It is important to note at the onset of
my teaching narrative that I am full time faculty as well as a doctoral
student in the PhD. in Education program. Along with my instructional
duties over the past year, I continued with my coursework, taking classes
in every semester including the summer session and maintained a 4.00
GPA. My specialization is Instructional Technology with a minor in International
Education. My dual role has greatly informed my practice as an instructor
and as a student. It has afforded me numerous opportunities for professional
growth in both teaching and research.
Teaching
Description
In my faculty role as University Teacher, eighty percent of my professional
focus is on providing quality learning experiences for graduate students.
My teaching
during the evaluation period was performed in Instructional Technology in the
Integration of Technology in Schools (ITS) Track 2 program. This is a two year
cohort program for students pursuing a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction
with an emphasis in the Integration of Technology in Schools (ITS).
The coursework
in the ITS program consists of both face to face and online classes. The program
is structured around hands-on activities, group work, lecture, and the use
of a variety of technology tools both established and emerging. Students
generally
enter the program with limited technology skills, and the ITS philosophy requires
students to develop different ways of knowing and a change in the way they
teach. For much of the program, an instructor team approach is used
to better serve
the individual needs of the students.
During the evaluation period, the ITS program served five cohorts, each ranging
in size from approximately fourteen to twenty- one graduate students with a
total of ninety students. I participated as an instructor in all five cohorts
jointly
with a colleague as well as independently and instructed in both face to face
and online environments.
Face to Face Instruction
My face to face teaching experiences involved preparing students to develop
their technology skills and guide them in the development of technology integrated
curriculum. In Fall05, I co-taught two sections of EDCI 710- Technology and
the Culture of Schools, two sections of EDIT 711- Teaching with Telecommunications
and Databases and one section of EDCI 714- Principles of Integration. My
role as a co-teacher involved preparing materials for class and leading portions
of the instruction and group activity. I also worked individually with students
to clarify and reinforce concepts and assist them in applying their knowledge
in the design of course materials for their own practice. In addition, I
independently performed assessments and provided feedback on student work.
In Spring 06, I co-taught EDCI 712- Technology and the Culture of Learning
and EDIT 713- Teaching with Graphics, TV, Video and Simulations. My co-teaching
role mirrored that of Fall 05. Independently, I taught EDIT 717- Teaching with
Hypermedia. This course also included several weeks of instruction on digital
video editing and its use in the K-12 classroom and teacher leadership activities.
My role included leading discussions and activities that delved into the role
of hypermedia and digital editing in student learning and to teach students
how to develop hypermedia/video integrated curriculum. The syllabus for EDIT
717 is submitted as an artifact in Part 5 (b).
Online Teaching
My online teaching experiences, while ongoing throughout the academic year,
were particularly concentrated in Summer 05. EDIT 715- Teaching with Desktop
Publishing and Educational Software was taught online using Dr. Norton’s
Community Of Practice Learning System (COPLS) in which an expert mentor works
one-on- one with learners, using authentic challenges and activities as a context
for on-going discussion with the learner to make connections to practice. This
method of teaching required me to ‘step into the shoes’ of each
individual student, understand what their teaching practice was all about,
recognize the challenges that they faced in using technology, and guide them
in overcoming obstacles as they attempted to integrate technology into their
curriculum. In Summer 05, I taught twenty-five online students from three cohorts.
This process took an enormous amount of time, energy, and patience, but I also
built relationships with my students that would never have occurred in a face
to face summer session.
In Summer 06, I co-taught EDIT 797-Web-Based Learning which was delivered online
through the Blackboard course management system. My responsibilities in this
course were to facilitate discussions within groups by developing prompting
questions and challenging the thinking of the students for each course topic.
I was also responsible for assessing the final course projects.
In Spring 06, I taught six students online in EDCI 716- Principles of Integration.
This course was also delivered using COPLS and involved working one-on-one
with students in developing their notion of teacher leadership and how to apply
their knowledge of integration of technology in schools as a teacher leader
role. I also worked individually with them to design a Personal Leadership
Plan which outlined their action plan as a change agent in a chosen venue.
