointing mismatch between capabilities that are expedient to implement and the expressed needs and requirements of TPD activities. The goal of the proposed 3-year project is to establish an on-line TPD research testbed to (a) The research will help SME&T education reform researchers and practitioners better understand and implement next-generation Internet technologies and help inform local and state policy-makers of the cost efficiencies and benefits of investing in on-line professional development. Participation in such communities will accelerate teacher adoption of SME&T education reform efforts by providing wider and more equitable access to high-quality TPD opportunities. Our findings will also help NSF achieve its goal of infusing urban, rural, and state systemic initiatives with the fruits of NSF research on content and pedagogy by providing a familiar and supportive venue for introducing new ideas and technologies into a context of ongoing TPD activity.