The syllabus of EDCI 716 is submitted as an artifact in Part 5 (b).
During the evaluation period, I taught students in various additional online
programs such as the Integration of Technology in Schools Certificate program
(ITSOLC) and The Online Academy for Teachers (TOAT). In the ITSOLC program,
I taught EDIT 714- Principles of Integration to graduate students in the Master
of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies concentration in Zoo and Aquarium Leadership
(MAIS-ZAL) program. Because the ITSOLC program was originally designed for
practicing classroom teachers, it was necessary for me to adjust my teaching
to better match the zoo and aquarium profession. In some instances, it was
difficult for the ZAL students to grasp certain concepts of designing learning
opportunities in the model used in the course but through conversations about
their own experiences it was possible for me to find some relevance to guide
their understanding.
In Spring 06, I began working in the ITSOLC course with four Macedonian educators
from the country’s Pedagogical Faculties. I taught EDIT 561-Teaching
with Telecommunications and EDIT 566- Teaching with Multimedia and Hypermedia.
Along with teaching the concepts, this online experience required careful consideration
of written communication to ensure the least amount of misunderstanding or
confusion both in my interpretation of their English and their interpretation
of my English. Also, discussions for understanding the culture of schools in
Macedonia were necessary additions to the course.
In Summer 05 and Fall 05, I completed online work with my last TOAT mentee.
The TOAT program is designed to support The Online Academy, a virtual high
school, by preparing qualified teachers to teach online courses. In the courses
EDIT 643, EDIT 644, and EDIT 645, I guided my mentee through the process of
online mentoring and teaching topics which included building online relationships,
developing self-regulation, and conceptual thinking. Links to student electronic
portfolios are submitted as artifacts in Part 5 (c).
Course Development
Part of my teaching responsibilities included course development. During the
evaluation period, I reviewed books to be used with the ITS cohorts and participated
in the development of activities to be used with students for each new book.
Revisions were also made to EDIT 717-Teaching with Hypermedia to review and
bring together concepts taught in the first three semesters of the ITS program.
The goal was to bring together the use of technology tools to learn about hypermedia
through available research and to disseminate the findings in authentic teacher
leadership activities. To support this process, I developed a scavenger hunt
for the students to learn about the Universities Libraries site and to develop
their researching skills. The “Scavenger Hunt” is submitted as
an artifact in Part 5 (f).
In Spring 06, I made revisions to EDIT 797-Web-Based Learning. Revisions included
reorganization of the material, incorporation of new material, a revised syllabus,
and a delivery method that provided more structure and modeling for the students.
The revised EDIT 797 syllabus is submitted as an artifact in Part 5 (f).
Mentoring
During the evaluation period, I have mentored students in various situations
other than online teaching. In addition, mentored online work in the ITS cohorts
required that I oversee the activities of the other mentors and guide them
in their development of mentoring skills.
Results
Although most of my teaching is co-teaching, I am still evaluated by students
for my individual efforts. Student feedback from my course evaluations was
very positive. My overall mean of means, 4.8, exceeds the means of overall
ratings reported for the Graduate School of Education (GSE), CEHD, and the
University during the evaluation period. I am particularly proud that I rated
a 4.94 for Instructor Fairness. This is important to me because I spend a good
deal of teaching time working one-on-one with students and work hard to make
sure each student feels they are receiving the same amount of individual attention.
Students also commented that I “modeled effective teaching strategies,” “provided
detailed and specific feedback,” “asked provoking questions,” “didn’t
let any technology problems interfere with learning,” and “immediately
replied to emails.” In response to my high evaluation ratings, Dr. Mark
Goor has provided feedback such as “I am so confident of what you offer
teachers.” My course evaluation summaries are submitted as artifacts
in Part 5 (a). Additional student comments are submitted as artifacts in Part
5 (e). Dr. Goor’s emails are submitted as artifacts in Part 4 (a).
Currently, there is no mechanism for an official University online course evaluation.
Therefore, results of my online teaching effectiveness come from comments in
student emails. A favorite comment came from one of my Macedonian online students
at the end of his first course:
“
It was wonderful to do this course…I have a lot of new ideas on my mind
now…I’m changing myself Dawn, you are changing me. That’s
[why] I believe that one day I will be like you.”
As a teacher in a program that develops change agents, I was thrilled
to see that I was able to plant seeds of change early on in this student’s
program.
The co-teaching experience provided an on-going evaluation for me by a senior
faculty member, Dr. Priscilla Norton. Following each class, we spent time debriefing.
Dr. Norton’s feedback has been very positive over the past year. Dr.
Norton’s letter is submitted as an artifact in Part 5 (d).
Reflection
Dr. Norton describes an ITS teacher as a sage on the side. My philosophy about
teaching, learning, and technology provide the foundation for my role as a
sage on the side. I believe that faculty should not only present new knowledge
but ensure that students are able to use the knowledge in their own practice.
It is important to me that I have the wisdom and knowledge to share with my
students but that I allow them to construct their own meanings. As a teacher,
I must build relationships with each of my students in order to understand
their practice and devise ways to guide them in making connections. Modeling
good strategies/practices for designing technology integrated curriculum is
not enough. Guiding and supporting students through relevant activities that
allow them to use technology in curriculum leads to independence and the development
of leaders and change agents. I also believe that universities need to make
education accessible to working professionals who wish to pursue graduate degrees.
Offering online experiences that support flexible and quality student learning
and providing face to face instruction at off-site locations facilitate this
belief.
One goal for this past year was to align my teaching with the ITS teaching
team to ensure consistency within the program. I achieved this by embracing
suggestions about how to go about presenting certain topics during weekly meetings.
I also wanted to improve my online teaching practice to ensure good learning
experiences for students. Completing the TOAT courses as a student and applying
the knowledge with over 43 online students accomplished this goal. I continue
to work on the development of my knowledge on the topic of teaching, technology,
and learning in order to acquire more authority and regard in my independent
teaching. Reflection plays a major role in this process as I review each teaching
experience, debrief with senior faculty, listen to and observe students’ reactions,
and assess student learning. Creating my PhD portfolio has been a great companion
exercise to my system of reflecting and making changes accordingly.
Teaching and Scholarship
I am aware of the unique position I hold with regards to teaching as faculty
while pursuing my PhD. My instructional position allows me a context in which
to apply ideas learned in the past year of my doctoral program. During the
evaluation period, I completed courses towards my specialization in Instructional
Technology which included the suite of courses in TOAT. These courses gave
me experience in course design, learning about online mentoring, and practice
in developing educators in their online mentoring skills. I was able to apply
this knowledge in my extensive online teaching responsibilities.
Research courses EDRS 811- Quantitative Methods in Educational Research and
EDRS 812- Qualitative Methods in Educational Research were also completed.
In EDRS 811, I was able to use data collected over the years in EDIT 797- Web-Based
Learning and ask questions about student perspectives as related to the course
design and use statistical testing to analyze the data. While this process
did not result in a published paper, I acquired practice and knowledge about
how I might study aspects of the online courses I currently teach to better
understand the online learning environment. In EDRS 812, I conducted a pilot
study on the perceptions of the Policy Board for The Online Academy. These
results may be used to help tell the story of The Online Academy, an innovative
endeavor, and to inform future innovations.
The knowledge gained in EDRS 812 was used when I co-wrote a paper, published
in the conference proceedings of the Society for Information Technology and
Teacher Education (SITE). I also had the opportunity to co-present this paper
at the SITE 2006 conference in Orlando, FL. This research studied the effects
of gender grouping in online collaborative groups. My role in the research
was to use qualitative methods to analyze the data. The information found in
this study made me aware that when preparing to teach an online course that
involves group collaboration, I should consider the composition of the group.
The SITE paper is submitted as an artifact in Part 6 (a).
Simultaneously working as faculty and a doctoral student, I am doing an apprenticeship.
I’m learning the knowledge and skills needed to work in higher education
while at the same time having the opportunity to practice teaching and researching
at a university. This has been invaluable to me and has given me a better understanding
of what my own students are experiencing.
Dawn M. Hathaway
Teaching Narrative, p. 8
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